Treasurer Chris Bowen says Labor will put up a new support package for car makers ‘because the industry is important for Australian manufacturing’.
Bowen has confirmed Labor will announce its plans today.
“It goes to co-investments with state governments to ensure that the industry survives, diversifying manufacturing production,” Bowen told ABC Radio.
The measures will also make sure Australian car manufacturers are able to compete in the world market and that local demand is strong, he says.
The package is expected to be worth $200 million over the next two years, although Mr Bowen did not confirm the figure.
“We think the car industry is important because of its impacts on research and development, it impacts through the supply chain,” says Bowen.
“It’s an important part of the Australian manufacturing story.”
The treasurer said discussions with car manufacturers started long before the government announced changes to fringe benefits tax concessions for salary sacrificed cars, which has been condemned by many in the industry.
Prime minister Kevin Rudd says supporting the car industry was important for the economy, as it provided an estimated 250,000 jobs either directly or indirectly.
He says the industry had been under pressure long before the government’s controversial changes to car leasing under the fringe benefits tax were announced recently.
“I have said before that I do not believe manufacturing is an industry just for the past; it’s an industry for the future,” he told ABC Radio.
He says the government’s position is in contrast to the opposition’s which would ‘lop off’
$500 million in industry support.
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