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Australian car manufacturing shutdown is a legacy of Abbott and Hockey

Many in this country held their breath when the federal Abbott / Hockey government made the decision not to give money to companies struggling to continue their manufacturing industries. This followed the Global Financial Crisis and the Rudd government’s fight against job losses after his election in 2007. Abbott’s toxic nature in the opposition attracted people who chose to turn things around in 2013.

Abbott was not a good prime minister and his clumsy attitude towards manufacturing as a whole has devastated manufacturers who decided to move abroad. While Turnbull soon took over his brief administration, the facts have not changed much.

Incompetent treasurer Hockey was given the job of ambassador to Washington to get him out of the way. Abbott, however, remained as a backup to attack Turnbull at all times. However, the facts are that the latter plays the game of the former leader and many of his policies go against the interests of the country.

Today the country regrets the closure of the Holden plant in South Australia and the effect will be enormous. Apart from the car factory, many parts suppliers are also affected. Some have already left with a promised widespread tsunami of closures expected to follow.

The question is why was the decision made to abandon these industries and what, if anything, will replace them? We can’t exactly get into the heads of the decision makers of that era, but we can look at their records to see how they think.

Abbott is a long-term climate change denier and supports the continuation of the coal-fired power plant. He and Hockey closed renewable energy plants and withdrew money from research bodies working on this form of energy. They also helped the company, Adani, a proven environmental destroyer, start up the largest coal mine in Queensland history.

The Turnbull government is now looking to grant him a $ 1 billion loan, something they would not do for the auto industry, with the suspicious promise of creating jobs in the region. It is now a concern of the agricultural industry that is stating how the artesian water they depend on can be poisoned. There is already evidence of this.

Apart from the destruction of natural habitat over a large area of ​​land, the coal is of poor quality and will be used to shore up electricity generation in India. That means Australia will get little, if any, benefit from it. Meanwhile, there is also the risk of damage to the Great Barrier Reef that large ships must pass through to load coal. A spill of these would spell disaster for the fragile ecosystem.

The bottom line is that people believe lies more than facts. They have a little idea and it is built inside their brains into something that will eventually turn out to be nothing but pain and suffering. This is human nature and it worked for Trump in the US Hitting opponents with lies and deceit is therefore a triumph when it comes to politics. It certainly worked for Abbott.

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