$275mill for Holden ...Help me understand

[Paradigm]

...coz I just don't get it.


http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=8439182

Australia's car and auto parts industry has been given a $275 million government

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/business/2012/02/gm-posts-record-7-6-billion-profit/

General Motors earned a record $7.6 billion profit last year, the highest profit in the company’s 103-year history. It sold 640,000 more cars and trucks in 2011 than it did in 2010 and took in a total of $105 billion.

 

[Pessimistic]

You prefer we continue giving money to bankers instead ?

 

[Bengraham]

Couldnt help you.

 

[pjcrows]

You don't "get it"?

You mean you don't understand it, or you don't agree with it? Two different things.

 

[Keys]

You don't "get it"?

You mean you don't understand it, or you don't agree with it? Two different things.

He means he didn't get the $275mil

I don't understand why I didn't get it either

 

[Admiral Byng]

I understand it perfectly, but I'm keeping it to myself.

 

[noddy]

...coz I just don't get it.


http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=8439182



http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/business/2012/02/gm-posts-record-7-6-billion-profit/

GM put in one billion also & guarantee that they will build Holdens in this country at least until 2022, no $$ no jobs plus in regards to governments helping to sustain there motor industries Australia is near the bottom of the table in terms of assistance given.

Don't be surprised if Tone is dragged kicking & screaming to pronounce yes instead of no this time.

 

[medusala]

You prefer we continue giving money to bankers instead ?

So you were against Rudd guaranteeing debts of the banks then were you?

If so I am glad we both agree it was moronic policy by the government just as this is.

 

[Clay Davis]

I don't really get why we persist with supporting car manufacture either.

 

[Moo]

It's important for manufacturing ....apparently

 

[medusala]

It's important for manufacturing ....apparently

It is very important to build things. Digging stuff out of the ground doesnt count.

 

[PottSie2]

GM put in one billion also & guarantee that they will build Holdens in this country at least until 2022, no $$ no jobs plus in regards to governments helping to sustain there motor industries Australia is near the bottom of the table in terms of assistance given.

Don't be surprised if Tone is dragged kicking & screaming to pronounce yes instead of no this time.

So does that mean no more subsidies announcements/grants for 10 years ?

 

[Slax]

So you were against Rudd guaranteeing debts of the banks then were you?

If so I am glad we both agree it was moronic policy by the government just as this is.

You are kidding me, this was a policy that had to happen otherwise we were at risk of part of the banking industry collapsing. People were making a run on financial institutions to withdraw their funds and hold them in cash under the mattress. There is not the amount of actual printed notes in the economy to allow this and the institutions can not hold the amounts need to deal with the extra space required to hold this sort of volume.

The cost of providing this was minimal especially when you consider the risks involved.

 

[Footy Smarts]

Tim Colebatch made a good point this morning. The assistance given to the auto sector is a better value for money spend than many other sectors. He used the example of the diesel fuel tax rebate for the mining industry which costs $2 billion a year (5 times the assistance to the car industry) and has far less economy-wide benifits than the assistance to the car industry.

There's an argument for no assistance to any industry but if you're going to take that stance there's a number of other industries getting assistance that's worse value for the taxpayer than the car industry.

 

[cancat]

This is what the deal entailed under the old handout. I've yet to see details of the new one.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/nat...s-into-the-ditch/story-e6frgd0x-1226265114623

• pay rises above award
• union control of casual hire
• if production stops through lack of demand 60% or 50% of wages continues to be paid
• up to $700 income protection paid per employee provided the policies are purchased from an insurance company "nominated" by the unions
• voluntary redundancy - 3 1/2 weeks of pay for each year of service, uncapped, plus a payout of up to 30 days' sick leave
• compulsory redundancy - 5 weeks' pay per year of service, uncapped, plus the payout of 30 days of sick leave

 

[Belnakor]

Having an automotive industry in the country is also part of the national interest, ie defense etc.

Don't nessecarily believe in proping up industry but by the same token we're straying into the Dutch Disease terrority and we don't want our economy to be totally rooted when it dies down.

 

[King Elvis]

Tim Colebatch made a good point this morning. The assistance given to the auto sector is a better value for money spend than many other sectors. He used the example of the diesel fuel tax rebate for the mining industry which costs $2 billion a year (5 times the assistance to the car industry) and has far less economy-wide benifits than the assistance to the car industry.

There's an argument for no assistance to any industry but if you're going to take that stance there's a number of other industries getting assistance that's worse value for the taxpayer than the car industry.

I'm ok with it.

And I don't know why we screw around with an RSPT or MRRT when that diesel rebate is still in existence; get rid of it.


Although the issues cancat highlights, that's just ****ing ridiculous.

Unions are going to have a lot of blood on their hands if they don't start being more reasonable in their expectations.

 

[Clay Davis]

Having an automotive industry in the country is also part of the national interest, ie defense etc.

I'm not sure how they are aligned. What materiel does the Holden plant produce?

That sounds almost like a Maginot line argument, honestly.

 

[Scotland]

Tim Colebatch made a good point this morning. The assistance given to the auto sector is a better value for money spend than many other sectors. He used the example of the diesel fuel tax rebate for the mining industry which costs $2 billion a year (5 times the assistance to the car industry) and has far less economy-wide benifits than the assistance to the car industry.

There is no special 'fuel subsidy' for the mining industry.

Fuel excise is levied on road-going vehicles and is intended to fund maintenance and improvement of the road network. By all means lets review this if there's merit in it but this notion that mining has some secret deal that nobody else is in on is frustrating as hell.

 

[cancat]

Diesel fuel rebate scheme

​

Under DFRS (or off-road scheme) the government provided a rebate of the excise and customs duty paid on diesel and like fuels purchased for specific off-road uses – mainly in the mining, agriculture and other primary production industries as well as for certain eligible residential uses. The primary purpose of the scheme is to maintain competitiveness in key export industries, such as mining and agriculture, in a manner consistent with the government’s broader fiscal objectives.

Most of the rebate is paid to miners.

 

[Scotland]

I'm not sure how they are aligned. What materiel does the Holden plant produce?

That sounds almost like a Maginot line argument, honestly.

The HQ Holden was the most Australian car ever produced with (from memory) 99.7% local content.

These days car manufacturing in Australia is predominantly assembly. I wonder what we'd really be able to produce if East Asia turned off the tap of material supply?

 

[Scotland]

Diesel fuel rebate scheme

Most of the rebate is paid to miners.

I didn't suggest that it wasn't.

All I would like is for people arguing for the 'mining fuel subsidy' to be removed to acknowledge that they are actually arguing for mining to be taxed differently with regards to fuel excise to other industries operating on private land.

 

[Footy Smarts]

There is no special 'fuel subsidy' for the mining industry.

Fuel excise is levied on road-going vehicles and is intended to fund maintenance and improvement of the road network. By all means lets review this if there's merit in it but this notion that mining has some secret deal that nobody else is in on is frustrating as hell.

Well the fact that there's an excise for fuel purchased for off-road work basically means it's a mining and agriculture subsidy. Mining does have a special deal because they're the main sector that uses fuel off road. It is a subsidy and the vast majority of it is directed towards the mining industry.

Also it's not on road-going vehicles. As Cancat showed it's specifically for off-road uses which is pretty much mining and agriculture. Sure if I want to run an off-road taxi service I might be able to apply for the excise but somehow I don't think that will be profitable.

 

[Paradigm]

Okay....read all that.
So we have to cough up money to keep car manufacturer here even though gloablly they make billion+ dollar profits and now they have secured the component makers jobs too and they will make two special models blah blah ......








........................just like Mitsubishi. Love that 380

Meanwhile .....the people in Keith are holding chook raffles to keep their hospital open ...a hospital situated on the Dukes Highway....


Sorry ...nope ...don't get it.

 

[Clay Davis]

Meanwhile .....the people in Keith are holding chook raffles to keep their hospital open ...a hospital situated on the Dukes Highway....

I think you should keep this sentiment for talkback radio. The merits of protecting car manufacture are entirely unrelated to hospital funding, which is essentially a state govt responsibility.