Election time

8 April 2022

Driving change

Mention the word election, and most peoples’ faces glaze over.

Elections can be drawn out. They are painful. And by nature, they’re divisive. But elections are also incredibly important. They are our chance to have a say in who calls the shots.

With the 2021 state election in the rear-view mirror, Tasmania now has local government elections and a federal election to look forward to this year.

I’ll be kind and let you forget local elections for now. So, let’s concentrate on who will lead the country.

The Chamber has launched its manifesto, REVolution: The automotive industry’s policy priorities for the next Australian Government, which calls on the next Federal Government to implement 35 recommendations that will make a real difference to 72,521 auto businesses and the 380,000 Australians working in them.

The most urgent ‘call’ is to address critical labour shortages across all sectors of the industry. The next Federal Government needs to: 

• Boost apprentice support
• Improve the eligibility for employers to sponsor skilled migrants
• Ensure all automotive retailers are eligible for any future Federal Government subsidies related to COVID-19 relief payments
• Take a leadership role in implementing a national Zero and Low Emission Vehicle policy in collaboration with the automotive retail industry
• Increase investment and research in an industry-led and federally funded national program aimed at the proper disposal of End-of-Life Vehicles.

There’s more to do, of course, but if the next Aussie government gets these policies quickly into place it will shore up a $40 billion sector. And that’s good for every Australian.

Read REVolution: The automotive industry’s policy priorities for the next Australian Government.

Words: TACC State Manager, Bruce McIntosh. As featured in The Mercury Friday 8 April 2022.