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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Holden: no decision has been made to close factory doors | Holden: no decision has been made to close factory doors |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| GM Holden’s managing director, Mike Devereux, has told an inquiry that no decision has been made to shut its Australian car-making operations. | GM Holden’s managing director, Mike Devereux, has told an inquiry that no decision has been made to shut its Australian car-making operations. |
| Devereux was asked directly, by the head of a Productivity Commission inquiry in Melbourne into the car industry, whether any decision had been made. | Devereux was asked directly, by the head of a Productivity Commission inquiry in Melbourne into the car industry, whether any decision had been made. |
| He said: "No decision has been made." | He said: "No decision has been made." |
| Devereux also declined to make an opening statement to the inquiry, but noted that there's been a "lot of speculation" about the future of the Australian automotive industry. | Devereux also declined to make an opening statement to the inquiry, but noted that there's been a "lot of speculation" about the future of the Australian automotive industry. |
| He argued that the industry was an important part of the national economy and he would continue to press the case for it to continue. | |
| Inquiry chairman Mike Woods cut to the chase, asking if any decision had been made to shut Holden. Under further questioning, Devereux refused to comment on a timeline for Holden's parent company, General Motors, to make a decision. He said the company had put a business case to the federal industry minister, Ian Macfarlane, and the South Australian premier, Jay Weatherill, on 2 October which set out Holden's future plans. | Inquiry chairman Mike Woods cut to the chase, asking if any decision had been made to shut Holden. Under further questioning, Devereux refused to comment on a timeline for Holden's parent company, General Motors, to make a decision. He said the company had put a business case to the federal industry minister, Ian Macfarlane, and the South Australian premier, Jay Weatherill, on 2 October which set out Holden's future plans. |
| But he said much of the information was commercial in confidence and he would not reveal it in public hearings. Holden gets an average of $153m a year in taxpayer assistance and Devereux declined to say what further assistance Holden was seeking. | But he said much of the information was commercial in confidence and he would not reveal it in public hearings. Holden gets an average of $153m a year in taxpayer assistance and Devereux declined to say what further assistance Holden was seeking. |
| He refused to comment on the claim by former Labor industry minister Kim Carr that $150m a year over a decade would keep Holden operating its assembly plant in Adelaide. But he said that Holden had communicated its business plan to both the former Labor government and the Abbott government. He said that these confidential submissions meant that cabinet ministers from both sides of politics – including prime ministers and treasurers – knew exactly what Holden was seeking. | |
| "There's no doubt in my mind that the government has the information to answer your question [how much assistance would be needed]," he said, adding, "The budgetary cost of losing this industry would dwarf the cost of keeping it." | |
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