South Australian Trade Minister Tom Koutsantonis said the decision of the motorcycle manufacturer to close its subsidiary, New Castalloy, at North Plympton in Adelaide's southwest was unfortunate.
"To tell a group of workers before Christmas they may not have a job is insensitive and I think quite silly," he told journalists in Adelaide on Thursday.
Koutsantonis said the company had given no indication to government of the closure of the facility over the next 12 to 18 months, which will see 212 jobs lost.
"From now on Harley-Davidsons will be made in China," he said,
"What Harley-Davidson have done today, they have taken their operations somewhere cheaper with lower environmental standards."
I read today that they were going to make them in the US and Japan
No jobs safe
Just read the news, one frase that caught my thoughts
"SA Employment Minister Tom Kenyon said workers would be given between $3000 and $5000 each worth of job training.
'The state government stands with these workers,' he said.
'There will be places for them once we've got them through the right training.'"
Not sure what the factory actiually did but I did hear one of the issues is the ability to do quality chroming in Australia due to many of the chemicals required for quality are banned for use.
