Call to save last car factory jobs

Funding programs for retrenched auto workers should focus on saving “strategically important jobs” in cities like Geelong rather than just creating new employment, according to a new study.
Parliamentary Library Fellow Dr Tom Barnes recommended redesigning packages such as Geelong Region Innovation and Investment Fund (GRIIF), noting that Australia would join Saudi Arabia next year as the only G20s countries without vehicle manufacturing industries.
Dr Barnes’ report was released in the wake of Ford closing its Geelong factory earlier this month, costing another 500 jobs in the city’s manufacturing industry.
His study labelled the demise of Australian car manufacturing “a highly significant moment in the country’s economic and social history”.
Dr Barnes, a Victorian Parliamentary Library Fellow, found that the likely national cost was 40,000 to 50,000 lost jobs but possibly more, with around half coming from Victoria.
Geelong and parts of Melbourne would bear the brunt of the Victorian losses, he wrote.
“Some of the affected regions are already relatively disadvantaged in socio-economic terms, with higher-than-average levels of unemployment and lower-than-average levels of household income.”
Dr Barnes noted that community groups, businesses and government were trying to “offset the negative impacts” but suggested changes to funding programs such as the GRIIF.
“The design of regional adjustment funds should be reconsidered so the retention of strategically important jobs, particularly in the manufacturing sector, can be supported as well as the current stated policy goal of creating new and sustainable jobs.
“Policymakers should carefully consider the effectiveness of measures in place to support the ongoing role of manufacturing, especially in regions affected by the auto industry transition.”
Dr Barnes said possible industry assistance program changes included a sharper focus on “job-matching” retrenched workers’ skills with demand among non-automotive manufacturers and encouraging young people into manufacturing careers.