Give them the 500 mill that labor had in mind. Or lose up to 50,000 jobs Holden is a victim of cheap imports and a govt; that does not bye local.
So does Abbott let them walk away or does he fix the problem. If he has the ability.

Heck, it's only money! Why can't our Fed just do some quantitative easing by printing a few hundred billions of 'new' money - not by buying debt, just cut out the middleman and print it.
This would simultaneously reduce the value of the $A, which is something the Fed has been wanting to happen anyway, and enable Tony and Joe to prop-up Holden, Qantas, and Rio's northern alumina smelting operation.
Why not go for it? What's the down-side?

So our superannuation funds will be worth less in the global market, and retirement savings take a hit, but surely our stock market will rally to new highs, and thus offset the temporary down-sides?

Of course, it would help enormously if our labour market was more competitive anyway, so there would have to be a wages/salaries freeze to stave-off any moves to scrape back the resultant reduction in 'real' wages - afterall, why should any reduction in buying power be limited to retirees and super funds? One in, all in.
Honestly, can't we all tighten the belt a notch or two, put the new plasma or plastic surgery on hold for the sake of good ol' Oz?

A new paradigm for Oz? Why not?

By world standards Holden has always been a lousy car and from its inception has been foreign owned; it was only marginally better than the bomb from which much of its early design came, the horrendous Chev.

Buyers of imported cars subsidized GMH in the past, it's time to write Holden off as a lapse of historical note.

Any manufacturer that makes large V8s in this day has lost the plot and working on Holdens is a nightmare although most modern cars are just as bad in this respect.

Having said that I must admit to owning a Statesman which is very economical for a 3.8 litre machine.

"""
Heck, it's only money! Why can't our Fed just do some quantitative easing by printing a few hundred billions of 'new' money - not by buying debt, just cut out the middleman and print it.
"""

I think they refer to it as a currency war. It's well underway. I wonder why we aren't playing in this one, or are we?

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-11-15/unspoken-toxic-secret-heart-shadow-banking-self-securitization-central-banks

"""
Any manufacturer that makes large V8s in this day has lost the plot
"""

V8's still sell all over the world, I own a couple myself, wouldn't have it any other way!

Dear Shaggy Dog,

The reference to Holden as an Australian "Icon?"
in my earlier post was not intended in the way
you used it. I was not referring to sacred images
in this instance merely to the symbol that the Holden
used to be and still is for many people. There are
more meanings to the term "Icon" than the narrow one
you infer. You should look them up.

Dear Is Mise,

We also own a Statesman, and love it!
Ah well!