The Australian car manufacturing industry is alive and well, according to the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU) national secretary, Dave Oliver, reacting to comments made earlier in the week from Dog and Lemon car buyer’s guide editor, Clive Matthew-Wilson, who said the industry was dying.
Oliver was quoted in ABC News Online saying that the industry is still employing almost a quarter of a million Australians.
“The industry comprises not just the major car manufacturers Ford, Holden or Toyota, but also a large number of auto-component companies and retail dealerships across the country that continue to employ over 200,000 Australians,” he told ABC News Online.
Matthew-Wilson of Dog and Lemon said earlier in the week that investment in the automotive industry was wasted because competition from foreign labour was rife.
But Oliver said the local industry was vibrant and innovative.
“Mr Matthew-Wilson’s range of assertions are starkly incorrect, especially as he seems to draw heavily on the financial state of international partners to ground his assumptions,” he told ABC News Online.
“In actual fact, Australia’s car industry is better positioned than its international counterparts.”