The Victorian opposition has pledged $30 million to help struggling fruit processor, SPC Ardmona, upgrade its operations if it wins the November state election.
The announcement was made yesterday by the state labor leader Daniel Andrews and federal opposition leader Bill Shorten during a tour of SPC's Shepparton facility.
The funding would come with conditions including the long-term security of workers in the Goulburn Valley and it follows the federal government's recent refusal to bail out fruit processor with a $25 million cash injection.
The government has pointed to the profitability of SPC Ardmona's parent Coca-Cola Amatil (CCA). Another reason to emerge was that government had felt that with wages agreement up to 58 per cent above the award, the processor's pay packets are too generous.
Since the decision, Tony Abbott has been asked to defend the recent $16 million in federal funding awarded to the Cadbury chocolate factory in Tasmania.
He told the ABC's 7.30 program that the funding was not going towards the running of Mondelez International's Cadbury's business, but was to enable the multinational food giant to re-open its Cadbury premises to tourism.
"One highly profitable business, Coca-Cola Amatil, wanted the day-to-day operations of its business to be improved by government.
"The other company was willing to allow a very important piece of tourism infrastructure to be re-established," Abbott said.
According to Abbott, CCA had a better balance sheet than the Commonwealth of Australia.
"Why should the Commonwealth taxpayers be borrowing to give money to a $9 billion company that made a $215 million after-tax profit in the last six months? It just doesn't make sense," he said.
However, SPC Ardmona argues that it has been a victim of high levels of cheap imported product from overseas combined with a high Aussie dollar.
The $25 million in funding from the federal government would have triggered a further $25 million investment from the Victorian state government, and a further $90 million from CCA, to modernise its fruit processing plants.
Another $30 million in funding could be up for grabs for SPC if the Victorian opposition wins the election.
