From the AFR:
The federal government rejected Qantas Airways’ bid for direct assistance based on advice from two investment banks, the federal Treasury, the Department of Infrastructure and accounting firm PwC, sources said.
The company had asked for a guarantee on all new debt or a $3 billion unsecured loan facility. The loan would have been for one year or until the foreign ownership and other restrictions in the Qantas Sale Act could be repealed.
The government was considering Qantas’s request right up until cabinet met on Monday by having an investment bank scrutinise the airline’s proposal over the weekend, two days after Prime Minister Tony Abbott indicated a debt guarantee was unlikely.
The views of the banks, PwC and Treasury were presented to cabinet on Monday night and were central to the decision to reject Qantas’s request for urgent assistance and instead ask Parliament to repeal restrictions imposed by the Qantas Sale Act.
“They all basically said Qantas was in good shape, change the Act,” one source said.
Rightly so. One wonders how the management can survive this episode.
