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Australia coronavirus updates live: Virgin tells ASX it is going into administration as NSW announces staggered return to school – latest news Australia coronavirus updates live: Virgin tells ASX it is going into administration as NSW announces staggered return to school – latest news
(32 minutes later)
As Australia’s infection rate falls, state and federal leaders will discuss lifting ban on elective surgery at meeting on Tuesday. Follow all the latest news, liveAs Australia’s infection rate falls, state and federal leaders will discuss lifting ban on elective surgery at meeting on Tuesday. Follow all the latest news, live
That press conference with treasurer Josh Frydenberg and deputy prime minister Michael McCormack is due to start very soon, as is a press conference by the Virgin chief executive Paul Scurrah. Which is great news for me, the person trying to liveblog them both. The Australian Bureau of Statistics has released some very sobering jobs and wages statistics measuring the Covid-19 downturn.
The ABS found that from 14 March to 4 April, jobs were down 6% and pay down 6.7%. Accommodation and food services (-25.6%), arts and recreation (-18.7%) and mining (-8.4%) lead the way on job losses in that period.
Unsurprisingly, accommodation and food services, and arts and recreation services also lead the way on pay cuts - down 30.1% and 15.7% respectively. The very young and very old were both hit on job numbers: employment of over 70s was down 9.7% and those under 20 down 9.9%.
The young were hit even harder when it comes to pay, with wages down a whopping 12.7% for those under 20, and 9.1% for those aged 20-29.
Women have also been hit disproportionately by pay cuts. Payments to females decreased by 7.0% while payments to males decreased by 6.4%.
And that’s that. So, just to quickly recap that whirlwind 15 minutes.
The federal treasurer Josh Frydenberg seems to have ruled out a bailout for Virgin Australia, at least for now. But the government has appointed former Macquarie chief executive Nicholas Moore to act as a kind of emissary for the government to deal with the administrator. Frydenberg said the wants two airlines operating in Australia, but that he wants a “market-led solution”.
At virtually the same time, Virgin Australia chief executive Paul Scurrah said the aviation industry is going through an “unprecedented” challenge and that “the oxygen supply of our business was cut off” by Covid-19.
He said he takes comfort in the government’s comments, and is confident the company will come out of administration “leaner, stronger and fitter”. The new administrator, Vaughn Strawbridge, said there was no plan to force workers to take redundancies at this point and that Virgin would continue to operate at its current reduced scale.
Strawbridge is asked how long Virgin can keep operating at its current reduced capacity before the money it has runs out.
Scurrah says Richard Branson “cares deeply” about Virgin.
Strawbridge says “in excess of 10 parties” have expressed interest in Virgin.
The Virgin Australia administrator Vaughan Strawbridge is speaking now. He says Deloitte is “not planning any changes to the operation of the business”. There are “no plans to make any redundancies” of Virgin’s remaining staff and “wages will continue to be paid”.
He says there has been an “extraordinary amount of interest in the business and in the restructuring of VirginAustralia”.
Scurrah says Virgin is “very focused on making sure we preserve as many jobs as we can to provide as many jobs for the existing Virgin Australia Group workforce”.
Scurrah says he’s comforted by the government’s insistence that it wants two airlines operating in Australia. Virgin will come out of administration “leaner, stronger and fitter”:
OK, we’re leaving the treasurer to go to the Virgin Australia chief executive, Paul Scurrah.
He says the airline is facing “the worst aviation crisis we’ve ever seen in our history”:
Frydenberg is asked whether the government will intervene if a “market-led solution” can’t be found. He says he’s “not going to speculate on what happens in the weeks and months ahead”:
Josh Frydenberg is asked what Nicholas Moore’s job will actually be, and whether that indicates that the government may intervene at some point.
He says the airline business “is important to the economy”:
Frydenberg has announced that Nicholas Moore, a former chief executive of Macquarie, will “engage with the administrator on behalf of the government” as well as the Department of Treasury and Finance. He reiterates though that that government wants a “market-led solution”:
The treasurer Josh Frydenberg is speaking now. He says Virgin is “not Ansett”, and is ruling out a bailout for the company.
McCormack continues:
Michael McCormack is speaking now.
He says he feels for Virgin employees.
He says the government has already assisted the airline through measures such as waiving the fuel excise, funding to continue regional Australian routes and freight assistance.
That press conference with Josh Frydenberg and Michael McCormack is due to start very soon, as is a press conference by the Virgin chief executive, Paul Scurrah. Which is great news for me, the person trying to liveblog them both.
Virgin Australia administrator Vaughan Strawbridge said more than 10 parties were interested in taking part in recapitalising the airline.Virgin Australia administrator Vaughan Strawbridge said more than 10 parties were interested in taking part in recapitalising the airline.
He said expressions of interest would be sought in the next three weeks and then he would run a sale process of about a month. He said expressions of interest would be sought in the next three weeks and then he would run a sale process lasting about a month.
Chief executive Paul Scurrah said the airline initially sought a $1.4bn loan from the federal government, convertible into shares - which would have wiped out the company’s existing shareholders. The airline’s chief executive, Paul Scurrah, said it initially sought a $1.4bn loan from the federal government, convertible into shares – which would have wiped out the company’s existing shareholders.
He said that after long negotiations, mainly to deal with the government’s unwillingness to nationalise the airline, Virgin Australia on Monday made a final request for $200m. After long negotiations, mainly to deal with the government’s unwillingness to nationalise the airline, Virgin Australia yesterday made a final request for $200m. This was also rebuffed and in the evening the company’s board put it into administration.
This was also rebuffed and that evening the company’s board put it into administration. But Strawbridge said the government still had an important role in getting the airline back on track, although he did not explain what that was.
However, Strawbridge said the government still had an important role in getting the airline back on track, although he did not explain what that was.
The deputy prime minister, Michael McCormack, and the treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, are due to address the media in Canberra in about 10 minutes. They’ll be speaking about Virgin Australia going into administration.
The Virgin Australia administrator Vaughan Strawbridge says the airline doesn’t plan to make any of its 10,000 staff redundant as the company looks for a new owner.
Speaking to the media this morning, Strawbridge said employees who were still employed would continue to receive their wages, and those who are stood down would continue to get the jobkeeper allowance. Entitlements were preserved, he said.
“Hopefully we can maintain all the jobs, or as many as possible, through this process,” he said.
The Greens leader, Adam Bandt, has weighed in on Virgin’s financial woes, calling for a complete government takeover of the airline. I probably wouldn’t hold my breath on that one. He said:
The owner of a massage parlour in Frankston and a person found drunk on a train in Frankston, despite their residential address being in Geelong, are among 89 people to have been fined in Victoria in the past 24 hours for breaching social distancing laws.
The owner of the massage parlour was fined after two workers were found in the venue, which is among a category of businesses banned from operation on 28 March. The two employees of the massage parlour also received the $1,600 on-the-spot fine.
Five other people were fined for carpooling in Williamstown.
We wrote about concerns that Victoria police have not been transparent in their use of emergency Covid-19 powers this morning.
Virgin Australia’s frequent flyer scheme, Velocity, has frozen redemptions since the airline went into administration.
Redemptions are frozen for an “initial period” of four weeks, Velocity said:
Your Points aren’t going anywhere. They will remain in your account.
Your existing Points will not expire through this period. We will be extending the expiration period for your existing Points by the timeframe of the pause.
You can continue to earn Points with our partners, although you won’t be able to redeem them during the pause.
The Victoria police deputy commissioner Shane Patton spoke in Melbourne this morning about the scrapping of bail reporting conditions.
From Friday bail reporting conditions will be suspended for all alleged offenders because of social-distancing measures.Patton said 40,000 alleged offenders travelled to police stations in the state every month, putting people at risk of Covid-19.
“The accountability regime if anything is going to be more stringent,” Patton said. Alleged offenders will have to follow stay-at-home directions from the chief health officer and each of their cases will be assessed by police individually.
There would be increased checking in on high-risk people by police, he said.
Patton added it would be difficult for alleged offenders to leave the state with current flight restrictions in place.
“This is one less lawful activity allowing them to be out in the community,” Patton said. “There’s no leniency.”
OK, I’ll leave that there. The Cairns regional mayor, Bob Manning, is speaking on the ABC. Virgin is a major employer up there.
He says he’s “encouraged” by the airline moving into administration because he’s “optimistic” about the potential for Virgin or any other airline to fill the need for a low-cost carrier option in Australia servicing regional areas:
Albanese has also accused the government of “rightwing ideology” after the finance minister, Mathias Cormann, flagged deregulation of industries and IR to get the economy moving after the Covid-19 crisis:
Albanese didn’t answer a question about how much equity he’s calling for the government to invest in Virgin. He’s also shrugged off the fact Virgin was already in financial difficulties, saying it’s “absurd” to suggest the airline would be in the position it is today if not for Covid-19:
Albanese is asked why Labor wants the government to intervene when the airline’s administrator says it has already received expressions of interest to recapitalise Virgin. Why not just let the market do its thing, essentially.