Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

Having seen the mess of the people who were previously operating Rex airlines, who have close links with a political party, not ours, having been given by the former government $150 million untied of taxpayers' money during the pandemic on top of JobKeeper, and who chose, rather than to fix up the Saab aircraft, with delusions of grandeur to lease big aircraft to try and compete on the Sydney-to-Melbourne route and drove an airline into the ground, following the following airlines that were grounded under the former government—Pacific Air Express, JetGo, Skytrans, Aeropelican, Brindabella, Tiger and Virgin; these all either went into administration or fell apart and we fixed the problems that they created—they come up with that sort of childishness. As we have said before, the only time Alan Joyce went to a Prime Minister's residence was under the former government of Scott Morrison. That's the sort of nonsense they come up with. That shows how seriously they take regional Australia.

Let me name these towns: Ceduna, Moruya, Narrandera, Parkes, Coober Pedy, Esperance, Carnarvon, Winton and Mornington Island. Do you know what they have in common? They would all be isolated from being able to get health care. They would all be isolated from being able to get freight. They would all be isolated from small businesses being able to operate properly. And every one of them are being represented by those people over there. But they have such contempt for them that this clown asks a question like that.

Well, here's what a serious member of the National Party had to say:

If not for Rex, those country towns wouldn't be able to get planes into their airports and, therefore, wouldn't be able to get doctors, nurses, vaccines and, most importantly, medication. People in those towns would also then not be able to make it to their capital city medical appointments. But it's more than just health, and we all know that. It's business. It's tourism. It's so many aspects of modern living.

He said:

I've raised the possibility of the federal government having an equity stake in Rex to ensure the airline's future.

That's a real leader sitting down the end over there for the National Party. You, sir, are not fit to represent a serious job in this parliament.

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