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Toyota said yesterday that it would stop making cars in Australia by the end of 2017, throwing a final blow to car manufacturing in the country.
The car giant’s announcement, which will result in the loss of around 2,500 jobs, had been widely anticipated and came just two months after US manufacturer General Motors said it would end production in Australia by 2017.
Ford Motors also announced in May that it would cease Australian production in 2016.
All told some 6,600 manufacturing jobs will be axed between the three companies.
Toyota president Akio Toyoda delivered the news to workers at the company’s Altona plant near Melbourne. The firm has built cars in Australia since 1963.
Critics say that round after round of Free Trade Agreements have resulted in grossly unfair competition from Asian rivals.
These agreements, they say, have made Australia a convenient dumping-ground for manufactured produce from elsewhere at the expense of its own industries.
The Australian Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries recently asked the government to reassess the agreements, but its pleas fell upon deaf ears.
Federal government has said further agreements, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and others with China, Japan and South Korea, will soon be completed and put further pressure on manufacturing companies.
With the industry employing an estimated fifth of all manufacturing workers, a substantial section of the workforce will lose their jobs within a few years.
Trade unions are already bracing themselves for struggles to secure their members’ rights as companies close and attempt to flee without paying their bills.