Govt was ‘not going to bail out Virgin Australia shareholders’

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has defended the government’s decision to not bail out Virgin Australia, which went into voluntary administration today. “This is a difficult day for Virgin Australia staff, its suppliers and the aviation sector more broadly, but this government was not going to bail out five large foreign shareholders with deep pockets who together own 90 per cent of this airline,” he said. Mr Frydenberg said “this is not the end of the airline, this is an opportunity to recapitalize and for Virgin to come out stronger on the other side of the coronavirus crisis”. “The government’s objective is to see two commercially viable airlines operating domestically in Australia,” he said. The Treasurer said the government’s JobKeeper package would be available to Virgin employees. Via news.com.au — Australia’s #1 news site https://www.news.com.au