Last modified on Tue 16 Feb 2021 11.31 EST
At least 11 billionaires last year received dividends totalling tens of millions of dollars from companies that received jobkeeper subsidies designed to keep workers employed, new research shows.
The research, commissioned by the opposition frontbencher Andrew Leigh, shows that retail moguls Solomon Lew and Gerry Harvey were among those receiving the payments.
Leigh said the payments came against a backdrop of the rich doing extremely well during the pandemic, with Forbes estimating that the average Australian billionaire’s wealth increased by 59% over the past year, while workers struggled with wage stagnation and a spike in unemployment caused by the pandemic.