Rex Patrick (SA, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak in support of the Greens amendment. The fact of the matter is that, under the JobKeeper scheme, a number of companies accepted JobKeeper and then, we found out later down the track, they went on to pay higher dividends to shareholders than they had paid in previous years and they were able to pay bonuses to executives. In effect, that was a funnelling of taxpayers' money from the taxpayers' purse into a company and then on to shareholders and executives. Most people in Australia were disgusted by that. It may have been within the scope of the law, but it wasn't within the scope of social licence.

When we were dealing with amendments to the JobKeeper program, I recall asking the Senate to do something similar to this amendment. I put it to Minister Cormann back then that the government should alter the laws to make sure that these sorts of rorts did not happen, and that was effectively greeted with an arms-in-the-air 'I don't know what to say' response. Here we have another scheme being brought into place to assist businesses, and the Greens are moving an amendment to make sure that taxpayers' money does not flow again from consolidated revenue into the hands of a company that then uses that money to pay increased dividends. I understand that companies exist to make a profit; there is nothing wrong with that. But they must do so in a way that has integrity, that doesn't abuse the social licence. It's for that reason that I'll be supporting this amendment.

I might just ask the minister if it is his view that companies should be able to take money from the taxpayer, seek this assistance and then, effectively, use that money to fund shareholders. Is that an acceptable proposition within the moral framework, the integrity framework, of the government, to your mind?