Nationals backbenchers have thrown support behind Labor's calls for government intervention to save troubled airline Virgin Australia.
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Prime Minister Scott Morrison has refused to bail out the debt-laden company, expressing confidence about a sale after Virgin went into voluntary administration.
Queensland Nationals senator Matt Canavan is worried a private buyer will pick the eyes out of the company, which has its headquarters in Brisbane.
"I do think the government has got to get involved here," the former cabinet minister told Nine's Today show on Wednesday.
"We've got to get our hands dirty to save not just those jobs, but also those services that people up in here in regional areas, in Rockhampton, rely on so keenly."
Senator Canavan is the second federal Nationals backbencher to support government intervention after NSW MP David Gillespie said it was a mistake not to get involved.
The government has appointed former Macquarie Bank chief executive Nicholas Moore to work with administrators on its behalf.
Labor's transport spokeswoman Catherine King believes the move is an admission intervention is needed.
"It is a complete concession the government is now making that they are going to have do something if they are going to be able to retain this arline as a competitor to Qantas," she told Sky News.
Ms King said the refusal to help Virgin was similar to the coalition's initial resistance to wage subsidies.
"This sort of hairy-chest beating from the treasurer is pretty typical of them."
Nationals leader Michael McCormack is the transport minister, putting him at the heart of measures to support the ailing aviation sector.
Mr McCormack believes there is a future for the 16,000 direct and indirect workers whose jobs are at risk.
"What we are doing is making sure there is a flightpath forward," he told Seven's Sunrise.
"There is a future for Virgin, there is a future for the company."
He is adamant the government wants to see a viable second airline remain in the market alongside Qantas.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said the government was not in the business of owning airlines, further dousing calls for the commonwealth to take an equity stake.
"Voluntary administration is a path to the recovery for Virgin. It's not liquidation. It's not Ansett. It's not the end of the airline," he told ABC News Breakfast.
Senator Canavan and Dr Gillespie both backed Barnaby Joyce in his failed leadership tilt against Mr McCormack.
Australian Associated Press
