The federal government baulked at request to keep Holden manufacturing in Australia

Putting its hand out: General Motors asked the federal government for a total of $560m over seven years.

General Motors Holden’s decision to leave Australia was made after the federal government baulked at an extra $80 million a year for seven years, reports The Australian Financial Review.

The appeal for the extra subsidies was discussed at a meeting in Adelaide on October 2 with Holden managing director Mike Devereux, federal Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane, South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill and his Manufacturing Minister, Tom Kenyon.

A summary of the meeting seen by The Australian Financial Review reveals that in order to keep making cars in Adelaide from 2016 until the end of 2022, Holden wanted $80 million a year in addition to the $40 million it was set to receive from the Automotive Transformation Fund and $275 million already pledged for seven years by the federal and state governments.

The extra $80 million year would have taken assistance to Holden to a total of about $1.1 billion over seven years, or an average of $160 million a year. If Holden shut before 2023, it would have had to repay the money.

Read the full story at AFR.com