But has anyone actually bought a Holden recently....?

Yes, the loss of jobs at Holden is disappointing, but just how much in the way of government hand-outs would have been needed to save them?  And it seems we're not buying the cars they make anyway.

The media mentions that there are 3,900 jobs directly involved, and presumably there will be flow-on effects in suppliers and the like.

However, let's get this into context.   On gazing through the National Bank's annual report (please don't ask why I was doing this..... but it's here if you want to look at it), I noticed with interest the statement that NAB is "making significant progress in the convergence of 14,000 Melbourne-based employees into three locations....".

I was surprised that the number was as large as 14,000, but that's what the document states.   And presumably if they're going to be in three locations, this doesn't include staff working in branches.

Perhaps instead of worrying too much about the seemingly inevitable loss of manufacturing jobs, the powers-that-be ought to be taking steps to ensure that jobs in the service sector remain in this country, given the risk that at least some of these jobs could probably be moved to locations with lower costs.