Last week in Canberra, Maria Vamvakinou MP, the Federal Member for Calwell raised the Autoliv Job losses in Parliament.
“Autoliv is Australia’s largest manufacturer of seatbelts and airbags and it is devastating that the Campbellfield factory has been forced to cut more than half its 900 strong workforce, in order to remain viable in the face of price competition from overseas suppliers.” said Ms Vamvakinou.
“I fear that in the absence of a coherent strategy to rebuild the international competitiveness of Australia’s automotive component manufacturing sector, these job losses at Autolive will be followed by more closures and restructuring as more Australian jobs are lost offshore.” said Ms Vamvakinou.
“Australian Bureau of Statistics figures released on 16 June show Australia lost almost 30,000 manufacturing jobs in the 9 months to May, divided evenly across NSW, Victoria & Queensland. In net terms, manufacturing jobs have shrunk by 84,000 in the past 5 years.” said Ms Vamvakinou
Maria pointed out that if we “Combine the 500 jobs at Autoliv, with the 160 jobs at windscreen maker Trico in Springvale, the 170 jobs set to go at the radiator factory Calsonic in Port Melbourne, and the 65 potential job losses at Webco in Thomastown, and all this adds up to a disturbing trend for the automotive industry in Victoria.”
“I agree with the Leader of the Opposition, Kim Beazley that these job losses are a ‘national disgrace’ and a further sign of the Howard governments failed export policy and failure to diversify and strengthen the nation’s manufacturers.” said Ms Vamvakinou.
“Exporting Australian jobs is certainly not something the Calwell electorate can afford, and these job losses will be felt hard by the 500 families who have lost an income from Autoliv.” said Ms Vamvakinou.
