Tony Abbott is steering the political narrative into some treacherous waters this week: industrial relations.

After he announced his intention to scrap penalty rates and exempt many small businesses from unfair dismissal laws, the Government and ACTU were quick to raise the specter of the Howard government’s much-maligned WorkChoices policies.

The Coalition has been on the defensive, saying there are key differences between its plans and that of its predecessors.

But will the voters buy it? Or is Abbott leading the Coalition straight into another scare campaign ambush by the ALP and unions?

Here’s how the pundits see it:

The Australian

Editorial: Industrial relations is the debate we have to have

The national interest will not be served by a government determined to take the labour market back to the 1970s…

Hannan: Gillard prepares to launch a scare campaign

Abbott’s strategy does contain risks but Gillard is optimistic if she thinks he will make the mistakes of the former prime minister.

The Age

Editorial: WorkChoices failed once. That was enough.

Why Mr Abbott would want to restore the least popular features of a system that deprived his party of office is mysterious

Michelle Grattan: Shift in focus risky for Abbott

Some of its proposed changes are pre-WorkChoices, but it will have a struggle to make the distinction in people’s minds.

Elsewhere…

The Gutter Trash: Abbott Exhumes the Rotting Corpse of WorkChoices

So let me get this right. Julie Bishop thinks that workers are “suffering” because they earn more for working on weekends?