Billionaire Solomon Lew takes taxpayers to cleaners

Billionaire Solomon Lew’s retail empire, Premier Investments, recorded booming profits and declared a fat dividend as it received $60 million of JobKeeper wage subsidies and refused to pay rents to landlords:

[Premier] delivered a booming annual profit, buoyed by a quick shift to online shopping and the injection of $60 million in JobKeeper wage subsidies into the business.

Executive chairman Mr Lew defended the payment of a robust final dividend of 36¢ per share to shareholders, which will total $57 million. He said that was because of a strong trading performance as online operations accelerated during the pandemic after Australian stores were shut for much of late April and early May…