Originally Posted by
normanton
How do they expect to pay back $1.4b when they cant even make a profit?
Take the emotion out of it. Look at the bigger picture.
10,000 employees would probably equate to around 300 million being paid in payroll tax per year (that's my figures, don't ask me to quote but think about it). That's 300 million going
into (increasing) Australia's tax kitty.
Throw those 10,000 employees onto the street and burn Virgin at the stake then not only will there not be 300 million going into Australia's tax kitty but those 10,000 employees will then require government assistance/help in the form of job search etc. What will that equate to? I'm guessing probably close to 200 million per year initially. How long will that last for? Not exactly the best time to be looking for a job at the moment with the likes of Coles and Woolworths turning away Virgin staff in favour of Qantas staff.
That would be a resultant change of about 500 million dollars
out of Australia's Tax kitty per year initially. Then add all the supporting companies that aren't Virgin that will have to cull staff (catering, cleaners, airport shops, airports/terminals, transport companies etc the list goes on). Even less tax going into the kitty.
A 1.4 Billion dollar loan to Virgin would start to give the government a return on their money after 4 to 5 years from the employees (payroll tax) on their own. That's before we even consider Virgin paying back the loan and god forbid, if they ever make a profit, start to pay corporate tax.
So my question is...........
Can Australia really afford to let Virgin go under?