Holden: Victoria and South Australia demand 'very substantial' federal help
|
Version 0 of 1. The premiers of Victoria and South Australia are demanding “very substantial” federal assistance packages for Holden workers and their state economies, as Tony Abbott defends the government’s failure to offer the long-term funding assurances Holden had requested as it considered whether to continue Australian manufacturing. Speaking before a meeting with the prime minister on Thursday afternoon, Victorian premier Denis Napthine said: “I believe the federal government will not only consider a substantial assistance package, but it is imperative that they provide an substantial assistance package.” “I’m premier of Victoria, I’ll be standing up for Victoria … I will not take a backward step in dealing with the federal government,” he said, adding he would be asking for money to reskill and help workers and also to boost other industries in Victoria. Abbott said on Wednesday he would provide “a considered package of measures designed to build confidence in the long-term future of those regions and the long-term future of manufacturing in this country”. South Australian premier Jay Weatherill “noted” Abbott’s expressions of concern about workers in his state, but said: “I want a tangible indication of his sincerity, we will be putting some positive proposals to him, some specific programs and projects, some big infrastructure projects – he knows what they are.” The opposition leader, Bill Shorten, has accused Abbott of “sabotaging” Holden by demanding the company decide on its future in Australia before the government had made an offer on long-term subsidies, or even heard from the Productivity Commission inquiry it had set up to help it decide. Industry minister Ian Macfarlane said on Wednesday he had hoped GM Holden would delay a decision on its future in Australia “until we had made them an offer” – after the Productivity Commission report next year – but Abbott has said there was never going to be any more money for the company than what was already on the table. Both the acting prime minister, Warren Truss, and treasurer Joe Hockey demanded an immediate answer from the company this week. “One thing that we weren't going to do was just throw more money at a problem … There was a very substantial amount of money on the table and it's been there a long time. Unfortunately it wasn't enough to keep Holden going. I deeply regret that,” Abbott said, denying that this contradicted the position put by his industry minister. Holden’s chief executive, Mike Devereux, said there were a “perfect storm” of economic challenges facing the company, including the high Australian dollar, and that Labor and the coalition had been clearly told of the “co-investment” the company needed to make a business case for the production of a new model. He said the carbon price was "not irrelevant" in the company's decision, but was not raised by Detroit as it decided whether to pull out. Labor's proposed change to fringe benefits tax, reversed by the Coalition, was irrelevant to the decision, he said. The government is now holding talks with Australia’s last remaining car-maker, Toyota, which issued a statement on Wednesday saying Holden’s decision “will place unprecedented pressure on the local supplier network and our ability to build cars in Australia”. The company said it “will now work with our suppliers, key stakeholders and the government to determine our next steps and whether we can continue operating as the sole vehicle manufacturer in Australia”. “I hope they stay,” Abbott told ABC radio. He spoke to Toyota’s Australian chief executive, Max Yasuda, on Wednesday night. “And to Toyota's credit they have been prepared to say to their workforce, ‘look, we need to be competitive, we need to try to ensure that we can be just as productive as workforces in other parts of the Toyota global network’. And also Toyota, to their credit, have had a strong export program and this is something that in more recent years Holden weren't able to manage.” Napthine said it was critical that Toyota did not close its Altona factory. "It is important in terms of jobs, but it is also vital for manufacturing capacity, for skills capacity, for the future of these areas in our economy in Victoria," he said. In a statement from Detroit on Wednesday afternoon, Holden said: “Approximately 2,900 positions will be impacted over the next four years. This will comprise 1,600 from the Elizabeth vehicle manufacturing plant [in South Australia] and approximately 1,300 from Holden’s Victorian workforce.” Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning. |