The Final Report will be out in March but can the Automotive Industry wait that long?
With the Productivity Commission (PC) reviewing the industry and releasing preliminary finding in on December 20th, 2013 but with the final report coming out on March, 2014, the Abbott Government won’t make any decisions til then, but S.A. Manufacturing Minister, Tom Kenyon, says the industry can’t wait that long.
The Federal Minister for Industry; Ian Macfarlane has done the rounds, met with Holden, Toyota & Ford along with the Unions and says he’ll meet with more manufacturers and miners too and has re-iterated policies won’t be launched until they get the PC Report and has said they want to cut red tape, incentivise investment in R&D, attract foreign investment and deliver a level playing field on anti-dumping laws.
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Research commissioned by The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries has estimated that 40,000 jobs would go if Toyota and Holden were to follow Ford’s lead and pull their manufacturing out of Australia.
The report goes onto say that the industry generates a $2.15 billion flow on effect, so a $500 million federal subsidy per annum is a sensible proposition.
General Motors in Detroit is considering its future in Australia, with rumours it may make a decision to shut down its Adelaide Holden plant before years end.
Time will only tell to see what Government and Industry do. Government has not done enough and stronger policies should have been implemented 10 years ago when the writing was on the wall. With the change in Government, the promises and same old lines get repeated, we want stronger manufacturing; we all do, but what are you going to do about it? Ian Macfarlane has thrown around the Governement’s ideas and none of those ideas were throwing money in the way of subsidy. They’ve talked their way into power, let’s see how they walk…
You can find the submission made to the Productivity Commission by the The Federal Chamber of Automotive here and what the Federal Government has asked the Productivity Commission to base their report on here
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If you have any queries, would like advice or more information, please contact me here, call on +61 3 9210 4428 or email me at djovica@redstack.com.au
