Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews wants profitable companies that pocketed JobKeeper payments to "do a bit of soul-searching" about repaying the money.The Home Affairs Minister said companies should consider repaying JobKeeper if they did not need itThe opposition says "wasted" JobKeeper money could have been spent on support for those in lockdownat the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The wage subsidy payments were intended to help businesses with turnover declining by at least 30 per cent compared to the same period pre-pandemic.pocketed hundreds of millions of taxpayers' dollars because there was no legal requirement to repay the money if their revenue projections were wrong. The federal government has defended profitable businesses keeping the money. But Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews this morning said they should consider repaying it.
"I think there's actually a responsibility on many of those businesses now. If they are doing well, they need to do a bit of soul-searching," she told ABC Radio Gold Coast.
The fact remains they weren't entitled to the money and therefore they should pay it back. To refuse to pay it back shows how sneaky and dishonest these big companies are.
Soul searching? What about pay it back!! ?
I wish someone would give me millions of dollars and tell me to do some soul searching.
It’d help if they had souls to begin with, maybe then their greed wouldn’t have gone on unchecked.
Never mind 'soul searching' for large companies who profited from Jobkeeper, and money given those companies should be legally retrieved. Robodebt retrieved money from poor people who didn't owe anything, so why not Robodebt these companies?
Can those on job seeker also just do some “soul searching”
Corporates will soul search & keep it for themselves. If individuals project & dont meet at tax filing, they payback CCS/Centerlink payments, no asking to soul search. DolesOnlyToDonors SocialismForRichOnly
Like this government knows about souls.
They wouldn’t have to soul search if the government did its job.
Oh dear, companies who profited from the JobKeeper DO NOT HAVE souls; so what are we talking about. It is the government, in first instance, that DID NOT set it properly. After all this is only a public money, right?
How about clawing back the $$ from the companies that made profits and got job keeper when they were making profits. You did it against the poor when they were struggling. Morally Corrupt feds.
And they find capitalism when the search is over... So they self validate !!
Yeah, right
Because of course CEOs who took the money and haven’t yet paid it back have souls. They are souless grubs. The minister could name them so the rest of us know which businesses not to spend our money with.
Would have been better & easier to have put clawback & transparency provisions in the original FLAWED legislation...auspol
Bent politicians should also do some soul searching.
TO LITTLE TO LATE
You might also want to look at the amount of workers who were forced to use leave entitlements while their bosses claimed jobkeeper.
Why don't you do some soul searching through their financials and make them pay it back?
Who could possibly be surprised that some companies would be more than happy to scam the taxpayers of Australia
Absolutely no responsibility other than saying the treasurer saying the program was a great success and hear they are putting in on companies to soul search and make individuals pay it back.
Companies don’t do “soul searching” they only respond to shareholders and a good end result justifies any means
could we have less 'soul-searching' & more 'paying workers what they're owed and being held accountable' please? 🤦♀️
Problem is companies are legally treated as individuals by society, but have no soul.
So only those companies that don’t provide political back funding should give the money back? Flip, flop, stash!
She's got two chances of that happening.
Companies are legal entities, established under a specific law. They don’t have soul to search for.
Pretty sure if this 'soul search'turns up any execs with any vestige of a soul,they will be shown the door before it spreads through the company.
How about the government that gave all the cash away do their job and get it back rather than call on the CEO’s of these companies to search their collective souls, which would be useless anyway they don’t have souls they just have bonuses
Maybe she needs to refer every one of these companies to the AFP.
Wow. 'Strong' words that mean absolutely nothing.
Fk soul searching .. They're all laughing at ScoMo and the rest of AU and on the way to their stockbrokers. Name & shame the fucks who took money & made profits by conveniently overestimating the losses they 'expected' 2 make , but really were in a self serving feeding frenzy.
I just want to know how many donate to the LNP
I suggest the minister do some soul searching and pass legislation to get our money back!
So pretty obvious which party isn't good at managing the economy.
searching ... and done
How about recouping the money instead of soft words.
That's a big assumption that some do indeed, have a soul. Did the minister also direct that thought to her party?
Its election time.😁😁😁
Try all those real estate agents for a start! Biggest real estate boom in history, but stuck their hands out for jobkeeper for all their staff!
No. The Government should take it back.
Goodness me! Business profited?! Gasp!
How about Robodebt for big business. Weak as water.🤬🤬
Politicians who thought that companies would just do the 'honourable' thing and not the legal, maximise profits thing should do some soul-searching. I doubt they'll find anything though.
The ATO has no problems taxing overpaid individual salary sacrifice contributions even if it were an honest mistake. Don’t see why the same government have so much trouble fixing this rogue company problem! Smells like a rat.
Companies operate under YOUR laws. Make some good laws!
karen, they do not give a f*ck and happily took money from the public, so what makes you think soul searching will achieve anything 😭 pls just do something
ScottMorrisonMP Seriously? Soul searching Is your minister concerned for their moral growth? Or recovering the money? How about governing, you know - legislation. Make some laws and get on with the job we elected you to do. We can’t just leave it all in gods hands.
Need to continue to name & shame the likes of Harvey Norman and Elmo Software until every cent is paid back
Name them so I can boycott them. Thanks.
She does know thst Companies don't have souls? It is the whole reason they are Pty Ltd, it so no one can ever be held personally responsible for anything.
Soul searching is something the treasurer should be doing including why he can’t put in a retrospective legislation to accomodate a job-keeper clawback. ScottMorrisonMP had no problem forcing through retrospect legislation to deregister minor parties and FOI requests.
jfc. How about the idiots who opened the cheque book of other-people’s-money with zero recourse?
That’s telling them!
Hello pot, please meet Kettle.
Totally agree - someone needs to review annual reports and see all the bonus’ paid to execs - how does that get through the watchdogs
Companies don’t have souls!
Ha,ha,ha I sure that they are worry about ………like you
We are in “beyond satire” times.
Her polling must be shit
How about all the Indian & Nepalese students abcnews
These companies are soulless.
A certain local elite private school payment benefits by over $7M...not sure how that fits the JobKeeper model.
ATO Jobkeeper list should be published It would be so embarrassing as casinos luxury brands Tiffany etc got Jobkeeper
You gave it to them !
They have to have a soul first, in order to search it.
That'll teach em
Why would they when the Liberal Party attitude is that if something is not illegal the morality/ethics don't matter. Greedy selfish non-thinkers believe in the 'what's good for the goose is good for the gander' attitude ...
Stuff the soul searching - just give the money back thieves!
Cool but can they do some ‘tax paying’
So that’s the plan? Guilt them into giving it back? Hahahahaha As if!
I can hear the collective burp of these millionaires as they sip a glass of chilled Moët. “I just examined my soul” BURRP
Souls watching !! Make them pay it back. You have no trouble chasing some poor individual on Centrelink if they earn 50$ over the income limit.
Yeah nah Just pay it back
it should have been given to small business owners instead who lost so much in this pandemic
Well tell us who they are and perhaps we can convince them. Seemed to work with Gerry.
I believe they can tell who overclaimed from GST? If so why not contact those overpaid by say $100K+ and appeal to their good nature to refund the overpayment before they publish the list of 'scammers'. At least that's more reasonable & humane then Robo Debt!!
Steal millions: soul-searching Steal food: die in prison
Some jail time for the company heads responsible might help with that. After the money's been taken back, of course.
One would swear that she isn't part of this government who can actually do something to ensure that money is paid back. They go after welfare recipients with all sorts of threats & with their robodebt but willingly gift our money to profitable companies. This is maladministration
Well whenever governments use corporate welfare as a policy then expect fraud. Most humans will take handouts and not care of the consequences
Why doesn't the minister and her colleagues do some 'spine-searching' and pass retrospective legislation to get the money back?
Why can’t regular people simply soul search when they get paid….check her stocks
That’s their response? The LNP don’t have souls themselves, yet they want their corrupt donors to do some “soul searching”?
Now that's a top notch suggestion, coming hot on the heels of the 60 Minutes report
As should the liberals
Honestly, who thought this was a good story? Corporations don’t GAF about anything other than their profit margins.
Because big corporations are known for having souls.
She thinks companies have souls? Bless
Soul-searching on their big fat bonuses in their yachts, I bet Minister 🙄
Apparently if you complain about big companies being gifted millions of your tax dollars your playing the 'politics of envy'.
So should your government
That should do it.
Oh so you mean you've totally capitulated.
Not overly sure the architects and gleeful overlords of Robodebt - Morrison, Payne and Porter - have bothered with much 'soul-searching'.
Well karenandrewsmp, do something about it!! You TALK ALOT now get in Joshs' ear and fix it.
Name and Shame
A pity she didn't suggest that to all those poor sods that got hit with a fake robodebt rather than forcing them to pay. Some of them might still be with us.
Government that gave handouts to leaners (and extorted welfare recipients) should do some governing
Since companies don't have souls, how about the minister does some legislation passing?
BULLSHIT Just rip the money back - like the parasites do to the out of work. The Only Proof Anyone Should Need.mp4
So should the treasurer who gave them money on a silver plate. AusPol
Companies 'soul-searching' Only a fool would say that. Who is this woman?
Or, hear me out, they could LEGISLATE something since they're in government. Or is that too hard?
'They should literally anything that absolves me of all responsibility in fixing the problem my government created. Please save me, they know how much I love handouts for the top end of town and they're pointing it out.'
Is this soul searching going to be optional like sexual harassment training? Or will it cost taxpayers more again like the empathy training?