SEA La Trobe Valley promise flounders as did automotive sector – by Shane West

Electric drive train and truck producer SEA Electric has decided not to go ahead with a planned factory in Victoria’s La Trobe Valley. Here Shane West laments the decision, made after the company won an order to build 1,500 electric trucks in the United States.

SEA Electric began life as an all-Australian technology and manufacturing venture making electric drive trains and assembling trucks from CKD kits in Melbourne.

But like many, the company decided its biggest markets and sources of capital would be overseas, with SEA recently moving its headquarters to Los Angeles, CA.

SEA now announcing it will not go ahead with the proposed Latrobe Valley factory is a real shame, as the basis for the business was formulated in Australia, but it is not surprising.

It is, unfortunately, a sign of Australian state and federal governments not moving fast enough to secure contracts and encourage local manufacturing.

The three tiers of Government must work in close conformity and use their buying power to create start up capital which will provide value adding for permanent local manufacturing jobs, utilising local green steel, aluminium and local battery production. But they need to get on with the job.

It is crystal clear that electrification is on its way and has been for over a decade.

But what have Liberal and Labour done about it?

The Australian automotive industry should not have been destroyed by the Abbott government withholding the $275 million agreed payment to keep Holden and Toyota operating for the next decade.

They should have had a transition to EV plan mapped out. Unfortunately, just before the Federal election in 2013, then-Minister Kim Carr did not ratify the agreement — again too slow.

Abbott was determined to cut $500 million from the 2013 budget but now they are spending $500 million on the Australian War Memorial extension?

A case of differing priorities perhaps.

The move to electric vehicles was obvious and the Holden design team had already produced the Holden Bolt in Melbourne.

The Nissan Leaf componentry is still cast in Melbourne — the last of the OEM car manufactures with significant manufacturing here.

All it takes is leadership and the three tiers of government to support local manufacturing and we can and should restart the industry.

SEA should be encouraged to continue with local production here and be a significant part of the rebirth of electric vehicle production in Australia.

In any case this illustrates the Australian Department of Industry needs a big shake up.

Those that have been there for the last decade or more have resided through the two decades of industry decline have shown how ineffective and removed from industry knowledge they are, operating in the safe Canberra bubble.

The economics and benefits of being part of the energy transition are obvious and it requires local manufacturing to be a major participant and needs to be actioned quickly and implemented.

Please, no more sitting on hands and the big five accounting firms writing reports for inept government departments.

Shane West has been a director and consultant with Environmental Sciences Australia Pty Ltd for 30 years. Shane has been a local manufacturer of technology, and published research ranging from the heat treatment of cooling towers to the manufacture and commercialisation of sustainable daylighting and natural ventilation products such as the SkyVent. Shane has a PhD in Sustainable Technologies and Methodologies from UTS.

Picture: SEA Electric/Dandenong assembly line/Shane West

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