PACIFIC Brands is pressing ahead with a contentious plea for millions of dollars in extra taxpayer assistance, and the Rudd Government appears largely powerless to stop the company from getting most of the funding despite the loss of 1850 jobs.
In a move branded as "shameless" by unions, Pacific Brands yesterday offered to provide at least $1 million to help retrain its redundant workers, while confirming it was pursuing about $7 million in government grants.
Kevin Rudd said yesterday the company's decision to cut local jobs and shift its clothing manufacturing operations to China was "frankly, in so many respects, beyond the pale".
"In terms of the monies that they have got from the Government, we'll go through all of that in terms of what can be extracted back from them," the Prime Minister told Melbourne radio.
Pacific Brands responded by detailing its offer of a "seven-figure sum" to help retrain the redundant employees, while confirming it was pursuing its application for about $7 million in taxpayer grants.
The application seeks to have taxpayers reimburse the company's investment for research and development under the industry's Strategic Investment Program Scheme.
Under the scheme, companies are entitled to a proportion of what they invested in the previous financial year. Pacific Brands has already received $14.5 million from the two previous years.
"Yes, we have an application for funding," a company spokesman said.
"It's for money spent on Australian-based research and development."
A spokeswoman for Industry Minister Kim Carr said the grants process was "not a process the Government controls" and was "done at arm's length".
The spokeswoman said the only way the Government could claw back funding from Pacific Brands was if the company moved any factories or equipment offshore before 2015.
The company has said it does not intend to move any equipment offshore.
The Textile, Clothing and Footwear Union said the company's strategy of offering to fund retraining while seeking more taxpayers funds would "only deepen the level of public anger and cynicism" towards the company.
"I think this company is absolutely shameless," said the union's national secretary, Michele O'Neil.
She said she had been approached by a number of businessmen about buying out either whole or parts of the business to keep manufacturing in Australia.
Ms O'Neil said the Government should continue to press the company to reverse its decision and, if that failed, broker serious discussions about selling it off to a local interest.
Workers from the Bonds factory at Wentworthville in Sydney yesterday held a rally to protest against the jobs cuts.
Union organiser Jim Owen said the workers wanted their entitlements protected.
"We've asked the company to put money into a trust fund so we know the entitlements are protected fully," he said.
Union officials restated their commitment not to allow machinery from the factories to be moved overseas by either rail, road, ship or air.
But a threatened product boycott has not been activated while officials work through options to try to save the jobs.