New Australian election battleground is working from home

By Alasdair Pal

SYDNEY (Reuters) - A plan by Australia's opposition to force government workers back to the office full time could affect millions, a trade union grouping said on Monday, with the issue featuring in a nationwide election due within months.

This month the Liberal party said if elected, it would bar hundreds of thousands of government employees from working from home, except for exceptional circumstances.

But the resulting increased traffic congestion would have a knock-on effect on millions more workers, said the Australian Council of Trade Unions, whose 38 members together represent almost 2 million workers.

"Forcing hundreds of thousands of workers back on the roads will mean less time with kids and more time in traffic," said the grouping's chief executive, Michele O’Neil.

The Liberal Party pledge puts it at odds with the ruling Labor Party in campaigning for the election that must be held by May, at which the high cost of living tops voters' concerns.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said allowing employees to work remotely had allowed workers to spend more time with their families, as well as save on commuting.

"We know that working from home has had a range of advantages," he told a news conference, calling the opposition "out of touch" for the plan to curb it for government workers.

Labor and the Liberal-led centre-right coalition are near-deadlocked in the latest opinion polls, with swing seats on the outskirts of major cities - among the most exposed to the high cost of living - likely to be crucial.

Labor has seen a modest bounce in outer metropolitan areas in recent weeks, in part due to the Liberal Party's proposed curbs on working from home, polling by YouGov and the Australian Associated Press showed on Saturday.

(Reporting by Alasdair Pal in Sydney; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)