2017 Folio Task 2:
|
Key DatesEXCURSION Wednesday Week 5 (1st March)
DRAFT Friday Week 7 (17th March) FINAL Extended to Monday Week 9 (27th March)
|
Task overview
Your job is to respond to the claim that "Adelaide's north may become a new Detroit" after the closure of Holden's Elizabeth factory in October 2017. You should apply the theories of the Relative Poverty Cycle and the Four Power Model in your analysis.
Suggested formats are:
The sources studied in class and provided on this site should contain sufficient information (i.e. limited independent research required). |
Reference: David Nankervis, 'Business SA's Nigel McBride warns Adelaide's north may become a new Detroit', The Advertiser, 8 May 2015, http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/business-sas-nigel-mcbride-warns-adelaides-north-may-become-a-new-detroit/news-story/6fb2384b60a52987b5e8a10bf972919a, accessed October 2016.
|
1) Background on Detroit
As a class we will watch this story that was aired on Foreign Correspondent eight years ago, just after the Global Financial Crisis hit:
Tracy Bowden, 'Ain't too proud to beg', Foreign Correspondent,
http://www.abc.net.au/foreign/content/2009/s2581572.htm, aired ABC TV 26 May 2009, accessed October 2016. 24 mins. Transcript also available on the webpage. |
Further viewing/reading:
Heidi Ewing & Rachel Grady (dirs), Detropia, 2012. 1 hour 30 mins. DVD available from Ms Grant. See also the documentary's website: http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/films/detropia/ |
2) Recommended sources and angles for your research
2a) Considering similar scenarios in Australia
Source: Emma Griffiths, 'Toyota to close', ABC News, 10 February 2014, http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-02-10/toyota-to-pull-out-of-australia-sources/52501144, viewed October 2016.
|
In 2016, Ford produced its last car in Australia and Holden produced its last Cruze, although it is still producing the Commodore. Toyota is also set to close this year.
Shadow Federal Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, Senator Kim Carr offered this point of view citing a study by Flinders University about the closure of Mitsubishi's Lonsdale plant: The immediate outcome of the Ford shutdown will probably be that which a Flinders University study in 2006 found after the closure of Mitsubishi's plant in Adelaide two years earlier. One third of the workers will find a new job, one third will be underemployed and dependent on casual hiring, and one third will remain jobless. But now, without a mining boom, the longer-term outcome is likely to be much worse as the countdown begins to shutdowns by Holden and Toyota at the end of next year. Kim Carr, 'Setting the record straight on the Ford closure', Sydney Morning Herald, 6 October 2016, <http://www.smh.com.au/comment/setting-the-record-straight-on-the-ford-closure-20161006-grw8vn.html>, accessed October 2016.
Is this a fair comparison? Mitsubishi went on to announce in 2008 that it would close its remaining Tonsley site within weeks, whereas Holden has given years of advance notice. Will this change the outcome?
|
Channel 9's 5th February 2008 coverage of the day Mitsubishi announced Tonsley Park plant would close at the end of March 2008 (9 mins). See this in-depth article for further information.
|
2b) Planning Ahead
Holden Transition Centre
|
We will visit Holden to see first-hand what support they are providing to their workers, along with support from many other organisations. There are some early indications this is working:
|
The following initiatives have also been put in place:
Northern Economic Plan
Renewal SA - Playford Alive including Playford Works scheme
and the Stretton Centre
|
2c) Different perspectives on Detroit
George Galster, Driving Detroit: The quest for respect in the motor city, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2012, e-book available at https://books.google.com.au/books?id=U_6rCf3cpv0C&dq, accessed October 2016.
|
Just as there are stereotypes about Elizabeth, there are stereotypes about what has happened to Detroit.
Last year South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill travelled to Detroit to learn more about how they have managed their crisis. Visit the Detroit Future City website for more information on its regeneration. What does the site remind you of? |
2d) Personal and group identities
What impact will the closure of Holden have on:
Recommended reading: "Holden was there, always going to be, a fixed point by which people navigated their lives. An Elizabeth without Holden would be Sydney without its bridge. Losing it was impossible."
|
Of course, Holden is also an important part of Australia's national identity.
Sources: State Library of South Australia and Australian Screen Online.
|