Ms WELLS (Lilley) (16:10):It's estimated that one-fifth of JobKeeper payments made to major listed companies in the second quarter of 2020 went to firms who grew their profits during the pandemic. That could be up to 100 million in dividends while refusing to pay back a cent of what he received from Australian taxpayers.
Instead of using taxpayer funds to pad the pockets of Gerry Harvey, the Prime Minister and Treasurer should have used their extensive discretion to make sure that support was going to where it was most needed. What the Treasurer did use his discretion for instead was to make sure that the 5,500 dnata workers, many of whom live and work in my electorate of Lilley, were excluded from JobKeeper-excluded altogether-because they worked for a foreign owned company. So, while Gerry Harvey received 20 million the government gave to Gerry Harvey rather than to the people who really needed it. It's a colossal waste, and the responsibility for that goes straight back to the PM and to the Treasurer.
