May

5 May

Catering and ground handling business dnata reveals it’s been excluded from the JobKeeper support package – which provides struggling Australian businesses with $1,500 per employee, per fortnight – because it’s owned by a foreign government. Dnata is owned by the Emirates Group, which is in turn run by the state government of Dubai. The decision puts 4,500 jobs at risk, the business says. “We are surprised and disappointed by the government’s decision to retrospectively amend the JobKeeper legislation,” says spokesperson. “This change, at short notice and backdated to 30 March, excludes dnata, an employer of 6,000 Australians from the JobKeeper scheme.”

6 May

Mildura Airport follows dnata in revealing it, too, has been excluded from JobKeeper, this time because it’s deemed to be council owned. Talking to the ABC, Mildura’s Peter O’Donnell says, “Nearly every bit of support we’re looking at is unavailable to us despite the fact we’re running 95 per cent down on revenue and we’ve laid off 60 per cent of our staff.”