I start this by saying I think it's a good thing that JAT has...

I start this by saying I think it's a good thing that JAT has sought and received funding. I do then follow this by saying that their choice of wording for the announcement title is quite clever to put the right amount of spin on it.

No it is not (always) just a box ticking exercise to receive funding, there are obviously sets of selection criteria to determine who receives what from the available pot. There are many grants available where that criteria is an ABN, being registered for GST, certain revenue and certain trading history.

For context, in the same week JAT successfully received their two grants, the government awarded another 240 grants to other entities. The week prior, 533 grants. The week prior to that, 483 grants.

As I said in the opening sentence, it is a good thing that JAT has sought and received two government grants for this. I'm personally not seeing it as any form of government validation or any other way some may choose to spin it. In my view it is what it is, a sensible decision to apply for an available grant for something that may benefit the company.

Source for the above figures - Grant Award List from grants.gov.au
Source for information on some grant selection criteria - Grants & Programs Finder from business.gov.au