Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Hansard source

I do thank the shadow minister for her question and for the ability to add to the Prime Minister's response. I thank Virgin for what they have done for travellers around the country and, indeed, for those Australians wanting to get back home. I have a couple of figures. Under the Domestic Aviation Network Support program, Virgin has carried around 33,000 domestic passengers during the first four weeks of that program. Under the international aviation network support program, repatriating Australians overseas back to this country—Virgin has operated 26 flights carrying 893 passengers and 400 tonnes of freight.

Of course, Virgin is also eligible for support under economy-wide programs, and everything that we've done in the aviation sector has been sector wide—that's really important to note—such as the JobKeeper program, which Virgin has been able to access. I do want to thank Virgin. I do want to thank those people who work for Virgin, the 10,000 of them and the 6,000 contractors but particularly the 10,000 workers who proudly wear those red uniforms. We want them to continue to be part of the transport sector, going through COVID-19, and we're doing everything we can to ensure that.

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