The destruction of the Australian car industry has been over some decades. Many complex issues and events have created a slow burn since the end of the sixties....The fire is nearly out. Last man standing? Toyota. They stated today that they will stay.......we'll see... Most of my mates know that my heart is with Ford Falcons. But we have two iconic Holdens in our garage. A 1969 HK327 V8 GTS Monaro and an HSV Signature Coupe'. Both of these cars are stunning....even on the world stage.....both of which we will never see the likes of again! I have owned more Holdens than Fords and always had a soft spot for Holdens.

I really can't understand what appears to be a short sighted decision. We are finally coming out of the worst recession in memory and our dollar is again becoming more affordable. Both good ingredients for a future for the car industry. I was lucky enough to tour the GM-Holdens Fisherman's Bend plant in Melbourne with my good mate Nick Gontas several years ago. There is massive investment in that facility and as such there is no question Australia makes the best value large sedans on the planet. The quality of the equivalent to the Commodore and the Falcon Ford in the USA has been well behind for decades.

Holden have been a large influence in my life and I am most upset to see both gone (as we knew them!). The loss of manufacture of these cars in Australia is a loss for every Australian. THANKS VERY MUCH TO THE GREEDY SHORT SIGHTED EXECUTIVES IN DETROIT!

Doctor.

What I was attempting to say is that the destruction is not quite complete. Anyone with dedication and passion for the Australian Auto manufacturing industry might consider the fact that we are (slowly) coming out of the worst recession in memory and the dollar is slowly declining in value and therefore look a bit deeper into the future . The Detroit fatarsez are obviously not doing this so that is where I see the shortsightedness.

I have to agree with your point of view on the role of the unions in this too.

Cheers
Nick.

the argument that it is the fault of the unions does not hold water.
Toyota estimates the cost of labour to build a car in Australia is about 14 % of the cost of the car.
If the workers cut their pay and conditions in half it would still only amount to 7%.

i saw Lidsay Fox on TV the other night arguing that no business in Australia should get taxpayer assistance. But hang on a minute, he would be one of the biggest beneficiaries of taxpayer assistance in australia.. his companies get a refund of virtually all fuel tax they pay, in effect road users like you and I pay the full 38 cents in the dollar and most of it goes straight back to the transport industry.
so the roads their huge trucks roll on are funded by the ordinary motorist, the road transport industry in general, not all, I know some operators are struggling, but by Mr. Foxes own words that does not justify taxpayer support.
As for farmers, virtually everything they do has a taxpayer refund in there somewhere, fuel tax, low interest loans, loan guarantees, industry assistance, rural assistance grants, tax holidays, I can remember when it was cheaper to buy butter in England than it was to buy it at the local shop because of the taxpayer funded support.

In my own country town I pay rates at over 12 cents in the dollar of valuation on my home, worth about $350,000, the agricultural users pay about .038 cents in the dollar, and a farm around here is valued in the millions.
poor farmers.

As for the button car 'reforms' it has achieved exactly what was intended, john button and the labor party have never been interested in australian workers and australian industry. they answer to a higher authority, that is their belief in a global economy. their problem and our problem is that they are only ones working towards it, so the dictators in asia get preference over the australian worker.
As for tony abbott he may have come in a bit late but he could have done more, letting his ministers attack GM was hardly going to promote an inner glow of friendliness. maybe less attack dog and more friendly kitten would have been more appropriate, or at least common courtesy.

Careful there fellas ! there's good and bad Arguments which ever way you go. Try getting in to town in a ute you won't be able to buy because the workers that used to make the cars are now without a job and can't afford the food you can't sell to them because you haven't got a ute, they would have made,to take it to them to buy. Looks like you will have plenty to eat yourself unless the workers kids come and take it off you when they get desperate for a feed. They will be walking though, they can't afford a ute their dad used to make. You or your kids will probably catch up with them at centrelink though when they are picking up there dole cheque or at the hospital where they were seeing a family member with some condition come about because they couldn't afford some wholesome food you can't get to them in a ute you now can't afford to buy. We'll all end up on some benefit that no one is paying taxes to contribute toward when we have jobs or could sell our food. How about at the moment we think about supporting the car industry some how. While we're not thinking about how to support the farmers through the next drought because we'll have some other industry next week to be concerned about that's being threatened or being pulled apart. We're in this together for the long run. Just on the contribution of Tony Abbott you say hasn't been here long enough to be responsible for any of all this. You may recall he was in opposition for 6 years or so and could do nothing except say NO to everything and disrupt everything that was put forward. Some yesses may have given us a different outcome to what we have now.

��..Jack