Holden holds off accepting $50m state government assistance until after federal election A 24-year-old woman in a critical condition following a Hectorville house fire, the Premier in Melbourne meeting with Holden, and Brett Ebert announces his retirement PREMIER Jay Weatherill has offered Holden a written contract with the conditions to be placed on a $50 million taxpayer support package but failed to secure a signature at a meeting on Wednesday. Mr Weatherill travelled to Melbourne for a meeting with company executives. On Tuesday, he said he did not expect to seal the deal but hoped to make significant progress. On return to Adelaide, Mr Weatherill renewed calls for the federal Coalition to back down from plans to cut $500 million from car industry support funding. "We've put $50 million on the table but we need a series of safeguards," Mr Weatherill said. There are a lot of suppliers out there who have really made their operations very much focused on Holden's. If they're having to change their operations, they need time and assistance. The workers need assurances and also we need the opportunity to pitch to General Motors internationally a role for South Australia in their international operations. Last year, the State Government claimed to have saved Holden with a $275 million support package including money from the Federal Government. However, Holden has since cut jobs and says it will renegotiate after the federal election. Holden said there would be no deals with state governments until after September 7. "This is another of the regular and confidential meetings we have been holding with the SA Government and as such, Holden won't be making any public comment," a spokesman said. Our position remains that we are not making any decision on future funding or our next generation manufacturing program until after the Federal election and after we have held detailed discussions with the new federal government. Mr Weatherill said on Wednesday he was confident Holden would agree to strict conditions on minimum employment numbers at the Elizabeth plant and purchase of local components. He said some details of what had been agreed would be released after a deal was made. Opposition Leader Steven Marshall earlier on Wednesday said the State Government has put itself in a poor bargaining position by declaring Holden "too big to fail." Mr Marshall said it was "completely unrealistic" to expect a deal could be struck between South Australia and Holden before the federal election is over. The federal Coalition plans to remove $500 million from a $1.5 billion car industry support fund if it wins the September 7 election.