โWeโre determined to make sure that regional communities are not left behind,โ Albanese said from Merimbula in NSW. โItโs a core commitment that I made. No one held back, no one left behind.โ
Deputy Liberal leader Sussan Ley on Wednesday hit back at the governmentโs plans to own an airline, which will be the first since Qantas was privatised in the 1990s, saying taxpayers should not be forced to pay for a carrier.
This is despite Nationals leader David Littleproud in November welcoming โanything thatโs going to keep Rex in the airโ and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton in January saying the Coalition โwould be happy to support the government in a bipartisan way to see Rex Airlines fly againโ.
โThe most important thing for a government, with airline policy, is to get the policy and regulatory settings right so that you do have a sustainable and competitive aviation sector,โ Ley told Sky News.
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Despite being aware of the ASIC investigation that had not yet been revealed publicly by the regulator, the Albanese government in November controversially granted Rex an $80 million โconditional loanโ to keep the airline operating regional flights until July.
And just last month the federal government stepped in further to acquire $50 million in debt from Rexโs largest creditor, PAGAC Regulus Holdings Limited.
โThe investigation relates to alleged continuous disclosure failures by Rex regarding Rexโs profit guidance for financial year 2023 announced on 28 February 2023,โ ASICโs ministerial briefing from July 31 states.
In a subsequent update to Chalmers and Jones on December 9, Court said it had decided to sue the airline and its four directors.
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She informed the ministers that ASIC would seek consent from EY to launch litigation and ask the directors how they can be served legal letters on December 9, before filing proceedings a day later and then making a public comment on December 11.
โThe administrators have recently (November 2024) obtained $80 million of government funding to continue to provide its services operated by Regional Express Pty Ltd (a wholly owned subsidiary of Rex) to regional centres, as well as granting early access to entitlements for former employees of the business,โ Courtโs ministerial briefing noted.
ASIC is not seeking financial penalties against Rex but wants the Supreme Court to rule that the airline contravened the Corporations Act. The regulator also wants the court to fine and disqualify directors Lim, Sharp, Pan and Khotkar.
An ASIC spokesman said that as the โmatter is before the court, we have no comment to make at this timeโ.
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