Mr Abbott signed the symbolic death certificate during an interview on Fairfax Radio and told the Nine Network that the controversial Work Choices' legislation was "dead".
"Work Choices is dead, it's buried, it's cremated," he said.
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Work Choices was introduced by the Howard government and involved industrial deregulation that it said had improved employment levels but was fiercely opposed by trade unions and contributed to Labor's 2007 election win.
Mr Tanner told ABC Radio today that he believed Mr Abbott supported Work Choices.
"I think it's worth noting that Tony Abbott is the protege of the bloke who said we'd never, ever have a GST (former prime minister John Howard)," he said.
"So I think people can draw their own conclusions about whether or not a Tony Abbott-led Liberal Party is going to head back down the Work Choices path again.
"I think that it's pretty clear that is where they'll head - they might be a little bit sneakier about it than they were last time but nonetheless I think it's clear that's what they stand for and that's what they want to do."
