Our own Govt's not buying (enough) Aussie cars

[GS608]

Originally Posted by graham7773

A quote from an article by Syd Maher in The Australian.

"A spokeswoman for Finance Minister Penny Wong said rules on federal government car selections had been tightened to specify that they must be made in Australia unless there was no suitable alternative"

Jim Goose, I just started another thread using an article which included the quote above. Yes, there is a government directive to use Australian made vehicles as much as possible.

So there isn't an Australian made alternative to the Hyundai Santa Fe? (Which QPS use almost exclusively as their SUV) or any other 4 door sedan which many Govt departments have.. All the Corollas etc they use can be replaced by the EcoBoost Falcon

[MITCHAY]

Well on the Finance website the direction is Australian first http://www.finance.gov.au/vehicle-le...-material.html

For anyone that's interested

Commonwealth Procurement Guidelines - http://www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/F2012L01481 - includes value for money and encouraging competition considerations

FMA Act - http://www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/C2012C00510

[SteveJH]

Originally Posted by JET270

So there isn't an Australian made alternative to the Hyundai Santa Fe? (Which QPS use almost exclusively as their SUV) or any other 4 door sedan which many Govt departments have.. All the Corollas etc they use can be replaced by the EcoBoost Falcon

Penny Wong is from the Federal Government, not the Queensland State Government.

The Federal Government cannot tell the State Governments what they can and cannot buy.

As far as I am aware, a lot of the power the Federal Government now has, is only possible with the permission of the states.

[GS608]

Originally Posted by SteveJH

Penny Wong is from the Federal Government, not the Queensland State Government.

The Federal Government cannot tell the State Governments what they can and cannot buy.

As far as I am aware, a lot of the power the Federal Government now has, is only possible with the permission of the states.

Surely Govt regulations regarding fleets would be similar if not identical nation wide.

[flappist]

Actually what I believe should happen is that all the Government Departments should buy Australian made motor vehicles at RRP, use them for the full warranty period i.e. 3 or 5 years and 100k or 200k as the case may be and THEN give the vehicles to charity and volunteer organisations for internal use.
Government vehicles should NEVER be sold at auction for a pittance destroying resale value of privately bought vehicles and generally undermining the whole Australian car industry.

Yes I know there are some on here who will dislike this idea intensely and go off like pork chops in the sun but in the big picture they are only interested in screwing Ford (or Holden), tax payers and private new buyers to save themselves a few dollars.

In addition to this there should be changes to the Tax act to make it unprofitable for rental or commercial fleets to change vehicles in less than the above periods.

Why buy a new XR6 for $35k when you can buy an ex govt or fleet one for half the price that Ford made no money on, the dealer made no money on and anyone who did buy a new one will lose heaps?

This idea will increase Fords profit, make Falcons a better option for private buyers, save the tax payers a fortune with the only side effects being that public vegetables will not get new cars every 6 months and those who want a Falcon will have to pay the same as everyone else.

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by flappist

Actually what I believe should happen is that all the Government Departments should buy Australian made motor vehicles at RRP, use them for the full warranty period i.e. 3 or 5 years and 100k or 200k as the case may be and THEN give the vehicles to charity and volunteer organisations for internal use.
Government vehicles should NEVER be sold at auction for a pittance destroying resale value of privately bought vehicles and generally undermining the whole Australian car industry.

Yes I know there are some on here who will dislike this idea intensely and go off like pork chops in the sun but in the big picture they are only interested in screwing Ford (or Holden), tax payers and private new buyers to save themselves a few dollars.

In addition to this there should be changes to the Tax act to make it unprofitable for rental or commercial fleets to change vehicles in less than the above periods.

Why buy a new XR6 for $35k when you can buy an ex govt or fleet one for half the price that Ford made no money on, the dealer made no money on and anyone who did buy a new one will lose heaps?

This idea will increase Fords profit, make Falcons a better option for private buyers, save the tax payers a fortune with the only side effects being that public vegetables will not get new cars every 6 months and those who want a Falcon will have to pay the same as everyone else.

Should donate them to trade schools around the country, its always nice having something current to learn about and play with.

Rather than the 70s/80s tech we have at the moment.

[DJR-351]

Originally Posted by flappist

Actually what I believe should happen is that all the Government Departments should buy Australian made motor vehicles at RRP, use them for the full warranty period i.e. 3 or 5 years and 100k or 200k as the case may be and THEN give the vehicles to charity and volunteer organisations for internal use.
Government vehicles should NEVER be sold at auction for a pittance destroying resale value of privately bought vehicles and generally undermining the whole Australian car industry.

Yes I know there are some on here who will dislike this idea intensely and go off like pork chops in the sun but in the big picture they are only interested in screwing Ford (or Holden), tax payers and private new buyers to save themselves a few dollars.

In addition to this there should be changes to the Tax act to make it unprofitable for rental or commercial fleets to change vehicles in less than the above periods.

Why buy a new XR6 for $35k when you can buy an ex govt or fleet one for half the price that Ford made no money on, the dealer made no money on and anyone who did buy a new one will lose heaps?

This idea will increase Fords profit, make Falcons a better option for private buyers, save the tax payers a fortune with the only side effects being that public vegetables will not get new cars every 6 months and those who want a Falcon will have to pay the same as everyone else.

Why do i feel envy when i go to the local shopping centre nearly everyday and see a govco Audi Q7 ?? should i not be feeling resentment ??

Am i shallow when all i can think of is attending the auction when govco has tired of her.....??

[MITCHAY]

Originally Posted by DJR-351

Why do i feel envy when i go to the local shopping centre nearly everyday and see a govco Audi Q7 ?? should i not be feeling resentment ??

Am i shallow when all i can think of is attending the auction when govco has tired of her.....??

How do you know its a govco? I dont think that even SES would ever get an Audi out of the public purse. It would be funded by their salary or salary sacrifice like any other company.

[2011G6E]

I thought they'd tightened it up so they had to buy four cylinders where ever possible?

[CAMS290]

Adding to this subject, the Vic government would buy vehicles tax free, keep them for 18 months, then sell them in a taxed market for little or no loss.

They stopped painting police interceptors in that yellow color because it was affecting resale value too.

[IDT]

I love my blue oval as much as the next AFF member. But I have to say there is a lot of unthought out one eyed comments in this thread . Can anyone seriously tell me that if you owned a business and all government were forced to buy your product or that of only one other competitor that you wouldn't jack the price up through the roof and take turns with the other guy rolling around in the huge pile of cash you made from over pricing? If the government put a buy aussie requirement on vehicle fleets or anything else, everyone would be screaming third party intervention and reciting the trade practices act. Worse still, Holden and Ford would become like coles and woolworths, screw the component manufacturer as well as the end customer.
I say government should buy Ford Oz and Holden (the businesses not the cars). The labour partys should run one holden and the Libs run Ford. The Greens and the independents should get a corner bike shop each. Then we would see some competition!

[DJR-351]

Originally Posted by MITCHAY

How do you know its a govco? I dont think that even SES would ever get an Audi out of the public purse. It would be funded by their salary or salary sacrifice like any other company.

Because i know the guy that drives it......

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by MITCHAY

How do you know its a govco? I dont think that even SES would ever get an Audi out of the public purse. It would be funded by their salary or salary sacrifice like any other company.

There is some government department who is showing off their new VW Tourag or how ever its spelt, for us to look into if they decide to give us the contract to fit them out, they told us to not drill any holes in the dash because its an expensive car .

$110,000 of Tax payer money going to Germany.

[Buntz]

Originally Posted by turbodewd

Well gents I recommend you did what I did and email your local members about the issue. I have emailed 3 on the matter. I got a reply from Federal member Kate Lundy (ACT) which was good.

I also emailed NSW RTA wondering why their Newcastle carpark was full of Hyundais and not Falcons or Cruzes or Commodores, etc. No reply from those slackers yet.

Man, if China has a property bust Australia is in for a world of hurt! We need an auto industry.

That day is coming mate. And if all our factories are shut, and workers have less skills we will miss out on opportunities from companies with monies that can setup shop and we can do what countries do when the economy goes south. Build Stuff!

[350125GO]

Heard on the radio - 10 years ago it was 66% of government fleets, now only 33%. This is ridiculous. Force them to buy it, its not like they are prehistoric dinosaurs which chew fuel like no tomorrow. They are 5 star safety as well.

[KIWI-1]

Back in the mid-90s Vic Govt staff could only salary sacrifice an Australian assembled car. Was the same in some universities in the early 00s.

When the BA was introduced Ford changed their Govt pricing structure because some Victoria Councils had been ordering new AUs, dropping them off at auction and using the profit to balance the books!

[Troll]

Every other nations Government buys their own cars why shouldn't Australia?

Further to that we should make purcahase of an Australian car tax deductible. Look at it this way: How much tax revenue is collected from an Australian built car as opposed to an imported car..You have all of the workers at the Ford factory paying income tax and all of the suppliers and their workers paying business and income taxes.

Therefore purchasing an Australian built carshould be tax deductible as a Falcon or Commodore has already contributed to Government revenue as opposed to an imported car. This is where the assistance needs to be - on the demand side - and competition between Holden, Ford and Toyota for the private buyer will result in a better product.

People will say countries like Japan will claim....Who cares?? What are they going to do not import Australian cars. They already dont. Not buy our iron ore? I'm sure Korea or China or India will be more than happy to buy it.

[Smoke Pursuit]

Our government should be required to keep cars longer too... Its a bit of a joke, except for Julia Gillard, I see they still have her crusing around in a 7 year old Caprice V8.