Australia’s JobKeeper program was designed by Treasury officials at the start of the coronavirus pandemic. The aim was to keep workers connected to their jobs by handing employers a $1500 per fortnight subsidy to cover their wage bills.

Any firm which had reasonable grounds to suspect their turnover would fall by at least 30 per cent was eligible to get the money. For some, however, that did not happen. Figures released by Treasury this week have revealed the exact amount of money handed to businesses who did not suffer a decline in their turnover as large as 30 per cent, and indeed, to business who actually increased their turnover during that time.

Today on Please Explain, economics correspondent Shane Wright joins Jess Irvine to discuss whether JobKeeper money wasted.