Senator Nick Xenephon "Priority to save Holden "

[csv8]

INDEPENDENT Senator Nick Xenophon has warned the incoming coalition government that his priority is to save Holden's Elizabeth plant.

"If the new government wants to make an enemy of me for the next six years, they will do so by dudding Holdens and I don't think they want to do that," he told ABC radio on Monday.

The coalition's policy is to slash $500 million from automotive assistance, but the South Australian senator says the industry needs the money.

He says he has already tried to contact Holden boss Mike Devereux and hopefully will speak to him on Monday.

Senator Xenophon's vote may become crucial to the new government, but he would not be drawn on what deals he would be prepared to do in exchange for saving Holden jobs.
http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/b...-1226715043835

[Brazen]

Interesting, a few other independent senators follow Nick closely so if the government gets him on side a few others follow.

Sophie Mirrabella the shadow industry minister is in trouble in her seat, I think a few in the industry will be hoping she doesnt make it. Polar opposite to Kim Carr in that she dosnt support the car making industry that much.

[BHDOGS]

So in other words who else he will screw to get the money politics at its finest

[bobthebilda]

The government wont need Xenophons assistance to reduce car industry assistance anyhow. The Labor Government already has a reduction planned for 2016 onwards anyhow.

On 10 November 2008 the Government announced A New Car Plan for a Greener Future. The plan described the replacement of ACIS Stage 3 with the Automotive Transformation Scheme (ATS). ACIS Stage 3 was planned to run from 1 January 2011 to 31 December 2015.

ATS will run from 1 January 2011 to 31 December 2020 and will include:

■capped assistance of $1.5 billion from 2011 to 2015
■capped assistance of $1 billion from 2016 to 2020 and
■uncapped assistance of approximately $847 million.
Assistance will be available in the form of cash payments to automotive

The ATS comes with very specific criteria for getting the money anyhow. The Labor government wasnt making the car makers meet these criteria before handing out the money (and they were giving cash splashes out on top of it anyhow). The money that Holden is asking for now, is outside anything that they are entitled to, and would have been given at the pleasure of Kim Carr and Kevin Rudd, it wont be done this way under the Liberals. All Nick Xenophon will do is highlight that Holden want money that they are not legislatively entitled to.

[Brazen]

Originally Posted by BHDOGS

So in other words who else he will screw to get the money politics at its finest

He is sticking up for his constituents in SA, he owes no party anything.

[GQ_Smooth]

Big fan of Nick Xenophon on other issues, at this stage no reason to doubt his sincerity at this stage.

[jpd80]

This should be about how to achieve best bang for bucks spent, while the former government was
spending money on the car industry, perhaps it wasn't executed in the wisest or most effective way.
Through proper targeting of support in key areas, the industry may be able to improve sales.

A reversal of recent FBT changes is but one example of indirect assistance, assistance has to be effective
otherwise it just a wasted effort, billions of dollars peed up against the wall does no one good in the long run.

Using incentives to get buyers to support local products may be a more fruitful endevor than direct assistance.

[FPV8U]

Less handouts to GMH, Toyota & Ford and more incentives for purchasers is how i would like to see it.

They need to make Australian made cars more attractive again, not boost a companys bank balance for the problem to crop up again in 1-2 years when that runs out, without changing new car buyers habbits or getting GMH & Toyota to build more salable cars here what is the point?

[1TUFFUTE]

whose this holden lover......what about Toyota and ford. ******......just lookin afer his mates by the look of it......in other terms..nothing will be done that will help this country in the long run.

[BHDOGS]

Originally Posted by Brazen

He is sticking up for his constituents in SA, he owes no party anything.

Thats very well and good but the money comes form somewhere which means someone else will get shafted for more hand outs for unsustainable industrys

[FPV8U]

Ford have announced they are closing, i wouldn't want another cent of my Tax spent on them unless they reversed that decision.

[Brazen]

Originally Posted by BHDOGS

Thats very well and good but the money comes form somewhere which means someone else will get shafted for more hand outs for unsustainable industrys

Thats the whole point of having electorates, otherwise Sydney or Melbourne would have all the money spent on them.

As for the industry being unsustainable, that is a comment that is probably better directed at Germany, France, UK, Italy, France, Malaysia, Canada or the rest of the planet that spends a lot more on subsidies per head than Australia.

[karj]

Originally Posted by 1TUFFUTE

whose this holden lover......what about Toyota and ford. ******......just lookin afer his mates by the look of it......in other terms..nothing will be done that will help this country in the long run.

Xenophon achieved an incredible election result on Sunday. He achieved 25.88% of the primary senate vote in SA, which was just behind the Liberals who got 26.69% and well in front of Labor who got 22.78%. It was an almost unprecendented result and he very nearly got enough primary votes to earn 2 senate quotas.

Xenophon has a history of trying (and succeeding) to get better outcomes for South Australia, and he was rewarded for this at the ballot box on Sunday.

His support for Holden is not about looking after mates, it's about looking after his constituents - the 26% of South Australians that voted for him. South Australia is often overlooked in federal election campaigns... there seems to be a belief in Canberra that Western Sydney = Australia.

[jpd80]

Originally Posted by BHDOGS

Thats very well and good but the money comes form somewhere which means someone else will get shafted for more hand outs for unsustainable industrys

Without becoming political, the country now has run up a $250 billion debt, that is what is sapping
the government of funds to help the car industry. There are no doubt countless examples of
money flushed down the dunny but honestly, judicial support of the car industry is prudent and justified.

We poo poo a few billion to the auto industry but 250 billion in debt goes straight through to the keeper, how odd...

[1TUFFUTE]

what im ****ed about is if all the effort gos into saving holden all of a sudden, when ford were left on there own to die......screw your constituents and politics.....what it boils down to is the muppets running this country have ruined our chances of ever driving future falcons.....despite the rescent run of amzing models.

[karj]

Originally Posted by 1TUFFUTE

what im ****ed about is if all the effort gos into saving holden all of a sudden, when ford were left on there own to die......screw your constituents and politics.....what it boils down to is the muppets running this country have ruined our chances of ever driving future falcons.....despite the rescent run of amzing models.

The demise of the Falcon cannot be entirely blamed on Government. Ford deserve a good portion of that blame.

[Kayos]

Righto, if you follow and know some things he's said, he is the most in touch "poli" australia has ever had.. Once again good on him for sticking up for the little people, this isn't about holden toyota or ford..
Unfortunately tony "abutt" will provide 75k for some skirt that makes 150k pa to take off 6 months and have a child, looking after the upper class as usual liberals. Can't believe that aussies can be so daft sometimes.

[HULK EF]

policies/politics has no place on here ( may aswell bring up religion ) aswell.. the above policies HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH CARS so should not see the light of day on these forums. Will only cause infighting on here. Not even going to start on the disaster of the last 6 years.. As it is not "On topic".

[Bossxr8]

Originally Posted by FPV8U

Less handouts to GMH, Toyota & Ford and more incentives for purchasers is how i would like to see it.

They need to make Australian made cars more attractive again, not boost a companys bank balance for the problem to crop up again in 1-2 years when that runs out, without changing new car buyers habbits or getting GMH & Toyota to build more salable cars here what is the point?

This I agree with. Throwing money at Holden does not help sell cars, and they need volume to survive, not cash handouts which don't help an aussie buyer choose to buy Australian made. They need incentives to encourage them to walk past an import and buy locally made.

[dimka100]

Instead of throwing money away at a foreign company, why not develop incentives for people purchasing Australian made cars … Things like No stamp duty, cheaper rego, reduced GST on locally made cars would go a long way in making Aussie cars cheaper to buy and hence more competitive and attractive in the Australian market …

[bobthebilda]

Originally Posted by Kayos

Righto, if you follow and know some things he's said, he is the most in touch "poli" australia has ever had.. Once again good on him for sticking up for the little people, this isn't about holden toyota or ford..
Unfortunately tony "abutt" will provide 75k for some skirt that makes 150k pa to take off 6 months and have a child, looking after the upper class as usual liberals. Can't believe that aussies can be so daft sometimes.

Considering that she probably paid circa $45,000 in tax the year before, and will do so for many years after she returns to work, then you shouldnt see an issue with it. The problem is, that if we dont allow the people on the higher incomes (and $150,000 is high, but not over the top) to have babies and maintain lifestyles, then the only people who will have babies are the "less well off", who are more prone to being a drag on society.

[Joe5619]

I'm hoping Tony & his team bring some new & fresh ideas to the automotive table. The current ideas haven’t been working for a long time. The sad part is, if (& it’s still a big if) they actually do have some great new ideas, it is too late for Ford.

[Kayos]

Originally Posted by bobthebilda

Considering that she probably paid circa $45,000 in tax the year before, and will do so for many years after she returns to work, then you shouldnt see an issue with it. The problem is, that if we dont allow the people on the higher incomes (and $150,000 is high, but not over the top) to have babies and maintain lifestyles, then the only people who will have babies are the "less well off", who are more prone to being a drag on society.

The ONLY reason I'd want the tax payers money to support someones child in any way would be IVF if they meet certain criteria, I don't give a flyer for some highly payed princess to have a 6 month break on the tax payer.
You want it, you support it, you deal with it, on any so called scale, That goes for men and women.
We've got roads that need fixing!!! Or more cops on the beat dealing with the last gens ***** ups.

[PepeLePew]

Reminder, politics has no place on this forum unless discussion is DIRECTLY related to the car industry. Enough on other topics please.

[mik]

Personally rather than drip feeding selected companies , i would rather see policies implemented that will make industry /manufacturing across the board more profitable, ie if you grease the wheels of industry, they kick on and employ more people, build more product, more people working means more people spending money.............. less people on social security, win for the economy , win for industry, the exact opposite it would seem to that of the last 6 years.
If we are going to get industry cranking again cost needs to come down, the power industry has said if the carbon tax goes the cost of power should come down by about 10 percent, I would imagine energy cost for building cars to be huge so that should be a good start.
Edit: to add to that i think power is also a huge cost for smelting steel so there may even be benefits if the cost of steel comes down a tad.

[BENT_8]

Originally Posted by 1TUFFUTE

what im ****ed about is if all the effort gos into saving holden all of a sudden, when ford were left on there own to die......screw your constituents and politics.....what it boils down to is the muppets running this country have ruined our chances of ever driving future falcons.....despite the rescent run of amzing models.

Ford were asked to sit down with the government and put forward a plan for assistance to stay, they declined and pulled stumps.

Ask yourself why.

[HULK EF]

Originally Posted by PepeLePew

Reminder, politics has no place on this forum unless discussion is DIRECTLY related to the car industry. Enough on other topics please.

Yep, as i stated yesterday above ^^^

[castellan]

Originally Posted by Bossxr8

This I agree with. Throwing money at Holden does not help sell cars, and they need volume to survive, not cash handouts which don't help an aussie buyer choose to buy Australian made. They need incentives to encourage them to walk past an import and buy locally made.

We use to have a Tariff
35% by the end of 1960's
45% in 1978
57.5% in 1988
10% in 2004
5% in 2010
And did i hear anyone cry and moan about that, back then, no !
If we never had tariff we would of never had a car industry in the first place would we. and we would be a back water 3rd world nation like we are set to become the white trash of Asia. and just a lot of hopless bogans on the dole.

[csv8]

There has been a meeting between South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill and Independent Senator Nick Xenophon on the future for Holden operations in northern Adelaide.

Both politicians are urging the federal Coalition to overhaul the Fringe Benefit Tax (FBT) on cars, even though the Liberals have pledged not the make any changes.

Federal Labor announced FBT changes just ahead of the federal election but Mr Weatherill did not back them, nor did Senator Xenophon or the automotive industry, all parties fearing the tax changes would affect sales for struggling Holden, which manufactures at Elizabeth in Adelaide.

Mr Weatherill said that while he did support federal Labor's plan, continuing with the existing tax system would not be ideal either.

"That current system disadvantages Australian-made vehicles," he said.

"There are some inbuilt advantages for foreign-made vehicles in the FBT system.

"Something like 70 per cent of the vehicles that go into those novated leases are foreign-made vehicles. We think some important changes could be made."
Mr Weatherill and Senator Xenophon left their meeting at Parliament House in Adelaide vowing to campaign together to secure Holden's manufacturing future.
http://au.news.yahoo.com/sa/latest/a...e-in-adelaide/
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[prydey]

the disturbing thing for me is, prior to ford announcing their closure, the industry was never taken seriously. it was always assumed that the cry of 'closure' was a bluff and only used to get more money.

since ford showed that it was in fact a very real situation, and announced their closure, the focus has swung back 100% to trying to assist local production. instead of the focus being on local govts trying to save a tree and buy a hybrid etc, there is now a real push to support home grown products where ever possible.

this is the annoying thing for me. it took one of the big 3 to close their doors before anyone took them seriously.