Buying Australian ??? ... there's a lot of reflecting on the past happening here in the Shannons forum, but it's clear to me that our automotive manufacturing decline has been in progress for quite some time ... government pretty much gave birth to the business and then gave it a huge boost post WWII ... government thereafter protected the business through tariffs and taxes ... and then government began complicating things in the 1970s via ADR legislation followed soon enough by rationalisation and The Button Plan of the 1980s. Do you remember ?? ... a time when both Ford and GM Holden each operated vehicle assembly plants in all five mainland states ... the Ford plant here in Perth (Fremantle) ceased manufacturing in 1962, but the Holden plant (Mosman Park) lasted through to 1972 ... attached is a photo of the Mosman Park factory staff with what was apparently the last car to roll out of the plant, none other than a Holden HQ SS sedan in the quirky paint colour of Lettuce Alone ...