Opposition leader Anthony Albanese says the government is “sitting back and watching” while 15,000 airline workers face losing their jobs if Virgin Australia shuts down. The government dismissed the airline’s claim for a $1.4 billion bailout as it struggled to stay afloat during the coronavirus crisis. Mr Albanese said “it needs to be prepared to give consideration to support Virgin whilst ensuring that taxpayers’ interests are protected”.
When asked about Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s suggestion that the Transport Worker’s Union superfund should be used to bail out Virgin, Mr Albanese said the prime minister was trying to “shake off” his responsibilities. “Industry superfunds will make decisions based upon their members but the Prime Minister shouldn’t abrogate the government’s responsibility here,” he said.
AlboMP So if the TWU superfund bought Virgin, would that mean the workers owned the means of production? Would that then turn them into little capitalists to drive productivity and growth? Could this be a marriage made in heaven between capital and labour?
AlboMP Why would anyone want public tax money to be given to a private company owned by 38% Chinese govt backed entities?
AlboMP Fucking Albanese should stay in lockdown and lockdown his mouth
AlboMP Shut up Albanese, we don't need your negative rubbish at this time
AlboMP Re bailing out VirginAustralia interesting that the TWUAus says 'It is not the role of an individual superannuation fund to bail out an individual company. Indeed, it would be reckless.' Yet they expect $1.4 billion taxpayers dollars to be used in that same reckless way.
AlboMP Should Australian taxpayers dollars go towards a company that is 80% plus foreign owned? NO!
AlboMP Sitting back and watching as a majority foreign owned company, so poorly run that they can’t survive 1 month of no income, begs for a tax payer bailout because the owners won’t put their hands in their own pockets to keep their own company alive.
AlboMP Irrelevant focker.
AlboMP Oh dearAlbo, you just blew your outside chance there.
AlboMP walkawayfromlaborparty will Australia from turning 100% communist
AlboMP But you can't call for government ownership because your head is still stuck in a pro-capitalist ideological swamp.
AlboMP Prop up another foreign owned company using public money when unemployment is rising, pensioners don’t have enough money to survive and farmers are struggling. Suggest you head back to the whiteboard Albo. This one don’t wash. The LNP will be in power for ever the way you’re goin
AlboMP They’ll be employed by a new airline. The foreign governments can get fucked.
AlboMP Sir Richard Branson must look after his employees!
AlboMP Shifty Shorten is on your tail pal.
AlboMP Just like they did with the car industry auspol
AlboMP AlboMP is not a pilot.
AlboMP A not very owned Australian airline. You are a truck knuckle Albo. Where are the owners? At Friday night yum cha in Wuhan sucking on Pangolin and sculling Tigers balls. Let those sqillionairs bail them out instead of open hunting season on our vulnerable Australian companies
AlboMP Sell it off cheap to Murdoch
AlboMP AlboMP why don’t the unions stump up some cash and run the airline?
AlboMP
AlboMP Sell your shares Albo but be quick!
AlboMP The answer Albo ... no do not salvage Virgin instead if we are going to salvage their jobs we start our own wholly owned Govt Airline and they work tax free for the first 2 years but only 2 years! That’s their reward for loyalty! The 80% China owned Virgin can get stuffed!
AlboMP Here comes Father Christmas again.
AlboMP So easy to criticise when you’re sitting in the cheap seats
AlboMP This Albo is why you’ll never be PM.
AlboMP M_McCormackMP ScottMorrisonMP mirandadevine kelliekelly23 macsween_prue australian mattjcan DamTom79 Albanese labor don't acknowledge the farmers drought busting National Water Grid which will create massive employment and export to pay off debt
AlboMP Virgin is owned by a consortium including CHINA they are the owners like Qantas they have to manage there capital. It's not a taxpayers issue. The market will fix it or the shareholders. Albo like the car industry kept funding until it colapased a waste of taxpayers money.
AlboMP China owns it’s China can pay for it the airline doesn’t even pay Australian taxes
AlboMP Each way Albo at it again
AlboMP Dumb idea.
AlboMP That all you got Anthony ? Sitting on the sideline with a big bag of rocks, asks more of you, than it does of the government.
Virgin was almost broke anyway before the corona virus we haven’t got money to Bayele out airlines help the people first because we are all grieving for there loved ones there lost throw some money at the people not airlines
AlboMP Will ScottMorrisonMP also give funding to the companies I own shares in? Surely this is illegal to only provide funding and support to some companies? AlanJones
AlboMP Albo. Shorty has made his move. Concentrate on that.
AlboMP
AlboMP Sitting back? That’s a stretch. Knob!
AlboMP Hang on is not the major shareholder Chinese interests. So China caused the problem and they get paid for the problems they caused.
AlboMP Why should we prop up this business? Let the owner sell his bloody island and prop it up himself
AlboMP Frankly, this tells me that all the global warming BS coming out of labor & greens was just that. BS. What a bunch of hypocrites
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AlboMP You dont learn from past, VERY RECENT PAST? Billions of $ fed to Holden (or GM) and how many our jobs kept safe to date? Do you consider tax payers $ as blind money for purposeless charities?
AlboMP Political snipping and unhelpful in this crises.
AlboMP virgin should be bailed out with all the tax they have payed in Australia,oh wait
AlboMP Albo is more worried about the main shareholders ,they have to protect their Aldi bags of money not the employees.
AlboMP more than 15000 jobs lost from small business sooooo why should virgin aust be preferred get the shareholders to raise funds no public funding
AlboMP Liar liar pants on fire 🔥
AlboMP Why doesn’t he get his union mates to tip in some Super money as an investment?
AlboMP Virgin gouges Australian customers, as do all airlines, with excessive change fees and the like. Lesson to learn for all businesses, don't make enemies and then ask them for help.
AlboMP
AlboMP The taxpayer shouldn't be expected to save every over leveraged company out there.
AlboMP Blah blah blah each way albo
AlboMP Who owns Virgin I believe it’s 90% own by overseas corporates
AlboMP Albo , give it a fukn rest
AlboMP How many companies do we bail out The country will be bankrupt
AlboMP No Albo it is not the Govt that is 'sitting back and watching', it is the owners of Virgin who are not injecting funds into their airline. Perhaps they don't want to inject any further funds into an airline which had been losing money hand over fist.
AlboMP This peanut would even argue with the LNP that 2+2=4 .
AlboMP So what. I lost mine. Reckon I give a shit about Richard Bransons airline
AlboMP This from the man who couldn’t run a corner deli
AlboMP Any assistance package should result in the Australian Gov't having equity in ANY of thr Large Corporations being 'Assisted '..
AlboMP There is no one working AlboMP. Why should the tax payer fork out for airlines. Tell their shareholders to take a cut instead...
AlboMP Funny that... We gave Qantas a hand with cuts and they still slashed around 20k employees didn't they
AlboMP The company knew the turd wa going to hit the wall as they took no precautions to make their workers safe the passengers and the country. Since being grounded they have been begging for help.
AlboMP Albanese is simply not truthful He is not a fit & proper person to lead anything
AlboMP The goverment doesn't own Virgin.
AlboMP Get China to bail them out Albo have a look at the ownership very carefully. So Albo phone the President of China, your good mate & tell him to save Virgin since it’s his country’s fault for starting this Chinese virus.
AlboMP Nah, call their bluff, Temesek is worth half a trillion dollars and they own 45% so can’t see them letting their investment be flushed down the toilet.
AlboMP letthemfail
AlboMP Virgin International reported a total revenue increased 16.5 per cent to $1.3 billion in FY19, surely they could use some of that.
AlboMP No offense albo but virgin oz is not an aussie airline,QANTAS is, aussie labour like british labour has betrayed its socialist heritage prefers to bail out billionaire wannabe donors.
AlboMP Albo probably thinks virgin changed there name from t.a a.
AlboMP He’s a genuine waste of space this bloke.
AlboMP Put AlboMP on short notice, AUS taxpayers do not bail out foreign airlines operating Virgin. Mr Lee of SGP can do that etc
AlboMP RUN IT as a publicly owned entity ,where the venture partners are annuled and WORKERS EARN THEIR KEEP FROM THE TAX PAYER. Flights continue to operate!
AlboMP Really Govts should bail out millionaires and billionaires?
AlboMP richardbranson what are you going to do about it?
AlboMP How about the airlines first seek commercial finding options before placing a further burden on the tax payer. Impacted employees are already covered by Job Seeker etc.
AlboMP We the tax payer can’t save virgin which is 80% foreign owned!!!!
AlboMP Its a foreign owners thats doesn't pay tax in Australia. Why should Australians taxpayers help them out
AlboMP VirginAustralia financial performance has been on the nose for years, thanks to horrible management. Sorry AlboMP but they got themselves into this mess, and with their foreign investors not injecting more funds, why should the Aussie taxpayer
So according to AlbofromMarketing we’re now supposed to bail out Virgin 🤦♂️ Where’s Richard Bramson who’s net worth’s around $4.2 Billion to help out ? Oh here he is probably sunning himself on his very own island tax haven 😎 auspol skynews LaborFail
AlboMP How's it going keeping the bench seat warm Albo? It's so easy to be paid high 6 figures to sit and judge everything someone else is responsible for... what a muppet
AlboMP Virgin is a Foreign company not a good thing to do with taxpayers money. Better to support the workers themselves.
AlboMP The airline is foreign owed. The workers will get the Dole $1500 per fortnight
AlboMP If they can't even survive one month without tax payer handouts then they deserve to go out of business.
AlboMP Albo and Labor have totally lost the plot 😡
AlboMP Hey Albo, it would be good if they had paid tax once in their 20 years....Richard Branson and his Chinese investors should wipe the cob web's from their wallets and use some of the billions they have stashed away in the Cayman Islands to bail out the airline.
AlboMP
AlboMP Tell me Each Way, what are Etihad, Singapore Airlines (Singapore Govt), HNA (China, Nanshan Group (China) and Branson doing to HELP THEIR OWN COMPANY ?
AlboMP ..each way!
AlboMP I thought they should use part of the TAX FREE $25 BILLION in profits they’ve taken out of the country over the last five years.....
AlboMP Virgin, with its $18 billion revenue and zero tax payable, is a midget by comparison.
AlboMP How much Tax did they pay Albo? How much did the CEO and execs take out of the business last year? Who owns them?
AlboMP Bring Ansett Back
AlboMP AlboMP please setup right back, you're completely out of you depth here!
AlboMP 😏😏The opposition leader can easily say anything ..., it’s very good time 🤨🤨
AlboMP Isn't Virgin owened by overeas companies and perhaps Richard Branson could sell his island and contribute
AlboMP Haha Albo just doesn't get it! Trying to score points on something Aussies are Against
AlboMP Government better not help them
AlboMP Virgin, owned by sustaintial foreign interests, losing money before Covid19. Labor wants us to invest significant taxpayer money, with no guarantee of success. Also wants increased funding for the ABC, when taxpayers are struggling. Some new blood required to better use our money
AlboMP That's right, Albo. Make sure we throw taxpayer $$ at Virgin Australia Holdings Revenue A$5.83 billion (2019) Owner Etihad Airways (20.94%) Singapore Airlines (20.09) Nanshan Group (19.98%) HNA Group (19.82%) Virgin Group (10.42%) Employees10,620 (2019)
AlboMP More on HNA:
AlboMP Hey Albo you want to bail out virgin? Well ask their HNA communist Chinese partner to do that. Why should Australian taxpayers bail out a foreign owned company?
AlboMP You've got the best advisors that the LNP could wish for Albanese. To continue supporting this dead duck airline just goes to show how out of touch you and the Labor party are. Destined for opposition for sometime Albo. Thank God.
AlboMP The government has more important things to be spending money on. I’m sure casual workers who have not been with their employers for over a year would be delighted to know an airline takes priory over them.
AlboMP Why pump more money into a business already skating on thin ice before Covid 19? Seems to me Covid19 has afforded Virgin a lifeline through govt intervention- which it doesn’t deserve. Meanwhile other successful business prior to Covid receive disproportionately lower Gov’t help.
AlboMP Labor spent over a Billion dollars that's over a Billion on Holden and what did that do ...shut down the industry people out of work and a flood of GM cars into Australia and no more Ute..Labor piss off
AlboMP No one business deserves to be saved during this current situation in any country. Given the borders between states and territories are closed, who needs to fly anyway? Plenty of businesses and people suffering and NOT just flying mattresses!
AlboMP I though Richard Branson was worth billions. Can’t he spare one of them to bail his own company out.
AlboMP Do your home work stupid It's world wide and the if your going to complain ring Singapore airlines stupid
AlboMP I guess this one reason to as why he's the opposition leader
AlboMP Is this guy for real? Seriously
AlboMP What about all the small businesses and the landlords. No one cares about them. It truely is a joke
AlboMP Albo, you are so wrong on this one. It is not the government's responsibility to prop up a poorly run business.
AlboMP Guess Virgin should have saved for an emergency such as this. Free markets means if they fail they fail. If it's critical infrastructure, nationalise it. Or are there no free-market capitalists in a downturn?
AlboMP The airlines should sue Communist China for the lies & deceit? They owe us trillions in reparations!
AlboMP So?
AlboMP Oh great. Lets care about the airline industry. When my business cant get help from the banks to keep me and my employess going. Good to see the no one is picking sides on who to save and help. So shameful
AlboMP Ouch Tennis Albo: Actually Australians dont want to see our taxes wasted proping up a foreign owned airline (Chinese company, singaporeair and ethiad are major owners) . sounds like there is the right process an actio happening for a private buyer.YAY no Australian taxes wasted
AlboMP Billions in turnover and they haven’t paid a cent in tax in Australia. Shit corporate citizens
AlboMP Is he going to save every business? I'm more worried about small business.