Two western suburbs Members of Parliament have hit out at Ted Baillieu’s plan to abandon support for manufacturing the Hybrid Camry at Toyota’s Altona plant and the many jobs in the area that rely on the project.

Member for Altona Jill Hennessy MP and Member for Williamstown Wade Noonan MP have pledged to raise the matter when state parliament next meets to explain to Ted Baillieu the dangers of abandoning financial support for the Hybrid Camry.

Ms Hennessy said she was concerned about the future of the project after the Liberal Party criticised the Brumby Labor Government’s support for Toyota’s Hybrid Camry project describing it as a ‘failure’ and a ‘flop’:

http://vic.liberal.org.au/News/MediaReleases/tabid/159/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/2083/HYBRID-CAR-FLOP-COSTS-TAXPAYERS-35M-FOR-BRUMBY-PHOTO-CALL.aspx

“I don’t want to see jobs in the West sent overseas under the Liberal Party’s plan,” Ms Hennessy said.

“While the Brumby Labor Government is making the tough decisions to create jobs in the West Ted Baillieu doesn't have what it takes even when local jobs are on the line.”

Mr Noonan said the Liberal Party’s comments showed that if they won the state election later this year they would abandon financial support for the project.

“The sad fact is the Liberal Party has never cared about jobs in the West,” Mr Noonan said.

“It’s not just the Toyota workers who may have their jobs put at risk by Ted Baillieu’s policies – the jobs of many component manufacturers across the state could be at risk too.

“This means Ted Baillieu would be the biggest job-killer since the Global Financial Crisis.”

Mr Noonan said the sales of the Hybrid Camry were still in their early stages and was confident that consumers would embrace the model in the future.