David Johnston (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Defence) Share this | Hansard source

The good senator just does not get it, but he does not want to get it. Virgin directly employs 9,000 Australians, not to mention those indirectly employed adjacent to their industry. Around 75 per cent of its maintenance is completed in Australia. Its head office is here and its CEO is here. It is based here, injecting billions of dollars into the Australian economy. If that example is not enough for the senator, he simply refuses to look at the facts and understand the nature of this industry.

Given what we inherited in terms of our fiscal position, it is pretty obvious that he does not have the capacity to understand this industry. He should get off the hose and allow Qantas to compete on a level playing field.