Brisbane’s exclusive Tattersall’s Club thrives on $2m of JobKeeper subsidies

One of Australia’s wealthiest clubs, which counts top executives, judges and politicians as members, has revealed it received $2m in JobKeeper payments during last year’s Covid-19 lockdown.

One of Australia’s wealthiest clubs – the formerly male-only Tattersall’s Club in Brisbane – has revealed it received $2m in JobKeeper payments during last year’s lockdown.

The club, which counts top executives, judges and politicians as members, said it needed the payments to survive a savage downturn in revenue due to the pandemic.

Sales of food and beverages at the club in Brisbane’s CBD slumped 35 per cent to $2.9m last year when the facility temporarily closed due to government-mandated lockdowns.

The 155-year-old club, which boasts luxuriously appointed dining rooms, a heated indoor swimming pool and up-market accommodation, said its financial performance would have been “significantly different” if it hadn’t received JobKeeper and Covid-19 related benefits.

The JobKeeper program has been criticised for providing payouts to billionaires, but supporters say it has provided necessary support for the economy during the pandemic.

Companies such as Toyota, Nick Scali and Domino’s say they will repay the subsidies they received now that they have recovered financially.

Tattersall’s Club president Michael Paramor said JobKeeper had supported staff and their families during what was a difficult year of lockdowns and changing restrictions.

“The club was eligible for JobKeeper and remained fully compliant at all times, as recognised in our annual, independent audit,” said Mr Paramor.

“The closure of the club was a particularly difficult period for both members and staff. The club closed in March at very short notice and reopened at significantly reduced capacity in May.”

Tattersall’s Club in Brisbane.

Mr Paramor said the club had emerged from the year with a surplus of $426,628, significantly stronger than its pre-JobKeeper forecast.

The club had a cash bank balance of $4.7m and had taken on a new debt facility of more than $4m for extensive renovations to its heritage-listed building.

The club said it would not be paying the JobKeeper funds back.

Tatts is not the only upmarket club to gain a substantial windfall from JobKeeper. The Sydney-based Australian Club, which has counted former prime ministers Malcolm Turnbull and John Howard among its well-heeled members, also won $2m of government money – and managed to more than double its annual surplus – by keeping JobKeeper payments. Women are permitted only as guests of the club.

Tatts also was long considered a bastion of male privilege but about 10 per cent of its members are now women. Founded in 1865 by “gentlemen prominent in both business and in the thoroughbred horseracing industry’’, as late as 2006 Tattersall’s members voted down a motion to accept women.

The fight to allow women into the club stretched over many years and involved boycotts by high-profile female politicians all the way up to the premier and protests by feminist groups. The club also descended into virtual civil war, with a legal challenge to allowing women members ultimately unsuccessful.

But a loss of members and profitable function events eventually forced even the most conservative members of the club to accept the need for change in 2018. Tatts attracted 160 new members during the year, about half of whom were women.

Originally published as Brisbane’s exclusive Tattersall’s Club thrives on $2m of JobKeeper subsidies