Juan J. Monroe 
The companies that pocketed the most taxpayer-funded Jobkeeper payments, some well in excess of $ 100 million, were exposed.
As of Tuesday, every publicly traded company that has received payments throughout the Covid-19 pandemic must disclose its income.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission said the information will be made public on its website.
The top 10 recipients of JobKeeper payments recorded combined revenues of $ 1.4 billion, new data has revealed.
The large Australian companies that pocketed the most taxpayer-funded Jobkeeper payments were exposed with convincing results (pictured, Qantas planes in Sydney)
Some Australian companies have managed to cash in on the $ 101 billion program which ran for nearly a year between March 2020 and 2021 (pictured, The Star Casino in Sydney)
Some companies have even managed to take advantage of the $ 101 billion program which lasted almost a year between March 30, 2020 and March 28, 2021.
Others have doubled or even tripled their income during the nationwide lockdown.
Australis’ flagship airline, Qantas, ranks first on the list, receiving $ 696.5 million in government grants.
Crown Resorts, the nation’s largest gaming and entertainment group, is in second place with $ 198.3 million.
Travel company Flight Center is next with $ 152 million in JobKeeper payments, followed by Mosaic Brands at $ 96.5 million and Star Entertainment at $ 95 million.
Myer department store (pictured) has received $ 77 million in government grants
Event Hospitality & Entertainment, which owns Event Cinemas (pictured), has raised $ 61.5 million under the taxpayer-funded initiative.
The Myer department store received $ 77 million in government payments while Event Hospitality & Entertainment raised $ 61.5 million.
Premier Investments, which owns retail brands such as Smiggle, Peter Alexander, Portmans and Just Jeans, received $ 46.5 million.
Seven West Media and Southern Cross Media received $ 33.4 million and $ 31.6 million respectively from the government program.
Among the top ten beneficiaries, Crown Resorts, Star Entertainment, Myer and Premier Investments all made a profit on JobKeeper’s payments.
However, those profits failed to cushion the losses suffered by the Crown, The Star and Myer in the 2019-20 fiscal year.
Among the top ten recipients, Crown Resorts, Star Entertainment, Myer and Premier Investments all made a profit on JobKeeper payments (pictured, a Smiggle store in Perth)
Premier Investments, which owns retail brands like Smiggle, nightwear label Peter Alexander (pictured), Portmans and Just Jeans received $ 46.5 million in JobKeeper payments
Premier Investments came out on top with millions of taxpayer dollars, which only reinforces the high turnover achieved in 2019/2020 and 2020/2021.
ASIC will require all publicly traded companies funded by the program to disclose the total amount of taxpayer money they received, the number of employees it was distributed to, and whether they made any voluntary refunds.
Electronics retail giant Harvey Norman finally bowed to public pressure and repaid $ 6 million in JobKeeper grants after reporting record profits.
The company has come under heavy criticism after its headquarters and franchisees received more than $ 20 million in wage subsidies last year despite surging sales.
Billionaire Gerry Harvey’s president previously refused to return part of the money, insisting it was only a “small amount of money.”
Harvey Norman billionaire president Gerry Harvey is pictured with his wife Katie Page
Retail giant Harvey Norman (pictured) bowed to public pressure and repaid $ 6 million in JobKeeper grants after revealing record profits
But on Tuesday, the company revealed nearly $ 10 billion in revenue for the most recent fiscal year, with profits rising 78.8% to $ 1.18 billion.
Harvey Norman said he would reimburse the $ 6.02 million paid into JobKeeper to his central company controlled by the company.
The amount was equal to all JobKeeper grants that Harvey Norman’s core business received in 2020 and 2021, separate from independent franchise stores.
Harvey Norman’s revenue for 2020-2021 increased 15.3% to $ 9.72 billion, triggering a dividend of $ 436 million to shareholders, including a one-time salary of $ 140 million for Mr. Harvey who is the majority shareholder.
