Cashing In

There's no such thing as free money, right? Wrong. On 60 MINUTES, Liam Bartlett reports on what has become a highly controversial, government-sanctioned, get-rich-quick scheme. It began at the start of the COVID pandemic last year when Canberra was forced to take urgent action to avoid economic oblivion. It came up with JobKeeper, a package that gave struggling businesses billions of dollars to pay their workers. No one disputes the success of the program which saved 700,000 thousand jobs. But more than 150,000 companies that weren't in financial trouble – many actually thriving – still applied for JobKeeper benefits. These companies received $13 billion of taxpayers' money they didn't need. For them, it was money for nothing. Although what these businesses were doing wasn't illegal, and the federal government is happy for them to keep the cash, does it pass the pub test? 

Reporter: Liam Bartlett

Producer: Thea Dikeos