“Make no mistake,” Mr Hodgett said, “we will leave no stone unturned to advocate very, very strongly for continued Commonwealth assistance so that [Victoria's] auto industry can continue. Victorian Minister for Manufacturing David Hodgett has put pressure on the federal government over car manufacturing. Credit:Rob Gunstone “We believe that Commonwealth assistance should continue over the next 10 years,” Mr Hodgett told Fairfax Media's Breaking Politics on Tuesday. Asked later on Tuesday whether the Victorian government would be prepared to contribute more money to save Holden, Mr Hodgett told Sky News: "The short answer is of course we would." The Liberal minister's comments come as Holden managing director Mike Devereux told the Productivity Commission on Tuesday that speculation was wrong that the company had already decided to leave Australia.

The South Australian and Victorian governments, whose states stand to lose tens of thousands of jobs if the automotive industry leaves Australia, are stepping up their campaigns to convince Mr Abbott to inject more money into the ailing industry. South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill is expected to travel to Canberra on Thursday to meet with the Prime Minister, in a last-ditch effort to secure more money to keep Holden building cars in Adelaide. "That's the demand, it's been made absolutely clear and there is now nowhere to hide for the federal government," Mr Weatherill told reporters on Tuesday. "Mr Devereux has given the clearest of possible indication that Holden is not going to close and they want to continue making cars in Australia." In pointed comments directed at his federal colleagues, Mr Hodgett said the Victorian government would continue to argue strongly to convince sceptical members of the Abbott cabinet that the government should do more for the automotive sector.

Mr Abbott ruled out offering more money to Holden in strong comments last week, and his cabinet colleagues have been giving anonymous briefings to journalists saying General Motors has already decided to leave Australia and “doesn't want to be saved”. A spokesman for Victorian Premier Denis Napthine said he would not be commenting after Mr Abbott told Fairfax Radio last week that there would be no extra money for the car companies, and that his government would stick to its $500 million cut to the Automotive Transformation Scheme. Mr Hodgett said the Victorian government would “continue to lobby as hard as [it] possibly can our federal colleagues”. “The consistent message coming out of Holden is that they've made no decision to exit Australia. “If a decision has already been made, why would Holden be fronting up to the Productivity Commission to put their case to maintain manufacturing here in Australia?”

He said Holden's decision could affect about 25,000 jobs in Victoria, two-thirds of which are in the supply chain. Australian-made cars make up only 10.3 per cent of the 1.1 million vehicles sold in Australia annually, a record low for an industry that is on the brink. Before the latest speculation Toyota and Holden had asked their workers to take pay cuts to reduce the cost of manufacturing cars by about $3800 per unit to ensure the Australian operations are commercially competitive with other plants from the same car makers around the world. Loading If Holden were to stop manufacturing cars in Australia, it would almost certainly force Toyota to follow suit because the 160 components manufacturers that are vital to the industry would not be able to achieve economies of scale.