Car industry running out of time

The Australian Manufacturing Workers Union has met with the Abbott gov's industry minister Ian Macfarlane in Canberra, warning him that the gov was taking too long to decide if it's going to support the car industry here or not. They fear that more car makers in Australia will just simply pull the plug without assurances from the gov that they will have gov support.

General Motors’ Board in Detroit in the US is expected to discuss Holden this week, according to media reports, though a final decision will not be taken. 

Mr Bastian said government statements that any funding would be the last for the industry plus the withdrawl of $500 million “is not how you attract investment to the country, it’s not how you inspire confidence in our capability.” 

He said trade reform was needed to help local manufacturers compete in a local car market which had the world’s lowest tariffs, among the auto world’s lowest government support but 67 brands on sale, compared to 51 in the massive US market. 

The $620million in subsidies to the car industry in 2013 compares to $700 million for mining, $900 million for banks and financial services, and $1.4 billion for primary production. 

“It gets down to whether you really want a country which makes things, whether you’re prepared to give auto co-investment, which is still far less than what government puts into mining, agriculture and the banks,” he said. more

For a gov that prides itself on being some sort of economic guru (pfffft) it would be catastrophic if the industry collapsed because of either gov inaction, or a gov decision to abandon the industry.