The world adores matt hayward

** an open letter emailed to Kim Beazley and Simon Crean 21/02/05 3:54pm **

Mr Beazley and Mr Crean,

Jim Lloyd’s imminent changes to the importation laws regarding 15 year old vehicles are big-business biased, anti consumer and small business.

Importers of such vehicles ensure the strictest of compliance with these vehicles and ensure Australians have the best possible vehicles on offer. That and the fact that a fifteen year old foreign vehicle is by and large far safer than an equivalent domestically delivered vehicle. Especially given that the crux of cars being imported are more prestige German and Japanese vehicles.

Without alternatives to domestic vehicles, big business can continue to dish out whatever product they see fit for the market, knowing the average consumer has little alternative. Look at your Holden Statesman or BA Ford Falcon to see how much local product has had to improve since smaller importers started offering excellent, international spec vehicles entered the market at similar prices in the past 5 years. The big 3 Australian auto manufacturers must be scared to admit that a 15 year old Japanese import can be of similar standard to current domestic Australian sold vehicles.

I for one don’t want to see the quality and safety of our vehicles regress any further just to increase the profit of auto manufacturers. Look at our neighbours such as Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore and see just how stagnant, and low standard, their new car market is. There’s very little affordable middle ground between say Proton and BMW. I’d rather not see this happen here considering we’re not the most populous market for auto manufacturers.

Diversity in the market place is the only way to keep the manufacturers honest and industry profitable. Allowing importation of so called grey imports was a big wake up call to the industry, but the economy has benefited. According to NineMSN Carpoint, Wheels and Motor magazines (copied in on this mail), last year was one of the most successful years in new car sales in Australia on record. So how can Mr Lloyd argue these small-time private importers have had anything but a positive impact on the local motoring industry? Whose pocket is the Liberal party in to change these laws? It’s not as if you can salary package or novate lease a 15 year old vehicle like you can a new car, so what’s the impact on the big manufacturers? That [novated leasing] is under current tax laws the only real viable way for many white collar workers to afford a new vehicle.

I beseech of you to maintain the 15yo import laws, set to end March 1 2005. Like many car enthusiasts, I fear any more change to these laws will lead to further stumbling blocks to grey import laws for the consumer and more watered down domestic product. They are the only way to keep the big manufacturers honest, making sure that Australian drivers get affordable vehicles of internationally high standards and demand that domestic products matches them. Not to mention keep in business thousands of Australians (such as Prestige Motorsport and J-Spec, blind carbon copied on this email) lawfully providing these vehicles who have worked hard to establish their niche.

END

Links to Local Grey Importers:
Prestige Motorsport, Perth
J-Spec, Melbourne