In more domestic news, the federal government is considering buying Rex Airlines if no one else wants it. And it looks like no one else wants it.

Regional Express Airlines connects Australia’s regions to the cities, but that is EXXY. The government has already subsidised Rex to keep it in the air after the administrator was unable to find a buyer last July.

Now the government has said it is prepared to buy Australia’s third largest airline, as a contingency plan.

Jim Chalmers said:

I think it’s the only responsible course of action to take is to consider all of the contingencies. And what we’ve said is we’ve been we are prepared to play a supportive role with the bidders in the private sale if, for whatever reason, a private sale doesn’t go ahead, then we have considered and are considering other contingencies.

We’d work with state governments and other stakeholders to see what might be the most responsible course of action in the event of a private sale not going ahead.

Sabra Lane asks if that’s good business or good politics ahead of an election and Chalmers says:

Well, we support regional Australia. And if you think about the announcement I made yesterday to keep bank branches open in regional Australia, and think about this announcement today to secure the future of regional flights. And what it shows is, from the terminal to the teller, we support regional Australia.

You can tell he is proud of that line. You’ll be hearing it a bit.