ON A WING AND PRAYER

VIRGIN must survive or a viable alternative major airline must be ready for takeoff quickly for the sake of Gold Coast tourism and the state economy, with thousands of jobs at stake.

These are key elements in State Treasurer Cameron Dick’s move to make Queensland a major player as potential buyers study Virgin’s books and seek the go-ahead by Virgin administrators to mount their final bids, with a buyer to be determined next month.

The Treasurer’s announcement, intended to head off other states poaching a revamped Virgin, drew a savage broadside from Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton, who declared Queensland could not even run its trains on time, and accused the Palaszczuk Government of a political stunt in an election year, wanting “to spend billions, borrow more … to put into an airline during one of the most significant downturns in the world’s history”.

It is puzzling, given the state debt. But as the air began to clear yesterday it was evident the Queensland Government would not necessarily be running the air services, instead providing the means to give Virgin its chance to revive and survive the COVID-19 fallout.

The administrator appointed to conduct what has become an aggressive sale process, Vaughan Strawbridge of accounting firm Deloitte, has said the airline would still be flying – despite its own heavy debt – if not for the pandemic that has slammed the brakes on the world.

Despite Mr Dutton’s astonishment at the Queensland Government’s decision to beef-up its original $200 million offer of support for Virgin, which is headquartered in Brisbane, the state-owned body the Treasurer has directed to take a lead on Queensland’s behalf has been a player in the process since Virgin was put up for sale.

The $80 billion Queensland Investment Corporation’s potential involvement has been known for more than a month, with speculation it could link with Perth conglomerate Wesfarmers and a Canadian infrastructure investor.

From a Gold Coast perspective, the tourism industry must be protected. Virgin must survive or an alternative operator has to move into that space.

Virgin has one-third of the nation’s domestic market share. That rises dramatically here, with 46 per cent of all Gold Coast domestic visitors arriving via Virgin into the Gold Coast and Brisbane airports. We cannot lose that.

Little wonder local tourism leaders are desperate for a happy solution, since the way out of the coronavirus tourism crisis will be domestic led. Experts say international travel will not return to being a major component for perhaps two years.

From a passenger perspective, we cannot return to the days when – after the collapse of Ansett – Qantas enjoyed a rails run until Virgin was able to establish itself. Airfares reflected that monopoly.

And from a jobs perspective, Virgin’s staff must survive in some form. No state can take a 5000-job loss in one hit.

Indeed Prime Minister Scott Morrison summed up the unemployment situation yesterday, saying ABS figures showing almost 600,000 jobs have been lost were “devastating” and “terribly shocking”.