60 Minutes: Sept 5

On Sunday’s 60 Minutes, companies that received JobKeeper when they didn’t need it, and a 9/11 victim who fell 18 floors but survived.

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

The Miracle Man
The evil that occurred on September 11, 2001 will never be forgotten. On that horrible day the world changed forever. There was so much destruction and so much loss that even now, 20 years later, it is hard to comprehend the magnitude of what happened. But out of the utter despair there were also incredible stories of heroism and survival. And none is more extraordinary than that of New Yorker Pasquale Buzzelli. He was trapped inside the north tower of the World Trade Centre as it collapsed. Amongst the rubble, he fell 18 floors to the ground, but against impossible odds somehow emerged alive and barely injured. As Tara Brown discovers, Pasquale really is a miracle man, grateful for his second chance at life, and determined to offer hope and inspiration to us all.
Reporter: Tara Brown
Producer: Garry McNab

8:30pm (ish) Sunday on Nine