AADA chief executive David Blackhall said the association looks forward to working with her “on the very important automotive franchising work she started in the previous term of government”.

“There is no more important issue for our industry than finalising the work that has already started on developing an automotive-specific franchising code,” he said.

The AADA also welcomed the appointment of the government’s treasury team and congratulated Michael Sukkar on his appointment as assistant treasurer and minister for housing, and Jane Hume on her new role as assistant minister for superannuation, financial services and financial technology.

“We anticipate a close working relationship with treasurer Josh Frydenberg and his team on key issues relating to the recommendations from the financial services royal commission,” Mr Blackhall said.

“In the infrastructure and transport portfolio, we look forward to working with deputy prime minister Michael McCormack as well as assistant ministers in the portfolio Scott Buchholz and Andrew Gee.

“We congratulate Angus Taylor for his appointment as minister for energy and emissions reduction and Susan Ley on her appointment as environment minister. We look forward to playing our part in future discussions on reducing vehicle emissions in Australia.”

The Victorian Automobile Chamber of Commerce (VACC) also added its congratulations to the new federal team.

VACC CEO Geoff Gwilym said the Coalition government has shown goodwill and support for several key policies outlined in VACC’s election manifesto ‘Keep Australia Moving’.

“These include a commitment to supporting Australia’s automotive future, mandating access to service and repair information, and creating an automotive-specific franchise code of conduct,” he said.

“These are extremely important issues for the almost 400,000 people working in the automotive industry across the country. VACC will continue to work with the new government – and the opposition – in order to see these commitments through.”

But Mr Gwilym emphasised again that the government still has much work to do in the automotive sector.

“We reiterate to the new government that there are several policy positions that remain overlooked. These need to be addressed and addressed right now,” Mr Gwilym said.

The VACC’s priorities for the new government are:

• Introduce a mandated motor vehicle insurance and repair industry code of conduct.
• Prioritise skills and training policy initiatives towards the automotive industry.
• Develop a national end-of-life vehicle program.
• Abolish the luxury car tax
• Roll out concrete measures for business red-tape reduction and improvements to Australian Consumer Law.

“For an industry that employs 380,000 people and contributes more than $37 billion annually to the Australian economy, it is inconceivable that such key industry priorities have been largely ignored by both major political parties,” Mr Gwilym said.

“Regardless, VACC will continue to work with both sides of government to create meaningful reform that recognises and promotes the merits and key needs of the automotive industry amongst policy-makers.”

By Neil Dowling