Larissa Waters (Queensland, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on Appropriation Bill (No. 3) 2020-2021 and Appropriation Bill (No. 4) 2020-2021, bills which fund some of the business of government. This isn't about last night's budget; we're in fact talking about bills that are from last year's budget. I want to particularly address one element of that, which is the JobKeeper scheme. JobKeeper was meant to be a wage subsidy, and the government was of course initially very reluctant to introduce such a scheme. It wasn't until queues formed around the block at Centrelink offices around the country as the nation went into lockdown that the government finally ceded to calls from unions, employers, the Greens and Labor to get serious about saving jobs.

Within a week, JobKeeper was announced, but it was flawed. The major flaw was that there were no conditions placed on its payment to companies that were profitable, even if their turnover had reduced such that they were still eligible for the scheme. Neither were any conditions placed on its payment to companies that went on to pay bonuses to executives. The parliament did flag those issues at the time but the government didn't heed the concerns raised. In effect, it took advantage of the 'Team Australia' moment and the goodwill of the parliament in wanting to help protect millions of Australian jobs. The government allowed big business to make a profit off the back of a publicly funded wage subsidy. Once again, they delivered for their big corporate mates and mining billionaires.

Costings undertaken by the Parliamentary Budget Office show that 65 of Australia's largest companies that were profitable during the pandemic received $1.2 billion in JobKeeper while they recorded profits. Indeed, of the companies receiving JobKeeper, at least 25 paid executive bonuses worth a combined total of $24.3 million, and 60 companies recorded profits over $8.6 billion in the past 18 months—big businesses such as Harvey Norman, who have refused to repay a single dollar of the $20 million in JobSeeker payments they received, despite doubling their profits during the pandemic and paying executive bonuses. The founder of Harvey Norman, Mr Gerry Harvey, said that the JobKeeper payments they received were 'a tiny amount of money'. This is astonishing when you consider that during the pandemic the number of people on income support increased by 100 per cent to over 1.6 million Australians who, I am sure, would not consider millions of dollars to be a tiny amount of money.

JobKeeper became 'Profit Maker' and 'Bonus Payer'. Australia's biggest stimulus package turned into one of Australia's biggest corporate rorts. Billions of dollars of public money that was meant to ensure the wages of people whose jobs were at risk has, instead, been used to boost the profits of some of the biggest corporations and boost the wages of their executives. This is obscene, but it can be fixed. At the request of Senator McKim, I move the second reading amendment on sheet 1279:

At the end of the motion, add: ", but the Senate:

(a) notes that the 2020-21 Budget delivered the JobKeeper wage subsidy, which saw over $1 billion in JobKeeper payments paid to companies that made a profit or paid executive bonuses; and

(b) calls on the Government to require companies with an annual turnover of more than $50 million that received JobKeeper payments, and in the last 12 months, did one or more of the following:

(i) issued dividends, or

(ii) made a profit, or

(iii) paid executive bonuses;

to repay the Commonwealth an amount equal to the amount of JobKeeper payments they received, up to the sum of profits made and executive bonuses paid".

This amendment calls on the government to require companies with an annual turnover of more than $50 million that received JobKeeper and also made a profit or paid executive bonuses to repay the JobKeeper payments that they received, up to the amount of the profits they made and the executive bonuses they paid. This is so those big companies and their executive bonuses don't profiteer off JobKeeper. It's pretty simple, really. Those companies got more than they needed, and they should return it.

If anyone is wringing their hands about the effect this might have on corporate Australia—perhaps those on the government side of the chamber—just two days ago the ASX 200 reached a record new high, eclipsing where it was before the pandemic hit. So corporate Australia is doing just fine. Frankly, they are doing even better after last night's budget, where we saw that in the coming financial year there will be $62 billion of public money in handouts to big corporates and mining billionaires. The very least they could do is repay those amounts of JobKeeper that they didn't need, that they turned into corporate profits and then paid out as executive bonuses. These companies can well afford to return that which they should never have been given in the first place.

I want to contrast this with the approach that the Australian tax office is taking in trying to recover JobKeeper payments from migrant workers. There was an article up on the ABC yesterday that explained the situation of Hassan Jaber, who was living in Australia on a temporary protection visa. He was driving an Uber to make ends meet during the pandemic. He was asked to pay back almost $30,000 that he'd received in JobKeeper payments. He'd gone to his tax agent and sought advice on whether he was eligible to receive JobKeeper. They had phoned the tax office and spent, reportedly, 35 minutes on the phone to the ATO, who advised him: 'Look, submit the application and if you're eligible we'll pay you. If you're not, we won't.'

He then received payment and so naturally assumed that he was entitled to receive that payment, and yet nine months later he got a bill for $27,900 to be repaid by him. Of course, at the time, the Greens were moving to make sure that JobKeeper was provided to so many more cohorts of people than this government ended up providing it to. There were so many people left out of JobKeeper as it was: short-term casuals, migrant workers, those on temporary protection visas and other visas. By some miracle, this fellow ended up receiving the payment thanks to the error of the tax office, and then nine months later the tax office sought to recoup that money from him. Can you imagine the shock in a pandemic, where you have no other support, getting a letter saying: 'Oops. We paid you 30 grand that you weren't entitled to. Now pay it back'?

The poor man sought advice again from his tax person. They lodged several objections, and ultimately he did get justice. The ATO recognised that, in fact, it was their mistake and so they would just have to suck it up. But it's very interesting to contrast the approach of agencies going after individuals for receiving JobKeeper when what we see is massive profiteering by big corporates and the payment of executive bonuses in a pandemic where so many other people were tightening their belts. The government is like: 'Nah, we can't be bothered getting them to pay their money back. We're not even going to bother to ask them.' Of course, none of those people have volunteered to give it back either.

That's exactly why we're moving this amendment today. We would like this chamber to compel those enormous companies, who earn over $50 million, who paid out executive bonuses and who made profits in a pandemic when they didn't need that JobKeeper support, to pay back the amount that they didn't need, pay back the amount that's equivalent to those profits and those executive bonuses paid. It is only fair.

It will be very interesting to see how this chamber votes on that amendment, because it really goes to the heart of the role of government. It goes to whether or not this government will continue to treat taxpayer dollars as corporate largesse as they did in last night's budget when they dished out $62 billion in just the coming financial year in handouts for big corporates and mining billionaires and in, I might add, an increase in the fossil fuel subsidies—yet more new money to prop up fossil fuels in a climate emergency. This budget is completely blind to the climate crisis that we're in. It pays out for the government's corporate donor mates and it's propping up unsustainable industries that are wrecking the economy, damaging nature and threatening the future of our community. So, how the government, in particular, votes on this amendment will be very interesting for all to see.

Big corporates who are making huge profits should not have been given JobKeeper in the first place. There should have been parameters placed saying that, if you were making massive profits and paying executive bonuses, you didn't need taxpayer support. They, not people who drive for Uber to try to make ends meet, should be required to pay it back. The contrast couldn't be more distinct. I note that, if we were to get the money paid back by those billionaires and big corporations for the JobSeeker that they received even though it turns out they didn't need it, it would be about $1 billion, which is about the same amount as was cut from universities last night. So much for JobKeeper.

Of course, universities weren't eligible to get the support that they deserved. They were already copping a big walloping from not having as many international students contributing to their coffers, and then they weren't eligible for JobKeeper. They have last so many jobs already. If billionaires like Gerry Harvey were required to pay back the unethical amounts that they received through JobKeeper when they didn't need it, we could keep some jobs in the tertiary sector. There's a nice synergy there in those figures. That is just one suggestion. So many other good things could be done with that billion-odd dollars that could be recouped from big corporates and mining billionaires who didn't need the help then and sure don't need the help now. They didn't need the help last night when they got an extra $62 billion in handouts.

This government delivers once again for its big corporate political donor mates. It's an insult that those that already have more than enough means are getting yet more help from this government when we saw last night nothing for social housing in the budget and a 10 per cent cut to university funding. And still wages will be declining in real terms. This government, despite crowing about job creation, glosses over the fact that you can be considered to be in employment if you've got one hour of work. So it's all smoke and mirrors again with this government, in a pre-election budget last night where it's clearly trying to buy support and buy back the trust of the Australian people. But, frankly, I think they have lost it. I cannot wait for the day they lose government, and I'm sure so many other Australians feel the same.

Corporate Australia got largesse from the taxpayer funded schemes like JobKeeper. That scheme helped to keep a lot of people in work; that's why we supported it. But, where companies used that taxpayer money to subsidise their own profits and to subsidise executive bonuses, what a waste of public money! When this government made it so hard for people who needed support to get it and made so many people ineligible for JobKeeper, it is unconscionable that it allowed big companies to rip off the Australian taxpayer by getting support that they did not need. The least the government could do would be to get those companies to pay it back, and that's why our amendment on sheet 1279 requires exactly that. Those big companies should not have profiteered off the taxpayer in the first place. We are now in a position to fix that. We could use that money to actually keep jobs in sectors that had funding cuts last night, like the tertiary sector. The university sector has already lost so many jobs. It could do with some more support. It could do with vastly more support. This could be a first down payment.

So we urge the government and the opposition to look favourably on this amendment and to require those big corporates to pay back the money that they didn't need. We are so glad that JobKeeper worked to keep so many people in jobs. That's why we voted for it. But it was misused by those enormous corporations, who then paid themselves record profits and record executive bonuses. It makes the Australian public sick. We can fix this, and that's exactly what the government should do today in voting on our amendment.