Auto industry blasts ‘pointless’ reform

    The Australian
    September 05, 2014


COALITION plans to allow personal imports of new cars have been savaged by the automotive sector, amid warnings that the move will cause job losses without providing consumer benefits.      

As reported by The Australian yesterday, Assistant Infrastructure Minister Jamie Briggs has released a policy discussion paper on changes to the Motor Vehicle Standards Act. He said the federal government would look at easing restrictions on individual imports.

This would allow consumers to potentially save thousands of dollars on vehicles bought from overseas dealerships, particularly in the luxury segment.

In Britain, a high-end Land Rover Discovery has a listing price of about £54,500 ($96,350), compared with $88,000 in Australia, but once the luxury car tax and other charges are included, the on-road cost jumps to about $105,000.

Industry groups in the automotive sector reacted angrily to the mooted changes yesterday, saying the government had created uncertainty in the sector that may further dampen demand.      

Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries chief executive Tony Weber said the changes would only benefit the “top end of town”, and called for the government to instead focus on removing the 33 per cent luxury car tax and import tariffs.

“There is this notion in this country that people pay much more for cars, but the vast major­ity of cars are very competitively priced, and certainly at the low end there is absolutely no evidence of any differential,” he said.

The head of corporate affairs for Mercedes-Benz in the Asia-Pacific, David McCarthy, agreed, saying the “mass-market consumer” would not benefit from the measure.   

“There is a real and present risk that investment, skills training and employment levels will be adversely impacted not just by the uncertainty that now exists but by the possibility of decisions made to change the nature of a market that is operating effectively, ­efficiently and for the benefit of the Australian consumer,” he said. “One has to ask: why disrupt investment, employment, skills training and business confidence to try and make the most expensive cars cheaper?”

Australian Motor Industry Fed­eration chief Richard Dudley said industry had “multiple concerns” about some of the ideas included in the discussion paper.

I've always found the land rover discovery a great car for ploughing through level crossings crook.
you should be all over this one, good news for consumers.

what auto industry?

we have no local manufacturing at all now after a couple years time.  perhaps if the lazy auto industry had been better at their job and made cheaper, better cars this wouldn't be happening.

there is no Australian car Industry any more ....Abbotts screwed that up  All we have left are shops that sell impoted cars ... we can buy anything else from overseas, why not cars too? We've been getting ripped off for years.

I'm happy to have protections if we are protecting our industry, but now that the industry is finished, why should consumers pay more?

Catastrophic outcome from the Government’s biggest economic decision yet

An appalling lack of leadership from Government will cost up to 50,000 Australian workers their jobs following the announcement by Holden that it will cease production in 2017, unions said today.

ACTU Secretary Dave Oliver said the Liberal Government has comprehensively failed its first test.

“As a result of Government inaction Australia will lose up to 50,000 direct skilled jobs in the automotive industry, $21 billion will be wiped from the economy and regions will go into recession,” Mr Oliver said.

“This is the most significant economic decision the Abbott Government has made and it’s going to have catastrophic consequences for our country.

“Tony Abbott has played politics with this issue and this is the result.”

Mr Oliver said it was the Government’s job to save jobs, not sink jobs.  But faced with the choice of supporting an iconic industry that generates billions of dollars of economic activity, or adhering to a free market ideology, Mr Abbott chose the latter, he said.

“Mr Abbott has made it clear that he has no jobs plan for the future,” Mr Oliver said.

“The departure of Holden will sink the car industry in this county and the flow on effects for jobs and manufacturing will be cataclysmic.

“Tony Abbott’s legacy will be as the Unemployment Prime Minister.

“The Liberal Government has no plan for future industries beyond the mining boom and under their watch the car manufacturing industry has been demolished.

“This is devastating news for car manufacturing in Australia and for the tens of thousands of workers who will be left without a job.

“The indifference that the Coalition has displayed towards Holden and the workers who rely on them is astonishing. It begs serious questions about the Government’s ability to protect jobs and its commitment to this vital task.

“This will be a legacy this Government will carry and be judged upon: the death of the car industry in Australia due to mismanagement, politicising and a fundamental lack of care for people’s jobs.

“Australia's claim to be a modern growing productive economy is in serious doubt under this Government.
“The question for Tony Abbott is – why didn’t he fight to protect Australian jobs?”

longweekend58 wrote on Sep 5^th, 2014 at 8:48am:


up until abbott took office, we had a auto industry ... Abbott  (or Hockey) issued an ultimatum and the remaining players decided to leave 

What part of that are you struggling with?

Let's get some facts straight. The industry was already struggling, and it was likely at some point soon the decision to go would have happened. This is more to do with global economic conditions than any particular government.

The Liberals basically forced the hand of the remaining players by saying you have to make it on your own. Had they provided money it might have staved off the moving for a while, but ultimately it isn't economically viable for the foreseeable future.

John Smith wrote on Sep 5^th, 2014 at 8:54pm:


My point was despite subsidies, other players left and those that remained struggled to find reasons not to do the same, despite the support. There was a good possibility this was always going to happen, the lack of subsidies just made them announce it a bit sooner.