You’re right that it took some time for Workchoices to be fully replaced, however, large sections of it were put on ice by the ALP, most notably, the provisions around AWAs.

‘Flexibility’ of labour markets has, so far, been a very poor predictor of how well a nation gets through this recession. Unchecked ‘flexibility’ during a downturn only increases the likelihood that firms will shed jobs needlessly, thus reducing aggregate demand and worsening the entire economy.
Countries with flexible labour laws (such as the US, the UK, and Spain) have performed demonstrably worse than countries with tougher labour laws (such as France, or Germany).
What I’m getting at is that, during a recession, you want businesses tightening their belts, and not just workers. It’s essential that businesses keep every job that they can, otherwise the economy can unravel very quickly.

Am I missing something? Workchoices only was replaced on July 1 2009 – green shoots were appearing by then! A flexible labour market helped workplaces deal with the downturn (e.g. become part-time, not lose a full-time job). If you tried to do this under Labors laws, well, you cant do it! Unemployment would be higher of Labor’s system was in place – something to bear in mind for next recession….