Im with you Dave, mitsu oz just never got the message that no one really wants a large fwd car as a family tractor, and its cost them.
Its yet another strike for Rann being a dick in my books. If a company cant make it on their own, why should tax payers prob them up? Sure the jobs were useful for the local economy, but it was always just delaying the inevitable.
And the unions have a lot to answer for as well. The thing that is killing the Automotive industry in Australia is the conditions workers get/expect! Where else in Australia can an unskilled worker get $45,000pa for tightening 4 bolts of a seat into the car?! Unions have driven wages and conditions so high, they have priced themselves out of a job. Any other industry would only get $25-30,000 p.a. for unskilled work (hospitality, bricky labourer etc). This has made it so unnatractive to build cars in australia and why without major export contracts (like holden have) its just not viable. The unions have f**ked it up for everyone working in the industry, so serves them right! (i stole that from another forum but it sums up my thoughts well)