Yes, it appears that the airline negotiators appear to have walked out of their latest meeting with politicians toting a taxpayer subsidy of roughly $1,200 per seat per flight. And yes, this does seem rather a lot of money, given that it is on top of what the airlines are already charging their customers, say the routine $190 a ticket from Sydney to Melbourne.

Nevertheless, it would be fractious and irresponsible to presume that just because Deputy PM Michael McCormack started work at age 17 at the Wagga Wagga Daily Advertiser and stayed there for 20 years … and just because Alan Joyce, the CEO of Qantas for 12 years, studied mathematical modelling, statistics and numerical algorithms at Trinity College Dublin – and then worked at Aer Lingus in IT and revenue planning – that McCormack and his advisers walked out of the negotiation nude.

The numbers however do appear to corroborate that view.

via Qantas first, daylight second, taxpayers a distant third – Michael West