The Coalition government's refusal to bail out Virgin Australia sends a clear message to other large businesses not to come begging for taxpayer money.
The government is aware that if Virgin were rescued by Canberra, it would be a green light for other under-siege businesses to lobby for multibillion-dollar bailouts.
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John Kehoe is economics editor at Parliament House, Canberra. He writes on economics, politics and business. John was Washington correspondent covering Donald Trump’s first election. He joined the Financial Review in 2008 from Treasury. Connect with John on Twitter. Email John at jkehoe@afr.com