Rex-it
The collapse of Rex Airlines presents a quandary for the Albanese government: how to ensure the carrier survives without a full-scale bailout.
How do you bail out an airline without it being seen as a bailout? This is exactly the problem confronting Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Transport Minister Catherine King right now after Rex Airlines entered voluntary administration on Tuesday.
King today acknowledged that Rex would come to the government with a “specific ask” which it would look at in detail, but stressed that “we would be reluctant to just throw money at the problem”.
“What we would want to do is ensure that there is a long term solution to the security of regional aviation, and we will take time to work our way through that,” she said at a press conference.
Throwing money at airlines is politically contentious, particularly after the Morrison government gave Qantas around $2.7 billion during the pandemic with no strings attached, only to see the national carrier return to record levels of profitability soon after.
