Elizabeth That Was Part 7: Blessing or Curse? (Holden's Seals Elizabeth's Fate)

Part 7 in this 8 part series is based in part on the book "Good Times, Hard Times" by Mark Peel, and covers the irrevocable course Elizabeth was set upon with the arrival of General Motors Holden as the town's primary source of industry, and economic stability.

History of Elizabeth

Before the 1950s, most of the area surrounding today's suburb of Elizabeth was farming land. After the end of the Second World War with its shortage of materials, the state government decided that South Australia needed to grow and become industrialised. A satellite city was planned for northern metropolitan fringe of Adelaide between the existing townships of Salisbury and Smithfield. The South Australian Housing Trust initiated a housing development program in the area, with a purchase of 1,200 hectares (3,000 acres) at the site of the present suburb.

The township (now suburb) of Elizabeth was established on 16 November 1955, being named after Queen Elizabeth II, queen of Australia, and inaugurated by Sir Thomas Playford, who was then premier of South Australia.

The town council was briefly renamed the District Council of Salisbury and Elizabeth on 22 August 1963. On 13 February 1964, a new local government body, the municipality of Elizabeth, later called the City of Elizabeth, was created by severance from the District Council of Salisbury.

By the late 90's local council bodies were being forced to amalgamate by the State Government, resulting in the amalgamation of Munno Para and Elizabeth City Councils to become Playford.

The entire lifespan of Elizabeth the City lasted just 33 years.

History of General Motors Holden in Elizabeth

The Holden Elizabeth Plant was a vehicle manufacturing facility in the township of Elizabeth, South Australia operated by Holden from 1963 until 2017. It succeeded the Woodville Plant as South Australia's main assembly facility.

The plant pressed and assembled bodies with engines from its Port Melbourne Plant in Victoria.

The plant officially opened in 1963, after the majority of tooling from the Woodville Plant was transferred to Elizabeth, though the plant itself had been operating in a limited capacity since 1960. The first vehicle produced at the plant was the Holden EH.

Elizabeth became the last remaining Holden plant in 1989 after Dandenong closed. After production of the VL Commodore ceased.

In 2006, the plant underwent a redesign known to have cost more than $1 Billion (AUD), this budget was shared with Holdens development of the General Motors Zeta platform, of which's introduction in the Fourth Generation VE Commodore led to the retooling of the facility.

Australian production of the Cruze ceased in 2016, leaving the Commodore and its ute derivative to be the only vehicles being produced at the plant.

The Elizabeth facility was the last large scale automotive manufacturing facility in Australia to close after the Mitsubishi Australia in 2008, Ford Australia in 2016, and Toyota Australia earlier in 2017.
The last vehicle, a 'Red Hot' VF Holden Commodore SS V Redline (which is currently in the collection at the National Motor Museum, Birdwood) rolled off the line on October 20, 2017.