What is sad about his video is not the fact that Holden has gone but how much manufacturing this country has lost with not only Fisherman’s Bend but the Elizabeth plant and every other smaller manufacturing business tied into not only Holden but other car makers. That’s a lot of jobs lost in this country and opportunities for thousands of Australians all gone, this is truly the saddest thing of all this
And all because the LNP hates unions. For the sake of about 300 million in subsidies each for Ford and Holden per year, the nett economic impact on South Australia alone due to closure of GMH at Elizabeth was 1.2 billion per annum. Do the sums, we realise what it has cost Australia in terms of manufacturing capacity and economic output. Every car sold here now is an import. And all because the LNP are ideologically opposed to well-paying unionised jobs.
@@davidburne9477 That’s exactly right with the economic impact but the problem was so many people would keep complaining about how much money was being pumped into these car manufacturers without thinking or wanting to admit the economic return this country was getting. It’s all very sad how much manufacturing we have lost in this country and when I grew up manufacturing was a major part of employment for people, even if you dreamed of going higher than in were able to be employed in the industry while furthering your study to get where you wanted.
When the Australia Labour Government gave millions of dollars to help GMH to keep factories open to save jobs. The Greedy GM Executives at Detroit more or less took the money a ran by giving themselves a big pay rises then they imported a Chinese built GM car and badge it as a Commodore and hope no one notice. Then those same Executives asked President Obama Government for a financial bail out to keep the Detroit factories going.
@@stephenwarhurst6615 What Chinese car you talking about, all there cars were built here employing Australian workers while the engineering team was working here for the parent company, the last car was imported and by that time with all the bitching from people about handouts that can’t figure out the benefits to this country the execs decided Holden’s fate and most companies would have done the same. Bag Holden all you want probably because you like the other brand, I loved all Aussie built cars and can’t believe people pushed manufacturing out of this country. Ford and Toyota should have found ways to work with the government for extra cash but Ford would only build one car and not bother exporting it so chances of getting more handouts were slim, Holden did export. Ask yourself if you are happy this country has no car manufacturer anymore, forget your bullshit money views, are you happy a massive industries is gone as so have the jobs thousands enjoyed?
@@knight2425 ZB Commodore was made in China en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SAIC-GM VF Commodore was the last th-cam.com/video/zijKXrNHt4U/w-d-xo.html Problem is it's profit before people. Every Company is outsourcing to China. The Worse thing is industries in Australia Employ real cheap oversea labour on work visas e.g. Building , Mining and Factories. Just have a look around. and it's 100% supported by the Liberal Government when they keep saying Australia has a Skill Labour shortage we need to open the borders and come out of lock down. P.S. I drive and own a AU Falcon XR6 ute and Ford should of Dump the Falcon and keep producing the Territory because there is a market for SUV's but they op for Everest import
I used to make videos for Holden design and did quite a lot of filming around the plant, especially in the hallowed design area which was quite an exciting area. You felt a little bit special being allowed into the top secret ‘ skunk works’.
I was lucky enough to work in plant 14 & 11 Foundry mould line, plant 13 HFV6 engine testing and plant 18 a HFV6 engine assembly. I wish I had video footage of the old foundry mould line. You love to hate that line but many great memories with a lot of workmates. Thanks for the video
I spent a lot of time during the 1980's and 1990's in most of those buildings. As a Sales Manager for Automotive Component companies, we had access to pretty much everything. Had a few design team meetings in the Tech Centre with engineers and purchasing people working on new car developments years before they were released. Very exciting and rewarding work. However, the pressures to get costs down made life difficult at times.
My uncle worked there, their Christmas parties were massive, I got to go a few times when their kids grew and didn’t want to go. We always had such a great time there.
When I was 12 in 1948 my step father who did work for General Motors, took me down to Fisherman's Bend to see the first Holden to come off the assembly line... I seem to remember it was a very special day, with important guests there...I think I was the only kid there, & I remember running around like a mad thing, but I did stop to look at the first Holden come off the line, & it was only in later years that I realized what an important day it was for the car industry & manufacturing in Australia...
I worked there in the family 2 production line, it was the best job I ever had, I acctully would wake up at 5am and look forward in driving to work through Albert Park and through South Melbourne then cut through to Lorimer St . Every day was full of fun, and laughter and sweat especially in a hot summer day, because there was no air coolers in the sheds, our line had a female manager called Lo anne and a female supervisor called Mimi, who were awesome, great mentors, and no question was a stupid question with them and took no shit from the boys. I also worked over a Christmas shut down with a crew of 6, and explored all over the work shops amazing things we found.
Hello Phillip. I worked in the Engine Plant of GMH Port Melbourne back in 1972, and left after approximately 5 months to return to school as an adult and secure my Matriculation Certificate. At this time; I was an Ex Serviceman hence I worked at GM to get me through a lay period. Funnily enough; my Oldest son who was born in 1974, eventually studied Mechanical Engineering at Swinburne, (The Engineering Degree at Swinburne went for 5 years which was a year longer than Monash and Melbourne Uni's. Swinburne placed their students with various manufacturers for 12 months for hands on experience. My son was placed at GM Port Melbourne for his 12 months stint and worked on the design of the Commodore gear box. Thanks for the memory's.
Holden started in the Adelaide CBD as a coach making business by an English migrant. Then moved to Woodville and then to Elizabeth. Fishermen's bend was after along with Pagewood. BHP another Adelaide company .
This and your Ford plant video which I watched before this, really makes it hit home just how much we lost in this country when these companies walked out. They were quite literally the life blood of this country, and it really has not recovered since which, prehaps ironically, was one of the biggest things certainly I learn't from COVID. My dad delivered to Port Melbourne, and we used to go past the buildings on Salmon St and some of the buildings at the front. You don't realise just how big that site was (and I imagine it was the same at the Ford plant) until it's empty, it's quite sad really.
Thank you for the walk down memory lane. I worked at the Fishermen's Bend site for nearly 20 years back in the 80s and 90s. Lots of memories of the people and facilities there - a real melting pot of cultures as well. I would love to take a stroll through the various plants and buildings one day.
Great series you're doing Philip. The image at 2.36 suggests coal gas convertors being fitted at the rear of the vehicle. Due to petrol rationing during World War II and until the end of rationing, coal to gas conversion, could be used to power a vehicle. Thanks again for your videos of Melbourne and history.
Many thanks. Very interesting. My dad brought his 1968 hk holden brand new in 1968 at the age of 18. Dad is still driving that ute today 2022 !!! Shows the quality we made in Australia and very proud of the fact . Cheers Patrick
I actually popped down Fishermen's bend during covid looking for new places to walk. I had a look at Holden and they still had the Sandman concept car in the foyer of the engine plant building. The Holden signage was also still there. Not long after I went to Adelaide to see the motor museum in Burwood and the Sandman has been relocated there. I think in the main office building at the front they used to have other concept cars you could go see too. Interesting video, helps to describe some of the things I saw. I imagine the engine in my VF SV6 would have been made there, and then I guess the car fully assembled in Adelaide. Thanks to everyone that worked the factories to put together a great car.
I worked there in 1973 after arriving from the UK. I worked on the Torana GTR-XU1. Enjoyed my time there and sad to see it closed down. I've owned 4 Holden's. A 1970 HG Kingswood which was stolen and burnt out by some assoles in Darwin. A WB Wagon, VN Commodore and my present daily driver, a VX Commodore. I also put a VX Commodore engine in my VG Ford Transit van! Who says Holden and Ford can't live happily together!!
Thanks for the video. Sad really that Holden became an integral part of the bigger plan to rid Australia of manufacturing. Just about all gone now along with textiles and many primary industries. A shame Aussies didn't have a say in what actually happens to their country.
Well, Aussies did, at least to some extent. And that relates to your claim of a plan to get rid of Australian manufacturing. If more Aussies would have bought more Commodores & Cruzes, they'd still be in production. Fact. But, since sales for four door sedans had been falling steadily for years, and nobody at Holden seemed to notice or care, the collapse of the Holden plant was pretty much inevitable. Same with Ford, though Ford's chronic under-investment played a part in their failure. Tarting up an AU Falcon as a modern car for 2015 might fool your average bogan. It didn't fool buyers in general.
@@zybch Holden was running at a net loss and was being subsidised by the tax payer. The first Holden was produced in Adelaide and the last was produced at Elizabeth 32 kilometres to the north of Adelaide.
@@zybch not really because of Tony Albott , the fact is since Paul Keating and Hawke open Australia and joint the so call globalisation and Tarif has been removed then import cars come into Australia much cheaper than locals built , for example cars from Germany like Mercedes, bmw , Audi , Volkswagen has become affordable , european made cars used to be for the rich now everyone can afford them . Even Toyota is closed as well not just Holden and ford . Not only cars manufacturing but most others industries as well , closed and move oversea . If we can’t produce ours products cheaper and competitive with imports product and removed ours tariff then we kill ours industry .
Hi Phillip , I worked at Hawker De Havilland site on fisherman’s bend which was the old commonwealth aircraft factories . The site is now gone. . It once had a airstrip during the war .
I worked in the Technical centre many years ago. I have some very good memories. The Technical centre was the heart of Holden. I saw prototype cars, even saw the reborn of the Kingswood after the Commodore sale's drop. Unfortunately it was a one off. The big boys gave it the Khyber. I miss those days. We always thought Ford would go before us. Unfortunately GM US pulled the rug & our federal taxes didn't help sales.
Worked at this plant for 2 years, massive plant, huge work force and a great place to work, wouldn't have believed anyone that it would be completely shut down one day, very sad.
About 35 short years ago everyone had Jobs everywhere, in fact Mums use to stay home and families all lived happily just on Dads wages. We had Iron Ore and great steel industries, we had shipbuilding, Car manufacturing, Holden, Chrysler, Mitsubishi, Toyota, Ford even Lightburn made a Zeta, we built TV’s, radio’s, washing machines, Victa lawnmowers, hills hoists & fine furniture manufacturing. We built Car parts and we even made our own tyres at Bridgestone! We had fishing ports all over Australia from Port Lincoln to Brunswick Heads. We made our own cheap Petrol that was refined at Stanvac Oil refinery in SA, Bulimba Refinery in Brisbane. Mortlake Sydney Refinery’s from oil brought in from the Bass Strait, North West Shelf and the Timor Sea.We built Aircraft, Boats, Submarines and battlecruisers, Ships, warships. Buses. Locomotives, Diesel-electric trains, as well as the tracks, and you can add hundreds more to that list.And everything was “PROUDLY MADE IN AUSTRALIA”We had Corner stores and Milk Bars and Deli's, and Hardware shops all over the city and country. Our Rural towns were a hive f activity as they were very strong Communities and were linked by a vast rail network that now lies dormant forever all across the country.Flea Markets everywhere on the weekends. All our food was fresh and local. Our Milk and bread were delivered every morning fresh to our doorstep in recyclable glass bottles.We paid our rates to the local council to maintain our streets and remove our rubbish. and we use to dump our extra rubbish free at the local tips.We had work available as driveway attendants at all our local Service Stations, that was when we had Australian owned Service Stations like GOLDEN FLEECE that even had restaurants owned by H.C. Sleigh... and AMPOL. I even remember good old STANLEY who checked your tyres, checked your oils and washes your windscreen. And at ALL these places you could always find a JOB!!!I remember going to Myers, David Jones and Waltons etc to buy Clothes and there was always someone with a tape measure to measure me up and all my NEW clothes fitted perfectly... Today I have to take clothes off the shelves, get them out of the packets, Take them to the fitting room and try them on... If they don't fit put them back and keep trying till you get some that do fit. 2 Hours later take them to the checkout that if it is not a Self Serve checkout. They are scanned and the operator tells me the price... Oh, I say... Can you tell me, the second-hand price, please???? These are new She replies... No, they are not! These shirts smell under the armpits... These are not new at all... How many people before me have tried them on??? I don't know what diseases people have. This is a public health issue.We had PUBLIC UTILITIES like Power Stations, Water & Gas which would employ thousand around the Country and it was always so cheap, it would sustain thousands of Industries all over the Nation, this was how thousands of jobs were created.We were all taught Respect for others and ourselves at school.Then the bloody Government starting selling out our very souls !!!! It started to Corporatise itself and began to compete against private enterprise instead of Govern. Local Councils started to buy up Caravan & Tourist Parks in all the major tourist spots and build Shopping Hubs and rented them out and at the same time dictate to all others what you can and can not do...Then we started going downhill.All our companies and manufacturers started going offshore or close down because this new corporate government did deals with other countries under free trade agreements that allowed them to totally wipe out our business and manufacturing by allowing the foreign business to start flooding our once great nation with their cheap crap.We as Australians use to all watch each other's backs and respect each other and all say G'day with a smile because we were all happy with our freedom and our wonderful democracy. Children could safely go anywhere as long as they were home before dark. Now we just watch each other through security screens and burglar alarms and live in constant FEAR & STRESSThese Foreign Countries were allowed to just march in and start taking over and rape and pillage all our resources. They started driving our Farmers off their lands and then sold it to these foreign countries.They cut back funding to our education system and slowed down teaching trade skills to our youth and set up 457 visa’s to replace our trade workers with poor quality cheap workers from overseas. These things left our once beautiful Country in tatters!Politicians allowed Foreign Countries to buy our Power Stations and guaranteed them that they would always make a profit at our expense no matter what.Now because we have lost so much the Government then realised they don't get much income anymore and have to find new ways to make money so it hits it’s own people further in the pocket. They invented things like GST, Excise Taxes, Levy's buy the hundreds on everything. They cut funding to our Emergency Services and forced us to all pay an Emergency Services Levy, they cut funding to our Police and Public housing.All our Public owned Forestries were sold off to foreign ownership.These new Corporate Government Politicians laughed in our faces and gave themselves MASSIVE pay rises and they all pat themselves on the back knowing that we are so dumb and stupid we would not know what is going on!Now they tell us we have to tighten our belts and lose what little we have left to pay back the MASSIVE DEBT they left us all in after gifting other countries billions in foreign aid setting up their countries at the peril of our own...Everywhere I shop today just about everything is "MADE IN CHINA" and it dawned on me that every time I buy something made in China I am actually funding China to buy up my own country out from under my feet. We are making China so much profit they can now afford to buy us right out which is exactly what they are doing and our Government is helping them do so.Today I drive the main roads around Adelaide and all I see is the empty buildings that once housed all these great manufacturing companies and when I drive past the Holden Plant at Elizebeth totally empty I begin to literally cry for what has happened to my once great nation.This overpaid government need more taxes to live on so they are now going to force our elderly (God bless them, for they were the ones that helped build this Nation in the first place) back into the workforce until they are 70. and tell everyone to go out and get a JOB!! But this is NOT just South Australia, this has happened all over Australia.So can someone in this new Corporate Government tell us EXACTLY WHERE THESE BLOODY JOBS ARE???????????????????????ALL YOU HAD TO WAS SELL THE MILK AUSTRALIA... NOT THE WHOLE COW!TODAY EVERY SINGLE THING LISTED ABOVE IS NOW GONE, GONE, GONE AND JUST LEFT TO DECAY!!!!MY HOW THIS ONCE MIGHTY 100% SELF SUFFICIENT NATION HAS FALLEN...And while you’s sit there reading all this thinking this was another Aaron Taylor FB rant about the government running us down the drain, it was in fact...Written byGary J Matthews.As it wouldn’t let me share it, but I loved it so much, it was definitely worth sharing in one way or another to everyone on my friends list that loves, and also the ones irritated with my Facebook rants can see how beautiful we once were!! 6MichaelCarol Reig, Terry Reig and 4 othersIt's a bit of a long read, but well worth it
I did my apprenticeship as a Fitter and Turner at the Engine Company there in the 90s. It was a great place to meet people from all different backgrounds with all kinds of stories to tell. It was a bit of a bizarre place during nightshift - with characters from a Seinfeld meets David Lynch alternate reality tv show.
Sad. My father worked there in 1948 and made engine parts for the first ever Holden FX 48/215. Even though cars are no longer manufactured in Australia Melbourne still remains as the Automotive capital of the nation.
If you have not been in yet, be very carefull the technology centre may still be full of friable asbestos that GMH totally ignored. Do not go above the ceilings or pipe lagging and the plant areas on the canteen. The newer areas are ok including the v6 manafacturing areas. Be very carefull in the casting plant, the red/gray motor plant. Many people will be interested particurally if the test areas like the dynos or the wind tunnel is still made. But the clay modeling and the design/technology centre please wear a p2 mask.
Such a great asset to this Country even tho it was American owned, it gave the young a place to gain Trade qualifications in Toolmakers, Fitting, Welding, Electrical, Drafting and so on, in addition to providing employment for production workers, accountants, management and on goes the list, such a valuable factory. Manufacturing is such a huge asset to the young looking to do a Trade, sadly they have being robbed of that to a large extent. The Labor Party is stating they will bring Manufacturing back in the coming election 21-5-22 however the truth is Australia can't manufacture a product cheap enough to compete against the Chinese Imports or many other Countries with lower paid, cheaper materials, no super, no sick leave, no holiday pay, no bonuses, Staff getting I guess 1/10 of what we call a minimum wage, we simply are not able to compete against that. The final straw with GM was the Government gave GM a large handout to keep them going meanwhile the top brass count was increased and they all each took a huge bonus and sucked it dry.
3:00 The company *DID NOT* become merely "Holden". The company was GM-H right throughout its history, it was *ALWAYS* General Motors-Holden, even though the first Holden did not appear until 1948. The General Motors Corporation had acquired a company called *Holden & Frost* which originally made saddles for horses, then horse-drawn wagons of various types before getting into building car bodies under licence from the USA parent.
"In 1908, it moved into the automotive field before later becoming a subsidiary of the United States-based General Motors (GM) in 1931, when the company was renamed General Motors-Holden's Ltd. It was renamed Holden Ltd in 1998, adopting the name GM Holden Ltd in 2005"
@@user-fx2sh6pk9u Holden's is singular possessive. Holdens' is plural possessive. Holden is singular nominative, Holdens is plural nominative. But the company was General Motors-Holden.
1. In the early fifties, went on a High School excursion visited GMH at Fishermans Bend. 2. Dad bought a 1952 FJ Holden Special. 3. GMH abutted CAC (Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation). -> would appreciate if you eventually did a video on CAC. thanks for your video Philip.
@@homlesy1172 Having also lived through this era, I 'get' your' 'fast forward' of the changes and how it makes you feel. Although I'm pretty progressive, nostalgia kicks in and I enjoy reminiscing about my youth & the Australia I knew as a kid.
I spent about a month here, just as the last few GMH employees were leaving the site. Went into the Amenities Building and the Medical Centre next door. Also the building where they used to make the mock ups was still there. Went through the Technical Centre, still a few remnants inside of its use. Some of the few employees I met had been there for years, through a succession of different jobs
I won't add to the sadness surrounding the death of the great lion, GMH however the very sad detail lost on many people is that these Holden plants (and the Ford factories and those owned by BMC and Pressed Metal Corp.) were re-purposed in surprisingly short time for war time production in WWII. They were the powerhouses which kept our troops supplied with hardware and all their other needs. If we were to be involved in another war I suppose we could ask some indigenous folks to make woomeras and boomerangs because that willl be about the scale of our current manufacturing!
I'd heard of Fishermans Bend, but as a kid growing up in the outer south-eastern suburbs, I thought all holdens were coming from the Dandenong plant. It was the assumption of a child, who didn't really know. All I knew was a big factory with "Holden" written on it.. They had their own "General Motors" railway station on the Pakenham line between Dandenong & Hallam. That station was closed in the early 2000's.
I worked there in the foundry on the mould line, cope mould stamper. Lost my job after 9 months when Daewoo went belly up, a third of our production back then was for Daewoo export. I used to do a lot of overtime in other areas like the fettling plant, was pretty loose, plenty of moonshine and chop chop on offer, also in the assembly plant some dude had an unofficial general store in the corner selling smokes, chocolate and other stuff.
Great vid buddy . i had one of their last cars a Vf Calais 6.2 ltr and in my opinion was the best Holden's ever produced . Full of Technology , Reliable , And very strong when required . Easy to service and parts galore . Not to mention the rapid market value increase .
And when they made vehicles for the war they would park them on the MCG cricket ground, Also the rail yard was used to make the big stuff and also parked at the MCG. You should do a video on all this. Great video thanks 👍
The MCG during World War 2 was a Military Camp; At one time there were 6000 United States First Division Marines camped there for 7 months in 1943. The MCG history makes no mention of the unlikely use of it for a vehicle park.
Greatest spot there was the cafeteria ! I was a rigger working on shutdowns and modifications from time to time. It wasnt lunch it was banquet 3 times a day.
Are they planning to incorporate the old buildings in the redevelopment? It's always disappointing when old buildings are demolished... History lost and more demand for new building materials 🤔😕 Be interesting to see how the old buildings will be used
@@Fiasco3 Yeah mine too! I'm not sure whether my grandfather built bombers actually, but propeller fighter planes for sure, maybe bombers too. The people who worked on all that never get mentioned... They should really. My grandfather also worked on designing the CA-15 there... Australia's own spitfire/mustang equivalent, that never went into serial production because the war thankfully ended and then the jet age began. I know there were some early jet fighters built in Australia in the following decades, I'm guessing probably still at Fisherman's Bend
And just down the road, what use to be Australian's own Commonwealth Aircraft Factory , , , . Our many Australian Governments over the years have allowed way too many major manufacturing to be moved overseas, from once when we made everything, we now import everything.
I am 60 yo I am So said that an Aussie icon has gone, I love the Holden, I currently drive a Holden and have always had one, they are safe reliable and gutsy and has a,ways been best car on the road
I kinda wish someone took a tour of the holden factory at Elizabeth before another company took it, and the other holden factory here in Adelaide up in Woodville was turned into a Bunnings, i kinda wish Holden didnt die, because if they didnt they could be starting to build some electric commodores so one of the biggest things that makes Australia "Australia" doesnt die when petrol and diesel are no longer for sale
The knowledge and skills that have been lost in this country confound me. The average Australian doesn't understand that between not making our own fuel, no car making and no steelworks our ability to construct and defend this country is nil.
Ford at least still has presence in Australia. They always wanted to win over Holden. Sadly I guess they have. My great Uncle Sir James Holden was Chairman of GM-H in the 1960s. My great great grandfather founded Holden saddle makers in Adelaide in the 1850s. The Holden family was bought out in the 1930s by GM but they still had some input for a long time. Of course Holden had other plants in Dandenong, Pagewood NSW, Elizabeth SA, and Brisbane and Perth. Maybe you can find out about these other factories.
Well...Ford have some good import Car's...Holden had Daewoo's...but the moral of the story is you have to give consumers/the market what they wan't...and a Big Heavy RWD Family Sedan was NOT IT for both Ford and Holden...hence...went broke
I arrived in Australia at the gentle age of 2. Brought here by my parents, who were led to believe Australia was the way to the future. What they were not told , wasthe country was full of greedy opportunists who would sell the country out for whatever miserable profits they could gain. What a sad outcome for a country that could have been the shining light of the world.
Another piece of Australian history gone, at this rate there won’t be to much more left around this country as we shut down iconic Australian businesses and plants and seeing things like this makes me sad to be a born and breed Aussie and fear for our historical future and jobs. Great video.
Was doing security at gate 4 for M M S. At G.M Holden for two years .their in house security Wouldn't work on this gate area due to there was no cover from the wind year was 1992.
We need Holden to come back and start building Aussie cars specifically tailored for our climate and road conditions, let’s bring back AUSTRALIA 🇦🇺 JOBS
Long long ago way back perhaps in the late 50s into the 60s a large strong gentlemen who worked on the line got an extra 3 pounds in pay for quite literally lifting engine blocks by his sheer strength to boost production times. No special apparatus/ overhead lifting aide nothing. Speeding up the production.
GM Holden problem was it stuck to making large sedan cars sales drop because no one was buying the Commodore. When Women started buying SUVs and Men started buying Twin cab utes.
Regardless of the rasons Why the Car Manufacturing Industry folded in Australia. We were fortunately enough to have a Car Industry here Most, look at the Sad end of this Industry. The End is Never a Good story. It's Why it's called THE END. Changes in the world economy will affect many things in our lives. This was just another example of how our world has changed in our lifetime. Even as Sad as it is. It's reality, Like it or Not. I guess we never really get use to seeing things change. But they will always change, before we were here, and after we go.
The fact that short-sighted governments on both sides of politics destroyed vehicle manufacturing in Australia is a disgrace!. The next federal government needs to reinstate tariffs and make sure there is local civilian and military vehicle manufacturing capacity.
@Mike Plantagenet Almost everything we buy comes from China or other Asian countries. Some essential goods should never be allowed to made overseas. Both the liberal and labor parties signed an agreement in 1975 called "The Lima Declaration" where they agreed to dismantle a lot of Australia's manufacturing industries. A process that continues to this day. Most people thought that is was some kind of conspiracy theory. The same with agenda 21. There is proof on the internet for those who are interested. I wonder with everything that is happening if those people still the same now?
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What is sad about his video is not the fact that Holden has gone but how much manufacturing this country has lost with not only Fisherman’s Bend but the Elizabeth plant and every other smaller manufacturing business tied into not only Holden but other car makers. That’s a lot of jobs lost in this country and opportunities for thousands of Australians all gone, this is truly the saddest thing of all this
And all because the LNP hates unions. For the sake of about 300 million in subsidies each for Ford and Holden per year, the nett economic impact on South Australia alone due to closure of GMH at Elizabeth was 1.2 billion per annum. Do the sums, we realise what it has cost Australia in terms of manufacturing capacity and economic output. Every car sold here now is an import. And all because the LNP are ideologically opposed to well-paying unionised jobs.
@@davidburne9477 That’s exactly right with the economic impact but the problem was so many people would keep complaining about how much money was being pumped into these car manufacturers without thinking or wanting to admit the economic return this country was getting. It’s all very sad how much manufacturing we have lost in this country and when I grew up manufacturing was a major part of employment for people, even if you dreamed of going higher than in were able to be employed in the industry while furthering your study to get where you wanted.
When the Australia Labour Government gave millions of dollars to help GMH to keep factories open to save jobs. The Greedy GM Executives at Detroit more or less took the money a ran by giving themselves a big pay rises then they imported a Chinese built GM car and badge it as a Commodore and hope no one notice. Then those same Executives asked President Obama Government for a financial bail out to keep the Detroit factories going.
@@stephenwarhurst6615 What Chinese car you talking about, all there cars were built here employing Australian workers while the engineering team was working here for the parent company, the last car was imported and by that time with all the bitching from people about handouts that can’t figure out the benefits to this country the execs decided Holden’s fate and most companies would have done the same. Bag Holden all you want probably because you like the other brand, I loved all Aussie built cars and can’t believe people pushed manufacturing out of this country. Ford and Toyota should have found ways to work with the government for extra cash but Ford would only build one car and not bother exporting it so chances of getting more handouts were slim, Holden did export. Ask yourself if you are happy this country has no car manufacturer anymore, forget your bullshit money views, are you happy a massive industries is gone as so have the jobs thousands enjoyed?
@@knight2425
ZB Commodore was made in China
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SAIC-GM
VF Commodore was the last
th-cam.com/video/zijKXrNHt4U/w-d-xo.html
Problem is it's profit before people. Every Company is outsourcing to China. The Worse thing is industries in Australia Employ real cheap oversea labour on work visas e.g. Building , Mining and Factories. Just have a look around. and it's 100% supported by the Liberal Government when they keep saying Australia has a Skill Labour shortage we need to open the borders and come out of lock down. P.S. I drive and own a AU Falcon XR6 ute and Ford should of Dump the Falcon and keep producing the Territory because there is a market for SUV's but they op for Everest import
I like the Art Deco features on the older buildings...
I used to make videos for Holden design and did quite a lot of filming around the plant, especially in the hallowed design area which was quite an exciting area. You felt a little bit special being allowed into the top secret ‘ skunk works’.
I was lucky enough to work in plant 14 & 11 Foundry mould line, plant 13 HFV6 engine testing and plant 18 a HFV6 engine assembly. I wish I had video footage of the old foundry mould line. You love to hate that line but many great memories with a lot of workmates.
Thanks for the video
I spent a lot of time during the 1980's and 1990's in most of those buildings. As a Sales Manager for Automotive Component companies, we had access to pretty much everything. Had a few design team meetings in the Tech Centre with engineers and purchasing people working on new car developments years before they were released. Very exciting and rewarding work. However, the pressures to get costs down made life difficult at times.
my dad used to work here!!! I also remember going to a few holden christmas parties for employees and their families!!
My uncle worked there, their Christmas parties were massive, I got to go a few times when their kids grew and didn’t want to go. We always had such a great time there.
My dad also worked there he was a toolmaker and so did I back in 1974 I was a fitter and turner
Those Christmas parties at the Melbourne Zoo were great.
@@evanmurphy2165 yes me and our family went to lots of those also
My day worked here from the early 80s until 2009. Many memories including Christmas parties and a personal tour of his work area.
My Dad worked in the design department there from 1956 - 1982 & I worked as a Mechanic there from 1981 - 1985 have many great memories !!!
When I was 12 in 1948 my step father who did work for General Motors, took me down to Fisherman's Bend to see the first Holden to come off the assembly line... I seem to remember it was a very special day, with important guests there...I think I was the only kid there, & I remember running around like a mad thing, but I did stop to look at the first Holden come off the line, & it was only in later years that I realized what an important day it was for the car industry & manufacturing in Australia...
Bugger me I just saw my 1st FX 3 days ago . Truly in showroom condition . That Australian Green paint job
I worked there in the family 2 production line, it was the best job I ever had, I acctully would wake up at 5am and look forward in driving to work through Albert Park and through South Melbourne then cut through to Lorimer St . Every day was full of fun, and laughter and sweat especially in a hot summer day, because there was no air coolers in the sheds, our line had a female manager called Lo anne and a female supervisor called Mimi, who were awesome, great mentors, and no question was a stupid question with them and took no shit from the boys.
I also worked over a Christmas shut down with a crew of 6, and explored all over the work shops amazing things we found.
Hello Phillip. I worked in the Engine Plant of GMH Port Melbourne back in 1972, and left after approximately 5 months to return to school as an adult and secure my Matriculation Certificate. At this time; I was an Ex Serviceman hence I worked at GM to get me through a lay period. Funnily enough; my Oldest son who was born in 1974, eventually studied Mechanical Engineering at Swinburne, (The Engineering Degree at Swinburne went for 5 years which was a year longer than Monash and Melbourne Uni's. Swinburne placed their students with various manufacturers for 12 months for hands on experience. My son was placed at GM Port Melbourne for his 12 months stint and worked on the design of the Commodore gear box. Thanks for the memory's.
Fascinating, thank you for sharing!
@@philipmallis My pleasure mate
Holden started in the Adelaide CBD as a coach making business by an English migrant. Then moved to Woodville and then to Elizabeth.
Fishermen's bend was after along with Pagewood.
BHP another Adelaide company .
This and your Ford plant video which I watched before this, really makes it hit home just how much we lost in this country when these companies walked out. They were quite literally the life blood of this country, and it really has not recovered since which, prehaps ironically, was one of the biggest things certainly I learn't from COVID. My dad delivered to Port Melbourne, and we used to go past the buildings on Salmon St and some of the buildings at the front. You don't realise just how big that site was (and I imagine it was the same at the Ford plant) until it's empty, it's quite sad really.
Never had an issue with any of the workers or staff members they treated
Me as one of them great bunch of people
Thank you for the walk down memory lane. I worked at the Fishermen's Bend site for nearly 20 years back in the 80s and 90s. Lots of memories of the people and facilities there - a real melting pot of cultures as well. I would love to take a stroll through the various plants and buildings one day.
Great series you're doing Philip. The image at 2.36 suggests coal gas convertors being fitted at the rear of the vehicle. Due to petrol rationing during World War II and until the end of rationing, coal to gas conversion, could be used to power a vehicle. Thanks again for your videos of Melbourne and history.
Thanks bloke, that was an awesome video
Such a total disgrace, the loss of our heavy industry.
Many thanks. Very interesting. My dad brought his 1968 hk holden brand new in 1968 at the age of 18. Dad is still driving that ute today 2022 !!! Shows the quality we made in Australia and very proud of the fact . Cheers Patrick
I actually popped down Fishermen's bend during covid looking for new places to walk. I had a look at Holden and they still had the Sandman concept car in the foyer of the engine plant building. The Holden signage was also still there. Not long after I went to Adelaide to see the motor museum in Burwood and the Sandman has been relocated there. I think in the main office building at the front they used to have other concept cars you could go see too. Interesting video, helps to describe some of the things I saw. I imagine the engine in my VF SV6 would have been made there, and then I guess the car fully assembled in Adelaide. Thanks to everyone that worked the factories to put together a great car.
I worked there in 1973 after arriving from the UK. I worked on the Torana GTR-XU1. Enjoyed my time there and sad to see it closed down. I've owned 4 Holden's. A 1970 HG Kingswood which was stolen and burnt out by some assoles in Darwin. A WB Wagon, VN Commodore and my present daily driver, a VX Commodore. I also put a VX Commodore engine in my VG Ford Transit van! Who says Holden and Ford can't live happily together!!
I love to hear history about Melbourne. I would like to see then and now on Melbourne's suburbs .
Thanks for the video. Sad really that Holden became an integral part of the bigger plan to rid Australia of manufacturing. Just about all gone now along with textiles and many primary industries. A shame Aussies didn't have a say in what actually happens to their country.
We can all thank that grub Tony Abbott for that.
@@zybch it started in 1975 with the lima agreement every govt since then is responsible
Well, Aussies did, at least to some extent. And that relates to your claim of a plan to get rid of Australian manufacturing. If more Aussies would have bought more Commodores & Cruzes, they'd still be in production. Fact. But, since sales for four door sedans had been falling steadily for years, and nobody at Holden seemed to notice or care, the collapse of the Holden plant was pretty much inevitable. Same with Ford, though Ford's chronic under-investment played a part in their failure. Tarting up an AU Falcon as a modern car for 2015 might fool your average bogan. It didn't fool buyers in general.
@@zybch Holden was running at a net loss and was being subsidised by the tax payer. The first Holden was produced in Adelaide and the last was produced at Elizabeth 32 kilometres to the north of Adelaide.
@@zybch not really because of Tony Albott , the fact is since Paul Keating and Hawke open Australia and joint the so call globalisation and Tarif has been removed then import cars come into Australia much cheaper than locals built , for example cars from Germany like Mercedes, bmw , Audi , Volkswagen has become affordable , european made cars used to be for the rich now everyone can afford them . Even Toyota is closed as well not just Holden and ford . Not only cars manufacturing but most others industries as well , closed and move oversea . If we can’t produce ours products cheaper and competitive with imports product and removed ours tariff then we kill ours industry .
Hi Phillip , I worked at Hawker De Havilland site on fisherman’s bend which was the old commonwealth aircraft factories . The site is now gone. . It once had a airstrip during the war .
Hi Sascha that would have been very interesting! I am planning a video on the Fishermans Bend aerodrome in the future
You might have worked there when at the weekends there was a drag strip for the boy racers, I went to one in the 60's
Was going to ask what happened to the ASTA site.
Hard to believe nowadays that Australia not only used to have the ability to manufacture aircraft but design them too.
Hey Sascha, as promised here's my latest video on this very topic! th-cam.com/video/3bI2n_IO5aE/w-d-xo.html
I worked in the Technical centre many years ago. I have some very good memories. The Technical centre was the heart of Holden. I saw prototype cars, even saw the reborn of the Kingswood after the Commodore sale's drop. Unfortunately it was a one off. The big boys gave it the Khyber. I miss those days. We always thought Ford would go before us. Unfortunately GM US pulled the rug & our federal taxes didn't help sales.
Worked at this plant for 2 years, massive plant, huge work force and a great place to work, wouldn't have believed anyone that it would be completely shut down one day, very sad.
Holden was born in Adelaide South Australia.
I worked for Chrysler in Adelaide which was the largest car plant in the southern hemisphere,
Sad that great Australian industrial sites like this lay empty now
The Holden body machine tools and production line are still hard at work producing supreme quality car parts. In South Africa.
I worked there from 97 till 98, 1 year to the day! plant 4
About 35 short years ago everyone had Jobs everywhere, in fact Mums use to stay home and families all lived happily just on Dads wages. We had Iron Ore and great steel industries, we had shipbuilding, Car manufacturing, Holden, Chrysler, Mitsubishi, Toyota, Ford even Lightburn made a Zeta, we built TV’s, radio’s, washing machines, Victa lawnmowers, hills hoists & fine furniture manufacturing. We built Car parts and we even made our own tyres at Bridgestone! We had fishing ports all over Australia from Port Lincoln to Brunswick Heads. We made our own cheap Petrol that was refined at Stanvac Oil refinery in SA, Bulimba Refinery in Brisbane. Mortlake Sydney Refinery’s from oil brought in from the Bass Strait, North West Shelf and the Timor Sea.We built Aircraft, Boats, Submarines and battlecruisers, Ships, warships. Buses. Locomotives, Diesel-electric trains, as well as the tracks, and you can add hundreds more to that list.And everything was “PROUDLY MADE IN AUSTRALIA”We had Corner stores and Milk Bars and Deli's, and Hardware shops all over the city and country. Our Rural towns were a hive f activity as they were very strong Communities and were linked by a vast rail network that now lies dormant forever all across the country.Flea Markets everywhere on the weekends. All our food was fresh and local. Our Milk and bread were delivered every morning fresh to our doorstep in recyclable glass bottles.We paid our rates to the local council to maintain our streets and remove our rubbish. and we use to dump our extra rubbish free at the local tips.We had work available as driveway attendants at all our local Service Stations, that was when we had Australian owned Service Stations like GOLDEN FLEECE that even had restaurants owned by H.C. Sleigh... and AMPOL. I even remember good old STANLEY who checked your tyres, checked your oils and washes your windscreen. And at ALL these places you could always find a JOB!!!I remember going to Myers, David Jones and Waltons etc to buy Clothes and there was always someone with a tape measure to measure me up and all my NEW clothes fitted perfectly... Today I have to take clothes off the shelves, get them out of the packets, Take them to the fitting room and try them on... If they don't fit put them back and keep trying till you get some that do fit. 2 Hours later take them to the checkout that if it is not a Self Serve checkout. They are scanned and the operator tells me the price... Oh, I say... Can you tell me, the second-hand price, please???? These are new She replies... No, they are not! These shirts smell under the armpits... These are not new at all... How many people before me have tried them on??? I don't know what diseases people have. This is a public health issue.We had PUBLIC UTILITIES like Power Stations, Water & Gas which would employ thousand around the Country and it was always so cheap, it would sustain thousands of Industries all over the Nation, this was how thousands of jobs were created.We were all taught Respect for others and ourselves at school.Then the bloody Government starting selling out our very souls !!!! It started to Corporatise itself and began to compete against private enterprise instead of Govern. Local Councils started to buy up Caravan & Tourist Parks in all the major tourist spots and build Shopping Hubs and rented them out and at the same time dictate to all others what you can and can not do...Then we started going downhill.All our companies and manufacturers started going offshore or close down because this new corporate government did deals with other countries under free trade agreements that allowed them to totally wipe out our business and manufacturing by allowing the foreign business to start flooding our once great nation with their cheap crap.We as Australians use to all watch each other's backs and respect each other and all say G'day with a smile because we were all happy with our freedom and our wonderful democracy. Children could safely go anywhere as long as they were home before dark. Now we just watch each other through security screens and burglar alarms and live in constant FEAR & STRESSThese Foreign Countries were allowed to just march in and start taking over and rape and pillage all our resources. They started driving our Farmers off their lands and then sold it to these foreign countries.They cut back funding to our education system and slowed down teaching trade skills to our youth and set up 457 visa’s to replace our trade workers with poor quality cheap workers from overseas. These things left our once beautiful Country in tatters!Politicians allowed Foreign Countries to buy our Power Stations and guaranteed them that they would always make a profit at our expense no matter what.Now because we have lost so much the Government then realised they don't get much income anymore and have to find new ways to make money so it hits it’s own people further in the pocket. They invented things like GST, Excise Taxes, Levy's buy the hundreds on everything. They cut funding to our Emergency Services and forced us to all pay an Emergency Services Levy, they cut funding to our Police and Public housing.All our Public owned Forestries were sold off to foreign ownership.These new Corporate Government Politicians laughed in our faces and gave themselves MASSIVE pay rises and they all pat themselves on the back knowing that we are so dumb and stupid we would not know what is going on!Now they tell us we have to tighten our belts and lose what little we have left to pay back the MASSIVE DEBT they left us all in after gifting other countries billions in foreign aid setting up their countries at the peril of our own...Everywhere I shop today just about everything is "MADE IN CHINA" and it dawned on me that every time I buy something made in China I am actually funding China to buy up my own country out from under my feet. We are making China so much profit they can now afford to buy us right out which is exactly what they are doing and our Government is helping them do so.Today I drive the main roads around Adelaide and all I see is the empty buildings that once housed all these great manufacturing companies and when I drive past the Holden Plant at Elizebeth totally empty I begin to literally cry for what has happened to my once great nation.This overpaid government need more taxes to live on so they are now going to force our elderly (God bless them, for they were the ones that helped build this Nation in the first place) back into the workforce until they are 70. and tell everyone to go out and get a JOB!! But this is NOT just South Australia, this has happened all over Australia.So can someone in this new Corporate Government tell us EXACTLY WHERE THESE BLOODY JOBS ARE???????????????????????ALL YOU HAD TO WAS SELL THE MILK AUSTRALIA... NOT THE WHOLE COW!TODAY EVERY SINGLE THING LISTED ABOVE IS NOW GONE, GONE, GONE AND JUST LEFT TO DECAY!!!!MY HOW THIS ONCE MIGHTY 100% SELF SUFFICIENT NATION HAS FALLEN...And while you’s sit there reading all this thinking this was another Aaron Taylor FB rant about the government running us down the drain, it was in fact...Written byGary J Matthews.As it wouldn’t let me share it, but I loved it so much, it was definitely worth sharing in one way or another to everyone on my friends list that loves, and also the ones irritated with my Facebook rants can see how beautiful we once were!!
6MichaelCarol Reig, Terry Reig and 4 othersIt's a bit of a long read, but well worth it
I did my apprenticeship as a Fitter and Turner at the Engine Company there in the 90s. It was a great place to meet people from all different backgrounds with all kinds of stories to tell. It was a bit of a bizarre place during nightshift - with characters from a Seinfeld meets David Lynch alternate reality tv show.
Sad.
My father worked there in 1948 and made engine parts for the first ever Holden FX 48/215.
Even though cars are no longer manufactured in Australia Melbourne still remains as the Automotive capital of the nation.
I did my apprenticeship (Fitter & Turner ) there in the mid - late 1970's,, great place to work
If you have not been in yet, be very carefull the technology centre may still be full of friable asbestos that GMH totally ignored. Do not go above the ceilings or pipe lagging and the plant areas on the canteen. The newer areas are ok including the v6 manafacturing areas. Be very carefull in the casting plant, the red/gray motor plant.
Many people will be interested particurally if the test areas like the dynos or the wind tunnel is still made. But the clay modeling and the design/technology centre please wear a p2 mask.
You're right, which is why I didn't go in and don't plan to :)
I worked their as a maintenance fitter on the V8 machining line in the early 80's just as the Family 2 line was starting up.
Such a great asset to this Country even tho it was American owned, it gave the young a place to gain Trade qualifications in Toolmakers, Fitting, Welding, Electrical, Drafting and so on, in addition to providing employment for production workers, accountants, management and on goes the list, such a valuable factory.
Manufacturing is such a huge asset to the young looking to do a Trade, sadly they have being robbed of that to a large extent.
The Labor Party is stating they will bring Manufacturing back in the coming election 21-5-22 however the truth is Australia can't manufacture a product cheap enough to compete against the Chinese Imports or many other Countries with lower paid, cheaper materials, no super, no sick leave, no holiday pay, no bonuses, Staff getting I guess 1/10 of what we call a minimum wage, we simply are not able to compete against that.
The final straw with GM was the Government gave GM a large handout to keep them going meanwhile the top brass count was increased and they all each took a huge bonus and sucked it dry.
Love your historical videos and wow
3:00 The company *DID NOT* become merely "Holden". The company was GM-H right throughout its history, it was *ALWAYS* General Motors-Holden, even though the first Holden did not appear until 1948. The General Motors Corporation had acquired a company called *Holden & Frost* which originally made saddles for horses, then horse-drawn wagons of various types before getting into building car bodies under licence from the USA parent.
"In 1908, it moved into the automotive field before later becoming a subsidiary of the United States-based General Motors (GM) in 1931, when the company was renamed General Motors-Holden's Ltd. It was renamed Holden Ltd in 1998, adopting the name GM Holden Ltd in 2005"
Its actually General Motors HOLDEN'S as in plural...wierd I know
@@user-fx2sh6pk9u Holden's is singular possessive. Holdens' is plural possessive. Holden is singular nominative, Holdens is plural nominative. But the company was General Motors-Holden.
Oh dear. I can remember loving the view of this area as a kid as we drove over the WGB, and seeing the old runway down there.
1. In the early fifties, went on a High School excursion visited GMH at Fishermans Bend. 2. Dad bought a 1952 FJ Holden Special. 3. GMH abutted CAC (Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation). -> would appreciate if you eventually did a video on CAC. thanks for your video Philip.
Interesting, thanks for sharing! And great guess, that's the next video!
@@homlesy1172 Having also lived through this era, I 'get' your' 'fast forward' of the changes and how it makes you feel. Although I'm pretty progressive, nostalgia kicks in and I enjoy reminiscing about my youth & the Australia I knew as a kid.
I spent about a month here, just as the last few GMH employees were leaving the site. Went into the Amenities Building and the Medical Centre next door. Also the building where they used to make the mock ups was still there. Went through the Technical Centre, still a few remnants inside of its use. Some of the few employees I met had been there for years, through a succession of different jobs
This is sad man both my dad and grandfather worked at Holden it's like a part of my life is dead
I won't add to the sadness surrounding the death of the great lion, GMH however the very sad detail lost on many people is that these Holden plants (and the Ford factories and those owned by BMC and Pressed Metal Corp.) were re-purposed in surprisingly short time for war time production in WWII. They were the powerhouses which kept our troops supplied with hardware and all their other needs. If we were to be involved in another war I suppose we could ask some indigenous folks to make woomeras and boomerangs because that willl be about the scale of our current manufacturing!
Very interesting. Thank you for posting. Great job.
I'd heard of Fishermans Bend, but as a kid growing up in the outer south-eastern suburbs, I thought all holdens were coming from the Dandenong plant. It was the assumption of a child, who didn't really know. All I knew was a big factory with "Holden" written on it.. They had their own "General Motors" railway station on the Pakenham line between Dandenong & Hallam. That station was closed in the early 2000's.
My dad worked there from 1982 to 2011. We literally grew up as Holden kids.
This has been very enlightening and great closure for our family
Our Detroit ,Thanks Philip
Great video.... Thanks. ✌🏻
I worked there in the foundry on the mould line, cope mould stamper. Lost my job after 9 months when Daewoo went belly up, a third of our production back then was for Daewoo export.
I used to do a lot of overtime in other areas like the fettling plant, was pretty loose, plenty of moonshine and chop chop on offer, also in the assembly plant some dude had an unofficial general store in the corner selling smokes, chocolate and other stuff.
Also worked there but on the mould line
Great video Philip
Nice channel, good mix between Ruairidh MacVeigh and Julian O'Shea. Keep it up!
Great vid buddy . i had one of their last cars a Vf Calais 6.2 ltr and in my opinion was the best Holden's ever produced . Full of Technology , Reliable , And very strong when required . Easy to service and parts galore . Not to mention the rapid market value increase .
Wait till ya push button handbrake dies lol
@@stivi739 5 years no issues .
And when they made vehicles for the war they would park them on the MCG cricket ground, Also the rail yard was used to make the big stuff and also parked at the MCG. You should do a video on all this. Great video thanks 👍
The MCG during World War 2 was a Military Camp; At one time there were 6000 United States First Division Marines camped there for 7 months in 1943. The MCG history makes no mention of the unlikely use of it for a vehicle park.
awesome !
Greatest spot there was the cafeteria ! I was a rigger working on shutdowns and modifications from time to time. It wasnt lunch it was banquet 3 times a day.
Are they planning to incorporate the old buildings in the redevelopment? It's always disappointing when old buildings are demolished... History lost and more demand for new building materials 🤔😕 Be interesting to see how the old buildings will be used
Hi I worked in plant 16 did my apprenticeship there in the mid 80s sadly missed.
Another of Cigar Smoking Joe Hockey's greatest blunders.
Suggest you go out to the old GMH plant in Dandenong.... and the now disused train station...
They will need to drastically improve public transport through South Melbourne and Port Melbourne if they want to use the old site as a uni campus.
Wow interesting…Fishermans Bend is also where planes and jet engines were designed and built I believe
Ya my Grand-father helped build Beaufort Bombers there during WW2. Don't know if they moved to jets, but they did props.
@@Fiasco3 Yeah mine too! I'm not sure whether my grandfather built bombers actually, but propeller fighter planes for sure, maybe bombers too. The people who worked on all that never get mentioned... They should really. My grandfather also worked on designing the CA-15 there... Australia's own spitfire/mustang equivalent, that never went into serial production because the war thankfully ended and then the jet age began. I know there were some early jet fighters built in Australia in the following decades, I'm guessing probably still at Fisherman's Bend
Would love to see a video on the building in the Clayton Business park that was home to VW’s first facility in Melbourne, nissan plant and HSV.
Thanks, good suggestion! Will add it to the list
And just down the road, what use to be Australian's own Commonwealth Aircraft Factory , , , .
Our many Australian Governments over the years have allowed way too many major manufacturing to be moved overseas, from once when we made everything, we now import everything.
I am 60 yo I am So said that an Aussie icon has gone, I love the Holden, I currently drive a Holden and have always had one, they are safe reliable and gutsy and has a,ways been best car on the road
If I had heaps of money I would buy that Factory and start making again
My late grandad worked at this factory, every Christmas me and the family would go to the Holden Christmas party here
Turning the site into a University Campus seems a folly. Universities best days are behind them. They will struggle in the near future.
I kinda wish someone took a tour of the holden factory at Elizabeth before another company took it, and the other holden factory here in Adelaide up in Woodville was turned into a Bunnings, i kinda wish Holden didnt die, because if they didnt they could be starting to build some electric commodores so one of the biggest things that makes Australia "Australia" doesnt die when petrol and diesel are no longer for sale
This is a good video
I cannot forgive them for allowing Holden to go.
Thank you for the video.
It was Holden's own stupid fault really
I got to do some of the demo 2 years ago in one of the building
The knowledge and skills that have been lost in this country confound me. The average Australian doesn't understand that between not making our own fuel, no car making and no steelworks our ability to construct and defend this country is nil.
Ford at least still has presence in Australia. They always wanted to win over Holden. Sadly I guess they have.
My great Uncle Sir James Holden was Chairman of GM-H in the 1960s.
My great great grandfather founded Holden saddle makers in Adelaide in the 1850s.
The Holden family was bought out in the 1930s by GM but they still had some input for a long time.
Of course Holden had other plants in Dandenong, Pagewood NSW, Elizabeth SA, and Brisbane and Perth.
Maybe you can find out about these other factories.
Won’t last too much longer
@@JohnnyChinch and what is that?
Well...Ford have some good import Car's...Holden had Daewoo's...but the moral of the story is you have to give consumers/the market what they wan't...and a Big Heavy RWD Family Sedan was NOT IT for both Ford and Holden...hence...went broke
2:20 Holden 48-215 is the *ONLY* designation borne by the first Australian car. The "F's" started with the "FJ" model in 1950.
Same at Ford in Campellfield, signs are still around, but the manufacturing plant is being dismantled, to be turned into offices
I arrived in Australia at the gentle age of 2. Brought here by my parents, who were led to believe Australia was the way to the future. What they were not told , wasthe country was full of greedy opportunists who would sell the country out for whatever miserable profits they could gain. What a sad outcome for a country that could have been the shining light of the world.
Totally agree 100%. Pack of greedy treasonous pigs.
Someone sounds salty lol. Australia remains high on basically all metrics from human development to gdp per capita.
It is a very sad loss of historical engineering. So many jobs that once supported parts of our economy.
Another piece of Australian history gone, at this rate there won’t be to much more left around this country as we shut down iconic Australian businesses and plants and seeing things like this makes me sad to be a born and breed Aussie and fear for our historical future and jobs. Great video.
Hard for me to reconcile the today with my time there in the 80s.
Was doing security at gate 4 for M M S. At G.M Holden for two years .their in house security
Wouldn't work on this gate area due to there was no cover from the wind year was 1992.
Wasn’t the previous government planning to convert this whole area to create a second CBD?
120,402 48/215 (FX) Holden's were made in 6 years.
so what does Dandenong & s/a look like now ?
Deindustrialisation was by design. Whitlam and LIMA agreement 1975
We need Holden to come back and start building Aussie cars specifically tailored for our climate and road conditions, let’s bring back AUSTRALIA 🇦🇺 JOBS
Because no other country has hot climates or dirt roads or long distances….
forget about it, cars will be solar powered very soon
They had their chance for decades...but refused to do it
Long long ago way back perhaps in the late 50s into the 60s a large strong gentlemen who worked on the line got an extra 3 pounds in pay for quite literally lifting engine blocks by his sheer strength to boost production times. No special apparatus/ overhead lifting aide nothing. Speeding up the production.
Its sad to see this empty!
They look Art Deco?
There was no one on the site before or during covid
GM Holden problem was it stuck to making large sedan cars sales drop because no one was buying the Commodore. When Women started buying SUVs and Men started buying Twin cab utes.
Regardless of the rasons Why the Car Manufacturing Industry folded in Australia.
We were fortunately enough to have a Car Industry here
Most, look at the Sad end of this Industry.
The End is Never a Good story.
It's Why it's called THE END.
Changes in the world economy will affect many things in our lives.
This was just another example of how our world has changed in our lifetime.
Even as Sad as it is.
It's reality, Like it or Not.
I guess we never really get use to seeing things change.
But they will always change, before we were here, and after we go.
Nice, pity you didn't accidentally find an open door....
Lost an icon equal with the
Opera house and the harbour bridge
Sad story. Made most of my favorite cars
Can you do a investigation of the old government aircraft factory?
Working on it now - should be done soon!
The fact that short-sighted governments on both sides of politics destroyed vehicle manufacturing in Australia is a disgrace!. The next federal government needs to reinstate tariffs and make sure there is local civilian and military vehicle manufacturing capacity.
@Mike Plantagenet Almost everything we buy comes from China or other Asian countries. Some essential goods should never be allowed to made overseas. Both the liberal and labor parties signed an agreement in 1975 called "The Lima Declaration" where they agreed to dismantle a lot of Australia's manufacturing industries. A process that continues to this day. Most people thought that is was some kind of conspiracy theory. The same with agenda 21. There is proof on the internet for those who are interested. I wonder with everything that is happening if those people still the same now?
don't worry.we'll have hubs,idea centers and maybe a hydrogen innovation plant.In other words,moonbeams and fairy dust.
Just "Holden" together
Disappointed you didn’t explore the place internationally
I work next door now