2021-07-23
In response to new research showing $4.6 billion in JobKeeper went to businesses that increased their turnover through the first wave of the Covid pandemic, the Greens have urged other parties to support Greens’ legislation to force JobKeeper profiteers to pay back public money they didn’t need.
The Greens’ Coronavirus Economic Response Package Amendment (Ending JobKeeper Profiteering) Bill 2021 is currently before the Senate.
Quotes attributable to Greens Leader Adam Bandt:
“The time for asking nicely is over. There’s no point appealing to these billionaires’ better nature, because they haven’t got one. Parliament must now force JobKeeper profiteers to pay back public money they clearly didn’t need.
“If you can afford to buy a private jet, you can afford to pay back JobKeeper.”
“Public money should be spent on a new JobKeeper2.0 and a raised JobSeeker that gets people through the current lockdowns, not on handouts to billionaire corporations.”
“The government’s double standard is outrageous. Right now in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide, part-time workers are being forced to live through the Morrison lockdowns with their incomes cut, while billionaire corporations get to keep taxpayer-funded windfalls.”