SA Premier Jay Weatherill to fly to Canberra to lobby Prime Minister Tony Abbott to rescue Holden PREMIER Jay Weatherill will fly to Canberra on Thursday to urge Prime Minister Tony Abbott to put "money back on the table" to secure the future of Holden. Mr Weatherill told advertiser.com.au there was "nothing inevitable" about the closure of Holden and it could be avoided by the right "policy choice" by the Prime Minister. Mr Abbott last week said the Federal Government would not commit "any extra money over and above the generous support" that had already been given to the carmaker. Mr Weatherill will meet Mr Abbott in Canberra on Thursday ahead of a Council of Australian Governments meeting on Friday. He said he would pressure Mr Abbott to reverse the Coalition's $500 million cut to automotive assistance and urge him to settle an agreement for future funding as soon as possible. "The workers I'm sure don't know what to believe (but) there's nothing inevitable about this (closure of Holden)," he said. This is a policy decision for the Prime Minister. We know they (the Coalition) respond to pressure, we've seen what happened in the Gonski model (when the Coalition reversed its school funding position). Mr Weatherill said Mr Abbott's comments about stopping future funding for the car industry meant the Productivity Commission inquiry into auto industry assistance was a "farce." "We're going to be asking him to clarify his public remarks," he said. We need to know what he meant by them. If this means that there is no future funding then what on earth are we carrying on with the farce of the Productivity Commission report for? Mr Weatherill said he spoke to Holden managing director Mike Devereux last week who rejected reports that Holden was to close its Elizabeth plant as early as 2016. "Holden have said that they've made no decision, this is speculation by the federal Liberal party," he said. Mr Weatherill said the government had some "contingency planning" in place to assist workers if Holden pulled out of South Australia but insisted the State Government's "principal focus is on shifting the Commonwealth's position on this issue." "The costs associated with the adjustments for the effects on the workers and their families and the northern suburbs will be enormous," he said. This needs to be put next to what's being requested by Holden to continue manufacturing cars in this country. This morning Mr Weatherill debated Opposition Leader Steven Marshall on ABC Radio about the future of Holden. He called on Mr Marshall to stand with him and "ensure that we put the most pressure we possibly can on the Federal Government." Mr Marshall said it should be remembered that "Holden hasn't ruled out the possibility that they've already made a global decision" about how long the company will operate in Australia. Mr Marshall would not say if he wanted his federal counterparts to recommit $500 million cut from auto industry assistance. "I'm fighting for South Australia, I'm fighting for Holden but I'm not going to do it with taxpayer dollars and I'm not going to do it via the media," Mr Marshal said. I'm speaking to the Prime Minister's office and all of the (Coalition) frontbenchers' offices directly. I'm asking them to do what they can to make sure that we have ... a viable auto sector in South Australia. They've said 'we understand that (and) if there's a deal to be done we will do that'. The Coalition, I have much more confidence in, will do a deal but you've got to have two willing partners in a negotiation and we need to find out what Holden want to do. Holden workers will likely go into the summer holiday break not knowing their fate even though a shutdown of the iconic car factory has become a foregone conclusion. Holden boss Mike Devereux has been asked to deliver Holden's submission to the Productivity Commission tomorrow, which will hand down its interim report on the future of the industry and the end of next week.