Mehreen Faruqi (NSW, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I move Greens amendment (1) on sheet 1088:

(1) Schedule 1 , page 3 (before line 27) , before item 5 , insert:

4B After section 7

Insert:

7B Requirements for rules that provide for jobmaker hiring credit scheme—ineligibility for paying increased dividends

(1) This section applies if rules are made for the purposes of subsection 7(1A) that provide for a kind of payment known as the jobmaker hiring credit.

(2) The rules must provide that an entity is not eligible for the payment at any time during the relevant period if:

(a) during the period beginning on 1 March 2020 and ending at the end of the relevant period the entity pays dividends to shareholders of the entity; and

(b) the Commissioner is satisfied that the amount of the dividend exceeds the amount of the last such payment made by the entity.

There is nothing in this bill stopping companies that have paid increased dividends during the pandemic while receiving—