Car industry subsidies in news again...

[2011G6E]

After Toyota says it will sack workers because of the high dollar and other excuses, one thing stood out very clearly.

All the car makers here say they simply cannot survive without subsidies, and lots of them.

This leads to the question "What's so magical about car manufacture in Australia that we simply must subsidise them endlessly"?

Looking at it pragmatically and without emotion, there's really no reason we need to build cars in Oz. We're a tiny population and an even smaller market. You can't in all economic sense appeal to "tradition" or something as to why we have to keep doing it, when other industries have been let fall over as the government shrugs and says "Oh well, if they can't tand on thier own two feet in a competitive environment, too bad, we can't use taxpayers money to support uncompetitive and unrofitable industries".
Also, if we keep telling other industries...like those that feed us and make other goods and services...that it is "unfair" to world free trade to support them, then why does the car industry get special consideration?

Job losses are constantly mentioned, but if the industry here became one of screwing together CKD kits from parent companies overseas, then really how many jobs would be lost? Then of course, the government doesn't seem to care about job losses, sometimes quite large, in other industries when things get tough.

So why is the car industry here so uniquely deserving of ongoing and never-ending taxpayer assistance?