Profitable Australian companies urged to repay government Covid support

Some of Australia’s biggest companies are under pressure to repay billions of dollars of Covid-19 support provided under a scheme after it emerged that they had made money during the pandemic. The A$98bn (US$73bn) JobKeeper programme was introduced to help companies retain staff during the country’s coronavirus-induced lockdowns. But Australia’s Parliamentary Budget Office in July released data showing that in its first three months of operation, about A$12.5bn went to businesses that were largely unaffected by the pandemic.