Originally Posted by
neville_nobody
So all things considered all you can do is limit competition and create a monopoly route that is regulated if you want to go down that path. Once you start throwing public money at it, it will just become a bottomless pit and every country town in Australia will be on the gravy train. Just look into the NDIS if you want to see what unrestrained government subsidy looks like. That was set up with ‘good intentions’ and ‘ we can afford it’ yet now look where it has gotten to.
Yes and no - not all regional routes are the same. Just brainstorming but the likes of Albany / Pt Lincoln / Mount Gambier / Orange for example are very different kettle of fish than Birdsville. The major regional routes can be profitable and won’t have any issue maintaining a service - it just becomes a question of price if competition is reduced. The milk run to Birdsville on the other hand requires a subsidy to be maintained. Agree overall it’s complicated and also agree these routes can all be serviced by a different operator; just don’t agree that route subsidies can all be dropped.