The federal government is under increasing pressure to reveal how it will help Holden workers and rebuild confidence in the long-term future of manufacturing.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott on Wednesday night called Holden's decision to stop making cars by 2017 a "sad, bad day" for Australian manufacturing and pledged a strategic response to help workers and rebuild confidence, particularly in Adelaide.
He told parliament Australia had come through hard times before and said it was not the time to indulge in the blame game or peddle false hope to thousands set to lose jobs.
But Labor didn't hold back.
Opposition leader Bill Shorten said he was "appalled" that a major company that had been building cars in Australia since after the Second World War had effectively been "goaded" to give up.
Mr Shorten called on Mr Abbott to urgently deal with the mess that will see the loss of 2900 jobs in Victoria and South Australia by 2017.
Acting Prime Minister Warren Truss rejected the claims of goading, saying he'd been told by the car maker the government's actions had little influence on its decision.
GM cited a "perfect storm" of "the sustained strength of the Australian dollar, high cost of production, small domestic market and arguably the most competitive and fragmented auto market in the world".
