Articles by Sid Maher

Motorists are paying as much as 13c a litre more at the petrol bowser as fuel retailers gouge "unreasonably high" profit margins, Australian Competition & Consumer Commission figures show.

The Australian car manufacturing industry is on the brink of collapse as Toyota warns that the future of its Melbourne operations will be under threat if a cost-cutting deal is rejected by unions and Holden appears certain to close its Adelaide car plant.Toyota warned yesterday that a no vote on a union workplace agreement would send "a very strong message to our parent company that we are not serious about transforming our business"."This will put our ability to continue building cars in Australia at serious risk," a spokeswoman said. She said a decision was due next year on the next-generation Camry and the company's export program. The warning from Toyota came as Acting Prime Minister Warren Truss wrote to Holden chairman and managing director Mike Devereux to demand that GM Holden "immediately provide a clear explanation of its future intentions and explain what its plans are for its Australian operations".Joe Hockey also demanded clarity from Holden, telling parliament it must "come clean" with the Australian people. "Either you are here, or you're not," the Treasurer said.He said there was no shortage of money being directed to the automotive industry, with net combined assistance in 2011 at $1.1 billion or $48,000 an employee. Many other companies would like to be able to remit Australian taxpayer funds back to their head offices "in Detroit, London, Tokyo or anywhere else", Mr Hockey added."We have put another billion dollars on the table from 2015," he said. "A hell of a lot of industries in Australia would love to get the assistance the automotive industry is getting." Motor-industry insiders said Holden felt "bullied and hectored" by the government intervention, which had sealed its fate, suggesting it gave Holden little choice but to bring on a closure announcement.They warned this could jeopardise 50,000 jobs because the closure of Holden would almost certainly lead to Toyota following suit. The ultimatum from the government to Holden came hours after Mr Devereux told a Productivity Commission inquiry in Melbourne that "there's been no decision made at this point".The commission's interim report on car industry assistance is due at the end of next week. Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane is planning to use to its release to make a statement of good faith to the carmaker to encourage it to await the release of the final report early next year.Mr Macfarlane accused Labor of politicising the issue and risking a "self-fulfilling prophecy". "I am not for a moment going to take any criticism from those opposite that the Coalition is anything but totally committed to the car industry and its future in Australia," he said.Mr Devereux refused to speculate on the timeframe for Holden's parent company to make a decision about its Australian production, amid speculation it will shut down its plants from 2016. "Where possible and where feasible, the general philosophy of our company is to build where we sell," he said. "We have continued over the years to make the case to our parent (company) that we want to continue to build things in this country."Holden had recently made an average profit of $50m a year, while receiving an average $180m of support in various forms from Australian taxpayers "which we take very very seriously". He spoke of government support as an investment in local jobs and economies with significant flow-on effects. "The budgetary cost, I think, of losing this industry would dwarf the cost of keeping it," Mr Devereux said. "The business case for having an auto industry is something that is understood all around the world."It costs General Motors an extra $3750 a car to build vehicles in Australia compared with other plants in the region. Productivity Commissioner Philip Weickhardt said simple arithmetic suggested workers would need to be paid "virtually nothing" to close the gap."There is a gap," Mr Devereux agreed. "I don't suggest we are asking to close that gap to zero. We need a public/private partnership over the long term to be able to be relatively competitive and to have GM be able to do what it wants to do, which is build where we sell."Mr Truss, in his letter, said Mr Devereux's comments "failed to provide a commitment that Holdenwill remain in Australia well into the future...Instead, your comments merely confirmed that a decision to end manufacturing in Australia remains a live option and has not been ruled out."The opposition's industry spokesman, Kim Carr, said there was "a very real threat that the Abbott government's inaction and downright hostility to the automotive industry will force Holden out of Australia and cause the entire industry to fail...This government has no comprehension of the social and economic catastrophe that would result if automotive manufacturing collapses."He accused Mr Truss and Mr Hockey of taking an "an extraordinarily cavalier attitude". In parliament, Mr Hockey warned the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union over the Toyota negotiations. "If you really care about the motor vehicle industry, I say to the Labor Party: ring up your good mates at the AMWU and tell them to recommend to the workers at Toyota that they should accept the deal offered by Toyota on Friday," the Treasurer said.He said Toyota had an additional cost of manufacturing in Australia of $2800 a vehicle. Toyota needed to get the deal through so it could say to its Japanese parent in good faith, "the workers of Australia really do want a manufacturing business". Toyota issued a blunt threat to its Australian workforce that a vote against a proposed industrial package would risk local operations.Employees are to vote on Friday on the measures, which would scrap some decades-old allowances. Toyota has described the measures in the agreement as urgently needed to remain productive. A spokeswoman said AMWU encouragement of a "no" vote was disappointing -- Toyota was doing everything possible to secure its employees' future and it expected union support for that. AMWU vehicle division national secretary Dave Smith said Toyota was using strongarm tactics.Pic Jon Kudelka 

Finance spokesman Andrew Robb has declared Labor's fringe benefits tax crackdown on company cars “dead, buried and cremated” with the election of the Coalition. Holden welcomed the reversal of Labor's fringe benefits tax changes that came with the Coalition's crushing election win. Holden said the FBT changes would have had “a significant impact” on its carmaking business. South Australian Labor Premier Jay Weatherill said his first order of business with Mr Abbott would be the Coalition's policy to reduce financial assistance to the automotive sector, which he said would force Holden to close its manufacturing plant in northern Adelaide.