The Wire

The Prime Minister’s 35 million dollar gift to one of the world’s richest car companies has been criticised as being unnecessary given that Toyota were planning to produce a hybrid Camry in Australia anyway. John Camillo from the AMWU was positive about the move in spite of the loss of 900 jobs from the car industry in recent months. Christine Milne says Australia should not still be producing “gas guzzlers” for the American market but letting policy reflect a global commitment to reducing greenhouse gases. Monique Richter from the Australian Conservation Foundation says what’s really needed rather than encouraging car use is a huge injection of money into public transport.