Kevin Rudd calls for return of Aussie car manufacturing
Former Prime Minister says local vehicle production is a sovereign capability Australia ‘sorely lacks’ as Chinese-built cars dominate our sales chartsThe News
Kevin Rudd reckons Australia should be building cars again. Addressing the National Press Club on the rise of China, the former Prime Minister and Mandarin-speaking China scholar named the automotive sector as one of seven areas Australia must invest in to shore up its industrial base, alongside defence, artificial intelligence and critical minerals.
And he didn't mince words about how we got here.
The Key Details
- Rudd names auto industry as critical to Australia sovereign capability
- Former PM blasts the Abbott-Hockey government over auto industry's closure
- Says 3D printing and EVs make a local revival viable
- Chinese-built vehicles have topped Aussie sales for months
- Follows Albanese's own call for locally built EVs earlier this year
The Finer Details
Kevin Rudd has come out firing, and he says that Australia should start building cars again.
During a National Press Club address on China's rise, the long running speech delved into seven areas he reckons Australia must invest in.
"Sixth is the automotive sector, a sovereign capability we now sorely lack. Of all the short-sighted acts of economic vandalism in recent decades, the closure of our car industry by the Abbott-Hockey government stands apart," Rudd told the Press Club.
"Australia under my government had one of the most modest industry subsidies in the auto world.
"But politics triumphed over reason, sacrificing tens of thousands of jobs, tearing the bleeding heart out of Australia's engineering and manufacturing base and rendering us 100 per cent dependent on auto imports,” he said.
It's a familiar tune. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said much the same thing at a News Corp event earlier this year, telling the room "there's no reason why we can't make [electric] vehicles" and adding that "at the very least, we can make parts and components, including batteries here. Indeed, there are companies looking at doing just that".
Those comments followed remarks from Chery International president Zhang Guibing, who suggested robotics and supportive government policy could make building cars in Australia stack up financially once more.
Rudd seems to agree, saying that technology can make manufacturing affordable here.
"Now, the 3D printing and EV revolutions mean we can rebuild an Australian auto sector and repair this vital vulnerability in our national security."
The Road Ahead
The economics remain brutal. Aussie wages dwarf those in Thailand and China, and free-trade deals with Japan, Korea and China have made imports cheaper still.
Whether any car-maker – Chinese or otherwise – has the appetite to tip billions into an Australian plant, likely propped up by taxpayer subsidies, is another question entirely.
For now, it's talk by a former-PM. Good talk, but talk.
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