The subsidy to car manufacturers per worker were crazy. GMH got $50,000 per worker and Toyota got $ 29,000 per worker.
It was not sustainable. Of course, the unions would seduce the goose to lay bigger golden eggs. It's human nature.
https://www.heraldsun.com.au/blogs/andrew-bolt/our-subsidies-holdens-high-wages/... Quote:... TAXPAYERS are covering about $2500 of the cost of each Australian-made car with subsidies equivalent to as much as $50,000 for every employee directly involved in their manufacture. Subsidies to the industry have averaged about $550 million a year for the past six years, not including the benefit of tariffs and the luxury car tax, according to the Productivity Commission.
So what exactly are taxpayers subsidising?
Holden and Toyota both say their manufacturing costs are about $3750 per car higher in Australia than in other markets... Manufacturing costs added $2000, mainly as a result of labour costs, which it said were double the cost per vehicle compared with European manufacturers, and four times the cost of Asia. Holden, which has about 2000 staff directly involved in manufacturing at its Elizabeth plant in South Australia and its engine plant in Port Melbourne, received $96m in subsidies last year, or just under $50,000 per employee.Toyota, with 2500 manufacturing employees, received $72m in government grants, or $29,000 per employee. ...