Misty, I don't see the necessity to have a car industry in Australia. It is really an assembly shed. The design is done overseas and many of the components come from overseas. The machinery to make the cars comes from overseas. All the smart stuff is imported. It is foreign owned and conntrolled.
I don't buy the argument that we need to be able to make cars to defend ourselves. If that were the case we would be better off making an industry so we could make our own rifles and boots.
The Car industry will go the way of our tractor industry, boots, tyres, paint, clothes, etc. There is nothing holy about cars.