Opposition leader Kevin Rudd and deputy leader Julia Gillard used a visit to Ipswich hospital to demand that John Howard declare any plans for further IR reforms.
"On day one of this election campaign I'm laying down a basic challenge to Mr Howard: outline your future plans for Work Choices and Australia's industrial relations system," Rudd said.
"Mr Howard must outline his position, given his senior ministers have already confirmed the government's plan to take Work Choices even further."
Rudd did run into some embarrassment during a brief meet-and-greet with nursing student Rachel Forster, the niece of Shane Neumann, Labor’s candidate for Blair.
Rudd asked Forster whether she would be campaigning for her uncle, only to find that she was married to Neumann’s Liberal Party rival, Cameron Thompson.