A war of words has erupted in Australia between the main political parties on one hand and unions on the other concerning the country’s struggling automotive industry and ahead of an imminent general election.
Both Labour and the Liberal-dominated coalition opposition are launching volleys from their respective trenches as Ford prepares to leave the country, General Motors’ Holden division warns it may not survive as a local manufacturer unless drastic measures are taken and a stubbornly high Australian dollar hampers business.
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“The Federal opposition is attempting to cut AU$0.5bn out of the automotive industry,” a source claimed to just-auto from Australia. “We are [also] concerned about high tariffs and with high tariffs we need to have investment.
“We have seen significant uncertainty with the high Australian dollar.”
Liberal Party leader, Tony Abbott, was not immediately available for comment from Sydney on whether that AU$0.5bn figure was correct, but his Shadow Minister, Sophie Mirabella, attacked the current Australian Labour administration’s carbon tax that she claims makes vehicles more expensive to produce.
“This is on top of Labour’s AU$1.4bn worth of broken promises to the car industry,” she said. “The coalition has repeatedly warned of the impact of the carbon tax on the car industry.
“If elected [the coalition] will act to lower manufacturing costs by immediately repealing this job-destroying carbon tax.”
Australia was rocked recently by Ford’s announcement it would end production in 2016 with the direct loss of 1,200 jobs, although the Australian Manufacturers Workers’ Union (AMWU) told just-auto this number could soar to 6,000 once component and ancillary posts are taken into account.
On top of that news, GM’s Holden is currently in talks with its unions in a bid to secure “labour-related cost reductions,” warning bluntly it “can’t survive as a local manufacturer if we’re not competitive and we don’t reduce our costs.”
The Australian Federal Government said it would contribute AU$30m and the Victorian State government, AU$9m, to what they refer to as “structural adjustment programmes for the Geelong and Northern Melbourne regions, while a “significant contribution” is also sought from Ford.
There will also be an additional AU$10m for the Automotive New Markets Programme, with the Victorian Government contributing AU$2m to support local component suppliers.
Premier of Victoira, Denis Napthine, also announced he would lead a “special taskforce” to generate new job opportunities for workers and communites affected by the Ford announcement.
“As Premier, I will lead this taskforce which is dedicated to ensuring the people affected by Ford’s decision are provided with every opportunity to take up new jobs and new business opportunities,” he said.
Into the fray has also stepped the AMWU, which is urging the coalition ahead of the Australian election to “stop using the auto industry as a political football and give bi-partisan support…in order to protect jobs.”
