Labor ignored Bonza’s plea for help, as questions linger over what transport officials knew and when

Exclusive: Documents reveal what transport minister Catherine King was advised to say in public as budget Australian airline headed for collapse

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The Albanese government turned down a plea from budget airline Bonza for financial assistance 10 days before it entered voluntary administration and ultimately collapsed, and new documents have questioned what transport department officials knew and when.

Documents obtained by Guardian Australia through freedom of information laws reveal the transport department prepared a brief on Bonza’s financial assistance request for the transport minister, Catherine King, on 20 April. Ten days later the airline’s planes were repossessed and thousands of passengers stranded across the country.