Analysis of corporate disclosures published in The Australian shows that more than 400 listed companies in many sectors received $3.7 billion in JobKeeper payments:
The extent of the payments reached into every part of the economy with names such as gas producer Beach Energy ($7.6m), jobs website Seek ($17.2m), gambling machine manufacturer Aristocrat Leisure ($16.1m), mall operator Vicinity ($23.4m) and newly-listed car dealer Peter Warren ($28m) receiving tens of millions of dollars.
The disclosures which so far amount to more than $3.7bn in payments, represent the most comprehensive snapshot of how JobKeeper program operated across the Australian economy. Some payments ran into just tens of thousands of dollars while others ranged into the hundreds of millions of dollars with airline Qantas the biggest winner taking $856m of taxpayer funds under the program over two years.
