Extraordinary moment minister CRACKS IT at a reporter for his 'smart-a*** questions' over why $13BILLION in JobKeeper cash was handed to thriving businesses that didn't need it - as government demands struggling families GIVE BACK their disaster payments

Australia's finance minister has lost his cool in a tense interview over the federal government's JobKeeper program, which handed out $13billion in Covid subsidies to companies that actually increased their profits during the crisis.

Veteran 60 Minutes reporter Liam Bartlett grilled Liberal Party Senator Simon Birmingham over the cash splash demanding to know why none of the 150,000 companies who made more money during the pandemic were asked to pay it back.

JobKeeper was set up at the start of the pandemic last year to help businesses retain staff, ensuring workers stayed employed while lockdowns crippled many industries. 

But the money was intended to go to companies which lost money during the pandemic, not those that faired well - or even better - than before. 

'What about the public money that was given out?,' Bartlett asked. 

'It's not your money. You realise that don't you? You are on the public purse and we are paying you.'

A furious Mr Birmingham replied: 'I don't need smart a*** questions, thanks'.

Veteran 60 Minutes reporter Liam Bartlett grilled Liberal Party Senator Simon Birmingham over the JobKeeper program - and got a snappy response

Under the generous JobKeeper scheme brought in to save jobs when the coronavirus crisis struck Australia in March last year, businesses with a turnover of under $1billion a year only needed to show or predict a 30 per cent fall in turnover to qualify.

Then, the government happily shelled out cash for the business to pay their workers.

For larger firms with revenue of more than $1billion, a 50 per cent fall in turnover was required to qualify - but again, this needed to be nothing more than a forecast.

The problem, which became evident after the first three months following a treasury report, was that about one in six businesses that forecast losses actually saw their profits increase.

Domino's Pizza, in just one example, received the handout even though their sales soared and their share price tripled with more people ordering takeaway food at home in lockdown.

'The idea that we should be giving taxpayer cash to firms that are doubling or tripling their revenues is reprehensible,' Labor MP Andrew Leigh told ABC's 7:30.

'This is the sort of flagrant misspending of money that you'd expect to see in some tin pot dictatorship, not in a well-run economy like Australia's.'

Domino's Pizza in just one example received the handout even though their sales soared and their share price tripled

The government had no checks and balances in place to make sure the scheme was not being rorted by companies who made overly pessimistic forecasts of losses.

Legally, they were able to hold on to every dollar they received from hard-working taxpayers completely unpunished.

Financial risk advisor Dean Paatsch explained that the government also failed to install any mechanism to claw back any of the money.

'You can buy a JobKeeper ute. You can buy a JobKeeper holiday house, a JobKeeper yacht and it's your money to spend,' he said.

'Our children will be paying back that money for generations to come.'

Bartlett acknowledged to Mr Birmingham the government needed to introduce a subsidy scheme to protect Australian jobs 'fast and in a hurry' when the country was facing an economic crisis like never seen before.

The government had no checks and balances in place to make sure the scheme was not being rorted by companies that made overly pessimistic forecasts of losses (pictured, a closed down Sydney store in July, with many struggling to survive the recent lockdown)

But he put it to the South Australian politician that he 'did nothing' when it was revealed that 15 per cent of businesses who signed up for the scheme didn't actually deserve the funds. 

'Going into the September quarter we made sure that we refined the eligibility criteria further for JobKeeper,' Mr Birmingham said.

This is when the tense exchange took place, with a visibly frustrated Mr Birminham quickly snapping at the highly respected journalist and accusing him of being inappropriate.

In November, 2020, the Reserve Bank of Australia said the subsidies scheme helped save about 700,000 jobs during the early stages of the Covid pandemic

'Of course I realise these are taxpayer dollars and it is important that we always look after them and what we were looking after were Australian taxpayers,' he explained.

The scandal comes as vulnerable welfare recipients who were mistakenly paid extra during the crisis are being hunted by the federal government to hand the money back.

About 11,000 Australians were given a collective total of $30million and are now forced under the law to start paying it off.

But the $13billion wrongfully paid out to businesses who increased their profit margins under the JobKeeper program are under no obligation to ever return the money.

In November, 2020, the Reserve Bank of Australia said the subsidies scheme helped save about 700,000 jobs during the early stages of the Covid pandemic.