PRIME MINISTER:
Ok, look I am really here to talk about the Centenary of Anzac and to thank all of those who have so magnificently kicked off the Centenary of Anzac public fund today. I do want this to be a people’s celebration, not just an official’s one and Lindsay Fox has done a magnificent job mobilising the corporates of Australia to support this very important act of national remembrance over the next four years.
QUESTION:
Prime Minister can you explain why $150 million is too much to save the jobs for 3,000 Holden workers?
PRIME MINISTER:
We have long supported generous assistance for the car industry. That assistance has always been on the table; unfortunately that assistance wasn’t enough to keep Holden manufacturing in this country past 2017. Obviously we all feel for the workers, their families, their communities. The important thing though is not to recriminate, play the blame game or peddle false hope here. The important thing now is to build the kind of economy that will create jobs of the future in successful competitive world leading businesses and that’s why the Government is so determined to get taxes down and regulation down.
QUESTION:
Mr Abbott, Minister Macfarlane said yesterday that he was hoping Holden would delay a decision until next year so that the Government could make them an offer. You seem to be saying that there was never going to be more money on the table. Are those statements not contradictory?
PRIME MINISTER:
Absolutely not. We have always made it crystal clear that within the parameters of the policy that we took to the election, we wanted to keep the car industry, both Holden and Toyota, going in this country. Holden have announced they are not going to stay past 2017. The challenge now is to ensure that Toyota continue manufacturing in this country. It is important to remember that Toyota have a different business model to Holden – the Toyota business model is based much more on exports than Holden’s was in recent times. I am very hopeful that the integration of Toyota into the global operations of the company means that we can have a strong and prosperous future in this country.
QUESTION:
Why did you rule out more money for Holden before the Productivity Commission Inquiry had wrapped up?
PRIME MINISTER:
There was a very substantial amount of money on the table. The amount of money that is on the table has been there for a long time. It is a very substantial amount of money. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to keep Holden going. Now, I deeply regret that. I deeply regret that but I should point out that once companies have decided that their operations are not necessarily going to be viable for the long term, it is very hard to hold them. The previous government couldn’t keep Mitsubishi. The previous government wasn’t able to hold Ford. I deeply regret that over the last three months, which is as long as we have been in government, we haven’t been able to hold Holden. The fact is there was always money on the table. The challenge now is to ensure, as far as we reasonably can, that Toyota stays and that is what we are working on.
Thank you.
[ends]