Tony Zappia (Makin, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Manufacturing) Share this | Hansard source

When Ben Chifley in 1948 launched the first Holden off the assembly line, it was a proud moment for Australia, as the headline in this newspaper I am holding clearly shows. Tomorrow will be a sad day for Australia. On Sunday I went out to Elizabeth, to a function organised by Holden for the local community there. I was there with the member for Wakefield. Every model of every Holden ever made was on display. It was a visual presentation of the work, innovation, design and contribution to Australia and the Australian economy that Holden has made for almost 70 years. Since 1948, 7.5 million cars have been produced by Holden, with 45 different models. Into each of those models went design and innovation. Seven decades of Australians not only built those cars but built a life for themselves and their families either working for Holden or working for one of its component manufacturers. Holden, as the member for Wakefield quite rightly pointed out, was not just a brand. It was an iconic, unique Australian brand. Some members might recall the ad: 'football, meat pies, kangaroos and Holden cars'. It became part of the Australian psyche.

On Sunday there was another very clear message from that event, as I spoke to Holden executives that are still with the company right now. Their clear message to me was that Holden would have stayed in Australia but for the negative attitude towards them from the Abbott-Turnbull coalition government. Holden was forced out of Australia by this coalition government, and it was this coalition government that turned on Holden. This will go down as one of the worst decisions ever made by an Australian government. Not only did Holden get pushed out of Australia; with them went Toyota, because Toyota had made it absolutely clear in the days before it happened that one car maker alone in Australia would not survive. They said that to the sham Productivity Commission inquiry that was underway at the time. Holden had two new models on the line, and Toyota had a strong export business going at the time. As Mike Devereux, the Holden chief executive at the time, pointed out, the car-making industry and Holden's contribution to Australia was $33 billion, or 18 times the level of assistance they were receiving. Those figures have never been disputed.

Australia was one of 13 countries that could design and make a car from start to finish. Of the G20 countries, only Saudi Arabia did not make cars, and now Australia will join them. Indeed, while Australia joins them, Saudi Arabia is going in the opposite direction and wanting to get into the car-making business. The loss of car making in this country wasn't just a loss of car making in its own right but a loss of manufacturing capability, including the massive loss of seven decades of research, design, expertise and skills that had built up over that time.

For South Australia, the cuts will be terrible. Twenty-four thousand jobs or thereabouts will be lost. The economy will take a $3.7 billion hit. The social costs, whether in unemployment, housing stress or health effects, are already being seen. In the Playford council area, where the unemployment rate is 15 per cent, and in Elizabeth, where it is 32 per cent, it will hit hard. So let's not talk about employment figures elsewhere in Australia. Holden's closure is this government's present to the people of the northern suburbs of Adelaide for Christmas. It is shameful.

I make another point about the stupidity of this decision. The two car makers were producing nearly 200,000 cars a year at the time. That is going to affect our balance of trade, because all of those cars will now have to come in from overseas, or it will be a loss of export.

I finish on this point. I take this opportunity to thank the people who, over seven decades, made South Australia proud to be the home of Holden, and Australians proud to drive a Holden. It's the car I drive. They showed that Australia could build a world-class car, and for seven decades we did that. I certainly wish them well in their endeavours to get work elsewhere, but I know how disappointed they are that their jobs have come to an end. I repeat what I said earlier: this would have to go down as one of the worst decisions ever made by a government, certainly in my lifetime.

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