Bracks Heads Auto Industry Review

RPO83 · 14-02-2008, 05:39 PM

Former Victorian Labor Premier Steve Bracks will head a Federal Government review of the Automotive Industry...

http://news.smh.com.au/bracks-to-hea...0214-1s68.html

In my view an industry expert should have been appointed to this position such as Ian Vaughan who is also part of the Automotive Industry Strategic Action Group (AISAG). The AISAG along with other industry bodies are already finalising documented and well researched solutions for the automotive industry.

If anything I hope that the new Federal Government learn something about the industry and its limitations in the application and development of hybrid technology.

demondan · 14-02-2008, 06:07 PM

I'll just repost what I wrote on australian car advice after first seeing this.

Great the guy who had to have an enquiry to see if they should have an enquiry is heading the enquiry into the auto industry, I’m sure he will find a way to out sauce it.
Bracks did nothing for Victoria except create the reputation of being known as the enquiry goverment and that’s coming from a labor supporter most of the time.

fangq · 14-02-2008, 07:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by demondan

I'll just repost what I wrote on australian car advice after first seeing this.

Great the guy who had to have an enquiry to see if they should have an enquiry is heading the enquiry into the auto industry, I’m sure he will find a way to out sauce it.
Bracks did nothing for Victoria except create the reputation of being known as the enquiry goverment and that’s coming from a labor supporter most of the time.

He'll bring back the Trabant
Steve

Bearman · 14-02-2008, 07:55 PM

Oh crap!! Why put that knobjockey in charge of an auto industry review?? He'll screw it up for sure, just look at Victoria!!

He was very bad news for Victoria and he'll be very bad news for the auto industry.

AusM · 14-02-2008, 09:57 PM

I wonder if the review will include laws about letting your kids go nuts in the family SAAB after hitting the turps???

Bracks scolds son over drink-drive crash: http://tinyurl.com/ys2sdj

dom_105 · 14-02-2008, 11:25 PM

Out of all the people they could have picked, they picked Bracks.

:togo:

jdg · 14-02-2008, 11:33 PM

>$500 isnt bad for a days work!...thats how much hes getting a day.

dom_105 · 14-02-2008, 11:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jdg

>$500 isnt bad for a days work!...thats how much hes getting a day.

I heard that it was in the realm of $1k a day.

ltd · 15-02-2008, 09:23 AM

This is not a good thing at all. They wanted someone who was up to speed on spin and producing government friendly responses, thats why they chose this loser. We all know the outcomes too already; they will cut any R&D grants and they will also remove the final tarriffs in the car industry (great idea, but only if every other country does the same thing which nobody does).
This is why we have a PM who speaks mandarin; to ease the transition of Australian jobs going to China.

SB076 · 15-02-2008, 09:36 AM

Put it this way its not that bad - Steve will "look into it" which means he will do absolutely nothing - however sometimes politicians doing nothing is better than them actually doing something and making things worse

RG · 15-02-2008, 09:37 AM

Well there goes the Aus auto industry.

GS608 · 15-02-2008, 09:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dom_105

I heard that it was in the realm of $1k a day.

i heard it was something like $10k a day

:

Homer1 · 15-02-2008, 10:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ltd

This is why we have a PM who speaks mandarin; to ease the transition of Australian jobs going to China.

Nothing wrong with being able to speak Mandarin, and unless our workers are willing to accept what is basically slave wages, we can't possibly compete with China on manufacturing. That my friend is the unfortunate reality of present worldwide economics.

As for Bracks.....they would have been better off getting Gumby for the job....lot less money paid for the same level of competency for the job.

:

**russellw** · 15-02-2008, 10:49 AM

It is frankly a strange choice. There is nothing in his background that would indicate that he is qualified for the task at hand or indeed actually qualified for anything other than brushing his own hair. It smacks horribly of jobs for the boys and is thus likely to cost large sums of money and achieve little that is of any long term benefit.

That we have lost almost 35 % of our total manufacturing capacity in the last decade (and that is not just limited to the automotive industry); that we have only 40% of the people employed by the manufacturing sector in the automotive industry compared to a decade ago (which was also well below the peak) and that the trend in the US is substantially worse, would tend to suggest that there are some serious issues in need of meaningful research but I fear we will not get that.

Cheers
Russ

4Vman · 15-02-2008, 11:50 AM

Surely there are better more qualified people around for this task.. at the very least someone without obvious political prejudices and a history of ineffective benign leadership and management....

bigev · 15-02-2008, 07:52 PM

The mirror man! Don't worry, Steve will look in to it. Nothing will ever get done though.

The next time you hear about this review will be when it hasn't produced a report on time.

ZA-289 · 15-02-2008, 07:59 PM

This sounds like bad news. It should have definatly gone to someone in the industry.

Seems to me like one poitician patting another ex politician on the back with a cushy high paying job. Utter Rubbish.

nugget378 · 15-02-2008, 08:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ltd

This is not a good thing at all. They wanted someone who was up to speed on spin and producing government friendly responses, thats why they chose this loser.

Surely Little Johnny wouild have been a hundred times better,after all no one has ever done spin as well as him...

Quote:

Originally Posted by 4Vman

Surely there are better more qualified people around for this task.. at the very least someone without obvious political prejudices and a history of ineffective benign leadership and management....

There would be hundreds...
But sadly in this world of the quid pro quo thats what happens..

Auslandau · 15-02-2008, 09:15 PM

Jobs for the boys.

Actually the figure reported on 3AW this week. ........ (yep I am old and listen to it every now and again) .......... is 10k per week.

| [/url] |

GS608 · 15-02-2008, 09:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by auslandau

Jobs for the boys.

Actually the figure reported on 3AW this week. ........ (yep I am old and listen to it every now and again) .......... is 10k per week.

thats a ridiculous amount of money for doing nothing!!

4Vman · 15-02-2008, 10:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by XR-CHIEF

thats a ridiculous amount of money for doing nothing!!

Its fair money for the right person... unfortunatly it looks like "jobs for the boys"..

**Silver Ghia** · 15-02-2008, 10:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 4Vman

Its fair money for the right person... unfortunatly it looks like "jobs for the boys"..

Couldn't think of a person more wrong for the job. Surely a waste of time and money now... and of course, opportunity.

gtfpv · 15-02-2008, 10:46 PM

i'm a labor voter too, and i'd rather have the smoke a joint party running victoria than this nitwit.
he is probably trying to work out how to introduce SATNAV speed control, and still fine drivers at the same time , maybe he'll install a throttle pedal sensor, when speed control comes in , and fine people for putting thier foot to the floor , for wanting to speed, even though satnav wouldnt allow it. this bloke is a funkin idiot, and so are all victorians for having voted him in more than once.

4Vman · 15-02-2008, 11:03 PM

Interesting in light of Krudd trying to withdraw $20mil of R+D funding to Ford...
Appoint one of the "red" boys to an "independant" panel to rubber stamp their ideas.. all independant of coarse...

I strongly support an enquiry though, the Aus car industry is stuffed.... i fear it might be a toothless tiger though with this nong involved, and a great opportunity lost..

fmc351 · 15-02-2008, 11:18 PM

Aus manufacturing is in trouble for reasons far earlier in history than the current or last 3 governments, part of it is the preference by Australians to buy cheap imported goods. Its one reason why so much parts manufacturing left the country. Australia has shown it wants cheap parts, not quality. Who here is willing to take a severe paycut? It would need to be severe.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jdg

>$500 isnt bad for a days work!...thats how much hes getting a day.

The going rate under the last government was $2,500 a day. Bracks is only getting $500 and something a day as per the announcement in Parliament.

Ill wait and see if he does a good job or not, or what the terms of reference are. He only has to chair it and keep it within the terms of reference, not inform it.

GK · 16-02-2008, 02:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigev

The mirror man! Don't worry, Steve will look in to it. Nothing will ever get done though.

The next time you hear about this review will be when it hasn't produced a report on time.

Classic!

GK

[Tonko] · 16-02-2008, 01:04 PM

Maybe he will push for all cars to be speed limited to 130km/h.....again....

dom_105 · 16-02-2008, 02:00 PM

In this case, Ford may as well start packing now.

ltd · 16-02-2008, 02:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Homer1

Nothing wrong with being able to speak Mandarin, and unless our workers are willing to accept what is basically slave wages, we can't possibly compete with China on manufacturing. That my friend is the unfortunate reality of present worldwide economics.

As for Bracks.....they would have been better off getting Gumby for the job....lot less money paid for the same level of competency for the job.

:

And the point of my post was to illuminate others on the real agenda of abolishing tarriffs which in theory is great, only if other countries were to do the same which of course they won't. What this means is that Australian cars which may be competitive elsewhere will have their prices artificially increased by a tarriff in another country, whilst we make imported cars here cheaper. Seriously, everyone is twittering on about interest rates and the high cost of living, what about the fact that everyone is buying foreign products that have blown aour current account deficit out to record levels? The fact that we have an earwax eating muppet espousing buying foreign does not bode well for our auto industry, its employees and their families. This is precisely why I buy Australian, as I refuse to send my money offshore when their are people I know who rely on my little contribution to this nation by being proud of what we do. Every time someone buys a Daewoo or a foreign car, the money ends up offshore. Now you may think that this would help another industry in another part of the world, but that other part of the world is not willing to allow unrestricted access to our manufacturers to compete. This is why I was gobsmacked to hear PM Rudd make the announcement that he did. Furthermore, you would have thought that as the unions represent such a large proportion of the government, they wouldn't facilitate so many jobs to go offshore.

As for Bracks, he will introduce a speed sensitive digital camera into the bumper bar of all new cars that automatically takes your photo when you go over the speed limit, then uploads it to the relevant authority. But to do that, he will exhaust over a billion dollars in enquiries and focus groups.

fmc351 · 16-02-2008, 05:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ltd

This is precisely why I buy Australian, as I refuse to send my money offshore when their are people I know who rely on my little contribution to this nation by being proud of what we do. Every time someone buys a Daewoo or a foreign car, the money ends up offshore. Now you may think that this would help another industry in another part of the world, but that other part of the world is not willing to allow unrestricted access to our manufacturers to compete. This is why I was gobsmacked to hear PM Rudd make the announcement that he did. Furthermore, you would have thought that as the unions represent such a large proportion of the government, they wouldn't facilitate so many jobs to go offshore.

A job is great so dont get me wrong, but where do you think the money goes from any Ford/Holden/Toyota you purchase? Walk around your house and list the Aussie products like TV's, furniture, and food. Then hit the garden the shed and garage and do the same thing.

Free trade agreements are not Rudds idea, he is stuck with many, and the process is set now. This was all done long before his time as a politician.