''I do wish Holden would clarify their intention because at the moment they have got everyone on tenterhooks.'' A Holden VE Commodore rolls off the production line in Adelaide. The Coalition took a policy to September's election that it would cut $500 million out of the Automotive Transformation Scheme, the main source of government funding to car makers in Australia. He said it was the job of government to make business easier, ''not chase them down the road waving a blank cheque at them''. ''Ever since the first car rolled off the line in 1949 there have been pots and pots of money available to the car industry in this country,'' he said.

''We stand ready to make that support available. ''But there's not going to be any extra money over and above the generous support the taxpayers have been giving the motor industry for a long time.'' The Prime Minister hit the airwaves in the wake of leaks from senior ministers, reported by ABC on Thursday night, that Holden had already decided it would leave the country – regardless of what action or additional assistance Canberra offers up. The car maker’s future had already been decided in Detroit, headquarters of General Motors, Holden’s parent company, the ministers told the ABC. Senior Liberals have been agitating for a rethink of car industry assistance, convinced that the billions thrown at the sector over decades were badly spent.

Deliberate undermining An angry South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill accused sections of the federal government of deliberately undermining the process to secure Holden's future. ''It's their intention through their actions to undermine the environment in which Holden is going to make a decision about its future,'' Mr Weatherill said on Friday. ''They want to create the most hostile environment so that Holden will actually take the decision out of their hands by just simply closing.'' Mr Weatherill said he had spoken to Holden boss Mike Devereux who had rejected the reports and reaffirmed that no decision had yet been made.

He said the leaks to the media were calculated to not only undermine Holden’s confidence in the future, but public confidence. ''They’re trying to shift the blame to Holden,'' he said. ''They’re saying it's all over to Holden.’’ Labor attacked the government, saying negotiations over Holden and Toyota staying in Australia had descended into chaos. ''Far from the calm and methodical Government Mr Abbott promised, we are seeing nothing more than division and dysfunction, with Australia’s automotive industry the latest victim,'' industry spokesman Kim Carr said. ''We understand that no decision has yet been made by GM Holden, however it is on a knife's edge.'' He said the government was now speculating about itself in the media, ''and revealing deep internal divisions in a desperate bid to find an alibi for its indolence''.

Senator Carr said there was a factional fight within the Liberal Party ''between those that want to abandon Australian workers and the Australian automotive industry, and those that understand how important this industry is to the future of Australia''. Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said the Abbott government needed to "stop its internal fighting and start fighting for jobs in Australia". The first thing the government could do would be to "match Labor's offer to see a $500 million automotive assistance fund". "This isn't just a matter of a subsidy for some jobs," Mr Shorten added. "It is a quarter of a million Australians all around our suburbs ... who work directly or indirectly through the automotive industry." "Now is the time to help work with Holden, not run up the white flag on car manufacturing in this country."

Holden, which is beset by higher labour costs than other countries and a high Australian dollar, has asked for a decision on additional assistance from Canberra before Christmas. However, the new Coalition government has given the Productivity Commission the task of providing advice in the first months of 2014. A spokeswoman for Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane was quick to deny the reports of Holden’s exit. ''They haven’t made a decision about their future in Australia,'' spokeswoman Kylie Barron said. ''There is no change.'' A statement from Mr Macfarlane on Friday said it was up to Holden to decide if it wanted to continue manufacturing in Australia.

Any Holden exit 'devastating' South Australian Senator Nick Xenophon and Victorian Senator John Madigan held a joint press conference at Parliament House, Canberra, on Friday afternoon, to warn that Holden leaving Australia would amount to a national "devastation". "If Holden leaves then the supply chain for the automotive component manufacturing industry will collapse," Senator Xenophon said. "Toyota will not be able to withstand that... and we will see the wholesale collapse of the automotive industry in this country". Senator Madigan warned of social devastation, including alcoholism and drug abuse, if the government let the Holden workers lose their jobs.

"We will see devastation," Senator Madigan said. The Australian Manufacturing Workers Union said that the unconfirmed reports would be deeply troubling for thousands of auto workers. Paul Bastian, the union’s national secretary, said the government had failed to act, causing huge uncertainty over the car industry. ''There are too many jobs at risk, the Prime Minister has to step in,'' Mr Bastian said. ''If we lose it, we're looking at a $21 billion hole in the economy.'' And he said Holden had a responsibility to tell its workforce if the stories were true or not.

ACTU secretary Dave Oliver said urgent action was needed to give certainty to the tens of thousands of Australians who work in the industry. ''It is completely unacceptable that unnamed senior government ministers are casting doubt over the future of Holden despite industry minister Ian Macfarlane denying the reports,'' Mr Oliver said. ''The government’s job is to support local jobs, not undermine them.'' Mr Oliver said that Mr Abbott had spent the federal election campaigning in hard hats and high-vis vests. ''But since becoming Prime Minister he hasn't lifted a finger for Australian workers,'' he said. In a submission to the inquiry, Holden said a long-term Australian policy that was globally competitive was needed to keep its manufacturing alive in the country.

''Without public assistance, Holden's local manufacturing cannot compete globally,'' the submission said. Preliminary findings are expected to be released on December 20 with a final report due by March 31. Holden has refused to either deny or confirm the reports, issuing a statement saying its discussions with government were continuing. It has refused to comment further. Manufacturing Workers Union official John Camillo urged the car manufacturer to be frank with its Australian employees. ''Really these workers deserve to be told by the company if there's any truth in this or not ... not through the media,'' he told Sky News. ''We want to see Holden coming up to squash the speculations.'' Sink or swim

It has long been known that the economic dries in the Liberal Party, including powerful economic ministers such as the Treasurer Joe Hockey, Finance Minister Mathias Cormann, and Infrastructure Minister Jamie Briggs, favour withdrawing support on the grounds that the industry should sink or swim on its own merits. Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane, however, remains actively involved, along with the premiers of Victoria and South Australia, Denis Napthine and Jay Weatherill respectively, in trying to find a way to keep the industry viable. Along with the automotive components sector, it directly employs nearly 50,000 Australians. But the industry has struggled in the past year.

In September Holden axed 400 workers from its assembly operations in Adelaide, along with about 100 from its Melbourne operations. Toyota cut 100 jobs at its manufacturing facilities in Melbourne in October, in response to a drop in exports to the Middle East. Australia’s other car maker, Ford, has already decided to end local manufacturing in 2016, yet has protected its market position. That would leave Toyota as the only local manufacturer and almost certainly hasten its demise here as well. Loading

with AAP