CANBERRA, June 10 (Xinhua) -- Australia Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard said Tuesday Toyota's announcement of building a hybrid car in Australia is good news for the nation's motoring public and for Victorian workers.

    Japanese motoring giant Toyota announced earlier Tuesday its plan to expand its facilities in Altona in western Melbourne in Victoria state to allow construction of a petrol-electric Camry from 2010.

    "I'm an Altona local, I live in Altona not that far away from the Toyota car plant, so this is very good news," Gillard told reporters in Sydney.

    "It's very good news for Australia, it's very good news for Australians who want to drive more environmentally friendly vehicles, and so many Australians do," Australian Associated Press quoted her as saying.

    Toyota plans to build 10,000 of the fuel-efficient cars in Australia each year, and has been offered a 35 million dollars (33.6 million U.S. dollars) subsidy from the Rudd government's green car fund.