House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2013-04-10 Daily Xml

Contents

GM HOLDEN

Mr HAMILTON-SMITH (Waite) (15:05): What is the Premier's detailed road map to ensure that sale volumes at Holden are increased and that the future of the company is genuinely secured?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier, Treasurer, Minister for State Development, Minister for the Public Sector, Minister for the Arts) (15:06): The fundamental thing that we are seeking to achieve is the investment of $1 billion by Holden in a new platform for two new vehicles between 2016 and 2022: that is the fundamental position. There are some things beyond our control, such as the exchange rate, and also the attitude of some of the other significant economies in the world which are taking dramatic steps to protect their car manufacturing industries.

We have seen this most recently with Japan, with the manipulation of their exchange rate, which is having a dramatic effect on the competitiveness of the South Australian car industry vis-a-vis particular vehicles like the Golf, which is being exported from Japan under the beneficial conditions created for it by the Japanese government in direct response to requests by manufacturers in that country to protect their industry.

They are obviously things which are beyond our control, but the things within our control are things like the co-investment package, making sure that we are part of Holden's global supply propositions rather than just supplying to a domestic market; seeking to ensure that our component manufacturers are also insinuated into the global supply chain; and making sure that this is the most competitive, resilient sector that we can possibly get and, in particular, Holden within that sector. Those are the ways in which we will promote a strong and growing car industry into the future.