Holden is maintaining a dignified corporate silence on its future while politicians brief media on versions of the car maker’s demands and future prospects.
“Holden will be gone from Australia in three or four years no matter what Canberra does to prop it up, senior ministers in the Abbott government now believe,” The Age reported today.
Political correspondent Mark Kenny claimed the bleak conclusion, which has not been stated publicly, is fuelling strong resistance inside the government to further taxpayer subsidies to the automotive industry.
“Also fuelling ministerial anger is the assistance sought by Holden in current crisis talks, which according to one is ‘in excess of $200 million’ per year from 2015, when the current car plan expires.” he reported.
The Australian, however, suggested Holden was asking for an annual rent payment from the national government to keep making cars here.
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“Holden has demanded annual ‘rent’ from the Coalition after 2016 to keep making cars in Australia,” Adelaide-based Sarah Martin reported.
“The bid for a yearly subsidy is a key issue dividing cabinet as it considers the future of taxpayer assistance to the car industry,” sources close to negotiations told The Australian. Martin’s report reminded readers that earlier this year, Holden’s Australian boss Mike Devereux characterised taxpayer assistance as a “rent” paid by governments to sustain the industry.
“Governments rent our industry to create jobs,” he said then.
Martin’s report also said the company wants government support for a “scaled-down domestic industry producing about 65,000 cars a year”.
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While Holden maintains its silence, the federal Opposition and the State Labor Government are keen to push the issue to the front of the queue.
Labor’s former federal industry minister Kim Carr urged the Abbott Government not to wait for an interim Productivity Commission report due before Christmas.
“It may well be that as soon as the December meeting, a decision is taken to actually wind down manufacturing facilities in this country,” he said.
Premier Jay Weatherill joined the urgings, donning his MPs with red T-shirts and launching a $350,000 campaign to save the car industry.
“This (timeframe) is utterly inconsistent with the timelines that Holden have for co-investment,” he said.
Federal Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane yesterday accused Premier Jay Weatherill of politicking, adding he was “bloody angry” with the Premier.
Holden, meanwhile, has never wavered from its position that it has to keep making cars until 2016 and is almost committed to new models being made here until 2022.
The next few months will be dominated by speculation on the car maker’s future.
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