AMWU: SA Holden response puts Abbott to shame

The AMWU has welcomed the South Australia Government’s plan to cushion the blow from Holden’s planned exit as a comprehensive and responsible strategy to sustain the state’s manufacturing sector and create extra jobs.

The union’s national secretary Paul Bastian contrasted the $330 million that the SA Government is seeking from the Federal Government with the inadequate offering of $60 million from Prime Minister Tony Abbott for both South Australia and Victoria.

The union is also backing the call from Premier Jay Weatherill for the Commonwealth to fast-track $3.1 billion of infrastructure projects which require $2.63 billion in federal funding.

“This option presented by the SA Government takes a realistic look at what the state will need to keep its manufacturing sector in business and boost infrastructure to prevent a decline in skilled jobs with Holden’s departure in 2017,” Mr Bastian said.

“The package really shows how woefully lacking the Abbott proposal is, that $60 million in federal funding is nowhere near enough to stop South Australia’s automotive manufacturing industry shedding thousands of jobs.

“It shows that Mr Weatherill’s Government is in touch with its community.

“The challenge is there for Tony Abbott to now step up to the plate by providing the investment that South Australians need.”

The state’s proposal comes after the AMWU has calculated it will cost $4.7 nationally in federal and state support to restore the economic activity and jobs placed in jeopardy from Holden’s exit.

AMWU Acting SA State Secretary Colin Fenney said it was important the SA Government would itself contribute $60 million, but all re-training had to prepare workers to give them both the skills and on-real-world experience to be job-ready for prospective employers.

He also said accelerated infrastructure projects needed to provide secure, full-time jobs for South Australians, particularly those displaced due to the Holden closure.

“Some careful, viable solutions are in this plan which will give SA businesses the opportunity to innovate and create new full-time jobs that our members will need,” Mr Fenney said.

“There is real funding for re-training and skills recognition of members likely to lose jobs in the auto sector, but we have to make sure the training arrangements will equip them to step into new full-time positions.

“This package shows the ideas that are generated when a government makes a real effort to consult the expertise of business, unions and the financial sector together – that’s something the Coalition Government in Canberra are yet to understand.”