Canberra facing dissent over workplace changes

The Australian federal government is facing growing dissent over its workplace reforms, with the WA Nationals criticising the planned changes.

West Australian Nationals president Wendy Duncan used her party's conference at the weekend to urge the government to soften its planned changes.

She said extreme policy changes could create instability for businesses, particularly the plan to exempt businesses employing fewer than 100 people from unfair dismissal laws.

But Prime Minister John Howard has defended the changes.

"We are against unfair dismissal laws because they frighten small firms out of taking on more staff," he said.

"The simple reason has always been the case and we believe that when these changes go through, more people will be employed by small business."

The concerns expressed by the WA Nationals come after the party's Queensland branch released a list of five demands for the government to meet in exchange for support on Telstra's sale.

The Queensland Nationals' demands include a multi-billion trust fund to be set up to pay for improvements to Telstra's services in the bush after it is fully privatised.

- AAP