Qld election 2020: ATO asked to investigate Greens’ alleged JobKeeper payment abuse
A Federal Labor frontbencher has demanded the Australian Taxation Office investigate allegations that the Queensland Greens used a former staffer’s JobKeeper payments to help fund their state election campaign. The Greens have vehemently denied the allegations.
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A Federal Labor frontbencher has demanded an investigation into whether the Queensland Greens are siphoning off JobKeeper payments for their staff to help fund state election campaigning.
Senator Murray Watt has written to the Australian Taxation Office seeking a probe into allegations raised by sacked former Greens candidate for Clayfield, John Meyer.
Senator Watt’s call for an investigation comes after The Courier-Mail revealed a series of leaked emails between Mr Meyer and Greens leadership members before his axing.
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The emails revealed Mr Meyer raised concerns about whether it was ethical or legal that his party-funded role working with Greens MP Michael Berkman attracted the $1500-a-fortnight JobKeeper payment.
The correspondence contains allegations that the money was being transferred to Mr Berkman’s Maiwar campaign account and Mr Meyer was told to keep the arrangement private.
Mr Meyer was later sacked over the emails after the Greens management committee deemed the contents were aggressive towards female officials and for making demands around the running of his campaign, including that funding be increased and that money raised by a allegedly questionable raffle be returned. He denied any wrongdoing.
The Greens have vehemently denied the allegations, saying Mr Meyer was confused about how JobKeeper payments worked and the party’s use of the subsidy had been approved by both the ATO and the Electoral Commission of Queensland.
“John was receiving his JobKeeper payments embedded in his fortnightly pay, as do all eligible employees on JobKeeper,” a spokeswoman said.
“We submit our JobKeeper financial reports directly to the ATO monthly and have just completed our biannual audit.
“There are no anomalies in our accounts or JobKeeper records and they have been submitted to the ECQ.”
In a letter to the Commissioner for Taxation Chris Jordan, Senator Watt said the emails raised several serious allegations that needed investigating.
“I acknowledge that political parties are eligible to receive JobKeeper payments, provided they have suffered the required decrease in turnover and met other criteria,” he wrote.
“However, if these allegations are correct, they suggest the Greens political party may have used JobKeeper payments in an illegal manner.
“This conduct may involve a serious misuse of public funds.”