JobKeeper profiteering by big business is fake news
Premier Investments is right to repay JobKeeper. But the idea the big end of town has outrageously profited from the wage subsidy is not true.
May 3, 2021 – 6.12pm
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Businesses that took JobKeeper at the start of the crisis, and then grew their profits, have done nothing wrong. Yet, as
The Australian Financial Review has suggested, there is a strong moral case for big companies, such as Solomon Lew’s Premier Investments and Gerry Harvey’s Harvey Norman, that ended up having a profitable crisis to return the taxpayer support they did not need.
While companies including Super Retail Group, Toyota Australia, Domino’s and miner Iluka have promised to return jobkeeper money to the government, others including Gerry Harvey’s Harvey Norman and Solomon Lew’s Premier Investments have decided to keep the cash.
Almost the entire sharemarket has rebounded strongly over the past year after tumbling by 30% in March as coronavirus panic gripped traders.
However, some companies that received jobkeeper have massively outperformed the broader market, with Harvey Norman investors receiving a return of 112.7%, including dividends, since March last year and those who put money into Premier getting 117.8% over the same period.
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