• A further $44 million in JobKeeper payments will be handed back to the Federal Government, thanks to construction firm CIMIC and medical device manufacturer Cochlear.
• They join a growing list of firms to repay taxpayer funds after turning profits in the second half of 2020.
• But such repayments remain voluntary, leading Labor MP Andrew Leigh to call on Treasurer Josh Frydenberg to detail which profitable companies are holding on to that cash injection.
• Visit Business Insider Australia’s homepage for more stories.

Construction giant CIMIC and medical implant manufacturer Cochlear have vowed to return a total of $44 million in JobKeeper subsidy payments to the federal government, as the Labor Party continues its drive for more public accountability over the multibillion dollar scheme.

The Australian Financial Review reports CIMIC chief executive Juan Santamaria personally wrote to Treasurer Josh Frydenberg to say the firm will transfer some $20 million in taxpayer money back into government coffers.

The offer came as the Spain-based firm revealed a 2020 net profit of $620 million for the year.

Noting improved trading conditions towards the end of the year, Cochlear has promised to return $24 million in government subsidies, with the vast majority of that sum taking the form of JobKeeper handouts.

In half-year results released on Friday, the company noted that “while there is still uncertainty ahead, Cochlear considers returning the COVID government assistance payments the appropriate thing to do.”

Cochlear had an underlying net profit of $125.3 million for the period.

As the number of voluntary JobKeeper repayments balloons, Shadow Assistant Minister for Treasury Andrew Leigh has renewed calls for Treasurer Josh Frydenberg to reveal which companies took JobKeeper payments during 2020 despite turning massive profits and handing out executive bonuses.

While Frydenberg says voluntary JobKeeper repayments are “appreciated”, the government’s position is that companies which met the scheme’s initial qualification criteria are entitled to hold on to the payments they received – even if their businesses thrived later in the year.

In a motion set to be tabled on Monday, Leigh will urge Frydenberg to publish the details of financially successful JobKeeper recipients no later than Thursday.

“The Jobkeeper program is the most expensive one-off program ever implemented by an Australian Government, estimated to cost around $100 billion,” the motion reads.

“It has been effective in supporting jobs, but the unprecedented spending requires close scrutiny.”

While praising the financial lifeline handed to struggling businesses through the COVID-19 pandemic, Leigh has led calls for further scrutiny of the JobKeeper subsidy system, which he says remains a largely opaque transfer of taxpayer funds to private enterprise.

In December, Leigh successfully requested the Office of the Auditor General investigate the scheme and its administration by the Australian Taxation Office. The results of that report will be tabled in October.

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