In some promising news, the federal and South Australian governments have thrown their support behind a proposal by Belgian automotive entrepreneur, Guido Dumarey, to purchase Holden’s Elizabeth assembly plant and maintain operations. From The Australian:
South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill has offered his tentative support for a Belgian tycoon’s plan to buy Adelaide’s Holden plant.
Federal cabinet minister Christopher Pyne earlier said he was hopeful the factory could survive after writing a letter of support for Punch Corporation owner Guido Dumarey, who was trying to convince General Motors to sell.
Mr Weatherill said the idea was just one of the many proposals being assessed to keep the manufacturing base, due to close at the end of 2017, going.
With thousands of jobs on the chopping block in South Australia from Holden’s scheduled departure next year, we should all hope that a deal between Punch Corporation and General Motors can be struck.
The key sticking points seem to be whether General Motors is willing to part with its intellectual property and whether the federal government is willing to kick in funding.
Fingers crossed.
