$200mill package to Ford, Holden, Toyota to offset FBT changes

[Outbackjack]

Originally Posted by jpd80

Had that person's bank account been recorded in his will, the government wouldn't have a leg to stand on.
That's the problem with getting old, accounts become inactive and slip through the cracks into government coffers.

You would think that hey... But now ANY bank account that is untouched for 3 years get stolen by the government.... That is so corrupt I am speechless.

[karj]

For heavens sake, it does not get stolen by the government.

Inactive bank accounts are claimed by ASIC. The amount of time used to be 7 years, now it's 3.

This money can then be searched for, and reclaimed by the owner of the bank account or their descendents.

In many respects, the changes are good. Inactive bank accounts are often forgotten and banks are unable to notify the owner, because they have forgotten to update their address or have passed away. When ASIC claim the account, bank fees and charges are no longer slugged to the account and it gives an easy way to search for any unclaimed money. The changes also mean that the ASIC claimed money will now attract interest in line with CPI inflation (which had not been the case previously).

In my opinion, the changes are good, but 3 years is a bit short - I think the inactivity period should be 5 years (only because the reclaim process is a bit inconvenient).

[KIWI-1]

+1000

[Outbackjack]

Originally Posted by karj

For heavens sake, it does not get stolen by the government.

Inactive bank accounts are claimed by ASIC. The amount of time used to be 7 years, now it's 3.

This money can then be searched for, and reclaimed by the owner of the bank account or their descendents.

In many respects, the changes are good. Inactive bank accounts are often forgotten and banks are unable to notify the owner, because they have forgotten to update their address or have passed away. When ASIC claim the account, bank fees and charges are no longer slugged to the account and it gives an easy way to search for any unclaimed money. The changes also mean that the ASIC claimed money will now attract interest in line with CPI inflation (which had not been the case previously).

In my opinion, the changes are good, but 3 years is a bit short - I think the inactivity period should be 5 years (only because the reclaim process is a bit inconvenient).

I dont care who takes the $$ It all ends up going to the government to squander. This precedent is very disturbing.... Whats next? Super accounts...oh thats right its already up for grabs....What about floating share accounts?? I have a few of those that I have not looked at for at least 10 years..... Thats the whole point of long term saving strategies. And I bet the process to get your money back is made as difficult as possible so that most simply give up trying.....

Maybe this is where the $$ are coming from to prop up the FBT losses.

[IDT]

Originally Posted by turbodewd

Outbackjack,

The old tax regime was just middle class/upper class welfare. It helped Aussies buy cars who dont need the help AND just sent money overseas coz most of the cars purchased were imports.

Rudd did the right thing.

How many people do you know who earn more than $100k a year or more who have a novated lease car? or anyone in the highest tax bracket for that matter. If you know even one he needs a new accountant.

[zilo]

Just another FBT/Govt bashing /sook thread...

Nothing to see here, move on....

[naddis01]

Did I hear correctly over the weekend that there was no modelling done at all on how the FBT changes would impact on car sales?

[jpblue1000]

Bloody middle class!
always complaining about something.
Pay too much tax, not enough of it given back, I want more spent on this, I dont want to pay anymore, they took this away, they applied that, I lost this I didnt gain that, it's not fair, bloody dole bludging, queue jumping asylum seeking terrorist homos, they didnt ask me, I didnt vote for that PM I don't like it.

JP

[KIWI-1]

Originally Posted by naddis01

Did I hear correctly over the weekend that there was no modelling done at all on how the FBT changes would impact on car sales?

Yep

[Bossxr8]

Ford think overall industry sales will drop by 10%, and locally made cars by 20%. Bravo Rudd, you moron. I'd wonder how much of that $1.8 billion saved would disappear due to lower GST, stamp duty, rego costs etc that line the governments pockets on every car sold, not to mention all the people who work for novated lease companies who have already lost their jobs and are no longer paying tax. It's another mining tax all over again, it will save nothing.

[Fordman1]

Will do nothing to repair what has been damaged due to policy.

[jpd80]

While the tougher "buy Australian produced cars" policy for government departments is welcome news,
it is completely undone by Rudd's earlier wheel clamping of business substantiation for novated leases.

A reversal of the latter while embracing the former would be a glimmer of hope to beleaguered local industry.

[csv8]

Won't help FORD, as no FORD cars will be made in Aus from 2016..

[Fordman1]

This won't help the local industry, most are Novated leases !

[dddd]

Originally Posted by jpd80

There are two sides to those deficits, excessive spending and reduced tax receipts to cover expenditure,
a nasty combination indeed and no easy solutions in sight.

The present government under Rudd is now doing more of what a liberal government would do
if elected to power, there's no easy way out of this and the pain will have to be shared around.
Tax coming in has to be increased and government discretionary spending slashed, it has to be done.

What we really need more than anything is the dollar back down to 80 or even 70 cents to reduce
export costs and drive serious increases in export revenue and the economic flow on that generates.

We need the reserve to man up and drop official interest rates, and stare down the inflation demon...

I agree we need the dollar back down into the seventies again, however one thing everyone needs to understand is, when the government screams we have massively reduced tax receipts, we all need to realise they mean reduced from their own ridiculously optimistic figures, which every economist laughed at when they were announced in the first place, and this present Labour Government has done the exact same thing, every single budget. Not once were they within a bull's roar of what they told us it would be.

The next thing we need to be aware of is, despite this so-called lack of income, they are still receiving something like 30%-50% each year MORE than Howard ever had to play with.

Make no mistake we have this huge debt over our heads because of Labor's spending sprees, not because we don't have enough money coming in.

Margaret Thatcher put it perfectly many years ago "the problem with socialist governments is they always run out of other people's money to spend" and it's so true. How many times have we seen both State and Federal Labor governments leaving huge debts, Liberal governments get in and act like adults and clean the whole mess up, get rid of the debt, which means cut backs, which of course the people hate and in return hate the Liberals for this, and vote them out because of it, and so Labour gets back in and the whole ludicrous cycle stars again. The idea of hating the party that caused the whole mess in the first place doesn't even enter their heads.

[GREGL]

Originally Posted by jpblue1000

Bloody middle class!
always complaining about something.
Pay too much tax, not enough of it given back, I want more spent on this, I dont want to pay anymore, they took this away, they applied that, I lost this I didnt gain that, it's not fair, bloody dole bludging, queue jumping asylum seeking terrorist homos, they didnt ask me, I didnt vote for that PM I don't like it.

JP

Are you serious . everyones a homophobic racist . Last time I heard AUSTRALIA was a democracy and as such had freedom of speech . If you choose to interpret a collective dissent with the way this country run as against your principles just vote on nov. 8 if the outcome doesn't suit you your are quite welcome to go elsewhere . no one is stopping you.
Ever stop to think that the "middle class" is the one that always carries the can . It is never the over 200k a year who can afford it ,it is always the 40 - 150 k plebs that 1 can't protest and lobby because they are too busy working and 2 maybe it pees off this majority of the population that actually contribute the major part of the tax income for the govt.

[zilo]

In an interview on Sky news Tony Abbott announced today that his govt would not be financially supporting the local car makers.

He said that they weren't producing what people wanted so should be allowed to close.

[jpblue1000]

Originally Posted by GREGL

Are you serious... Last time I heard AUSTRALIA was a democracy and as such had freedom of speech .

Yes I am! Australian Middle class is always bloody complaining, Im not stopping anyone from complaining just pointing out that all the middle class seems to do is complain. They never do anything about it. complain and moan but never get of the keyboard to do something about it. 'Time poor' middle class too busy to fix their problems, always thinking they could do better but never lifting a finger to do it, Keyboard experts who know maybe 10 percent of the issues, who then attack anyone who dissagrees with them, then cry time poor when challenged to do something about it. Blaming the man for keeping them down.
Bloody lucky country for sure as its not its people who have driven it forward! just dum-luck
JP

[IDT]

Originally Posted by jpblue1000

Yes I am! Australian Middle class is always bloody complaining, Im not stopping anyone from complaining just pointing out that all the middle class seems to do is complain. They never do anything about it. complain and moan but never get of the keyboard to do something about it. 'Time poor' middle class too busy to fix their problems, always thinking they could do better but never lifting a finger to do it, Keyboard experts who know maybe 10 percent of the issues, who then attack anyone who dissagrees with them, then cry time poor when challenged to do something about it. Blaming the man for keeping them down.
Bloody lucky country for sure as its not its people who have driven it forward! just dum-luck
JP

I know I shouldn't bother, but how have you contributed to society lately?

[csv8]

Ford will scale back production of its Falcon in the lead-up to the federal election after recording the model's worst sales performance in history.

The iconic Australian-built large car has slumped to an all-time low, selling just 594 sedans in July according to VFacts sales figures released on Monday, just months after the company announced it will close down its Broadmeadows and Geelong manufacturing facilities in 2016.

Ford says last month's proposed FBT adjustments had a major impact on Falcon sales at the end of July and has arranged with the Manufacturers Workers Union to roster 12 ''down days'' in August and September to prevent excess inventory.

"Falcon was impacted by the proposed FBT changes in July," Ford spokesperson Sinead Phipps told Drive.
Advertisement

"And we imagine that will stay the same until the election is decided and whether the legislation is confirmed through Parliament.

"As a result, we have negotiated with the unions to take a number of down days through August and September and we will continue to monitor the situation after that."
http://news.drive.com.au/drive/motor...805-2r8uo.html

[karj]

Originally Posted by csv8

Ford will scale back production of its Falcon in the lead-up to the federal election after recording the model's worst sales performance in history.

The iconic Australian-built large car has slumped to an all-time low, selling just 594 sedans in July according to VFacts sales figures released on Monday, just months after the company announced it will close down its Broadmeadows and Geelong manufacturing facilities in 2016.

Ford says last month's proposed FBT adjustments had a major impact on Falcon sales at the end of July and has arranged with the Manufacturers Workers Union to roster 12 ''down days'' in August and September to prevent excess inventory.

"Falcon was impacted by the proposed FBT changes in July," Ford spokesperson Sinead Phipps told Drive.
Advertisement

"And we imagine that will stay the same until the election is decided and whether the legislation is confirmed through Parliament.

"As a result, we have negotiated with the unions to take a number of down days through August and September and we will continue to monitor the situation after that."
http://news.drive.com.au/drive/motor...805-2r8uo.html

I recall the sales of Mitsubishi 380's slumped below 500 after the announcement of the closure of Tonsley, so I'm not surprised that the sales of the Falcon has also slumped following the announcement of the Broadmeadows closure.

The question I have is how much of the slump is attributed to the closure and how much is attributed to the changes to FBT?

It would not surprise me if Ford is overstating the effect of the FBT changes because it is a much more convenient excuse for why sales are down and it also allows them to shift the blame for poor sales from Ford management to the Australian Government. Dowling reports that new car sales have actually hit a July record despite the changes and given that the FBT changes were only announced in late July, I think this claim by Ford Australia may be more spin than reality. I welcome Ford Australia to challenge that assertion by releasing their figures and modelling for scrutiny.

I'm not saying that FBT changes won't affect Falcon sales in the coming months, but it is a highly dubious claim that "FBT changes hit Falcon sales hard" in July.

[jpd80]

Even if FBT and business use decisions were reversed today, there's no guarantee that sales would ever
come back to Falcon, once buyers take flight they normally choose alternatives like going with other vehicles.

No, I have a feeling that Ford knows sales are not coming back any time soon, if ever.
If twelve down days a month through to Christmas, you can bet that more decisions will be made.

2014 Falcon is like the star entertainer turning up to a concert hours after everyone gave up and went home...

So sad.

[csv8]

Will the 2014 Falcon come???? 12 down days means 2 days of production a week is that sustainable???

[FalconXV]

Originally Posted by csv8

Will the 2014 Falcon come???? 12 down days means 2 days of production a week is that sustainable???

Well they aren't exactly falling over themselves with some pre-emptive steps to keep the sales propped up; even if it was 9 months away, that seems like an eternity. Do workers get paid on down days?

[joolz]

Originally Posted by BHDOGS

ive never heard a bigger up roar from a bunch of ppl who now have to keep a log book for 3 months out of every 5 years

Then hold those records for 5 years incase of an audit.
If the policy was so good why have the sales dropped literaly overnight after the FBT changes.

[Road_Warrior]

Originally Posted by csv8

Will the 2014 Falcon come???? 12 down days means 2 days of production a week is that sustainable???

I'd imagine it will actually cost them more to can the 2014 model than it would to roll it out, because the State and Federal Governments would want their $50 Million back and they'd have to pay compensation for breaking the various supplier contracts which would run into the millions of dollars.

But yeah...it does make you wonder.

[XWGT]

Hmmm

I'm now predicting an early cessation to Falcon. I don't think there will be a 2014.
Who could possibly justify the investment on those sales figures?

There are probably a number of causes but I don't believe Ford US have wanted a Falcon for a long time. The complete and utter lack of marketing and promotion is paramount to that. Why? Because no marketing team would be allowed to stay in place with such dismal performance in a company that genuinely wanted to improve its market share.

Added to that the local industry is dead. As pointed out by many, NO vehicle in the top 10 could survive if locally manufactured now as the market is so flooded with options the numbers just don't stack up.

Adios Falcon. Adios Australian auto manufacturing

[vztrt]

Originally Posted by XWGT

Hmmm

I'm now predicting an early cessation to Falcon. I don't think there will be a 2014.
Who could possibly justify the investment on those sales figures?

You think they haven't pumped any money in already?

[XWGT]

Originally Posted by vztrt

You think they haven't pumped any money in already?

I'm sure they have

But now its a case of good money after bad. No investment can return with only 500 - 700 units per month. I think right now they will be making some hard decisions and it wont be pretty.

I think is a gonner......

[Road_Warrior]

Originally Posted by XWGT

Hmmm

I'm now predicting an early cessation to Falcon. I don't think there will be a 2014.
Who could possibly justify the investment on those sales figures?

I'd suggest to you that the bulk of the money has been invested and for the reasons I outlined earlier, they're more or less compelled to release the car. It is probably why they've decided to reveal it next week.