Tax payers are commending The Warehouse Group s decision to repay $68 million in Covid-19 wage subsidies.
The Warehouse Group announced that it would repay the $68m wage subsidy it received from the government during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon
The Group, which includes retailers The Warehouse, Warehouse Stationery, Noel Leeming and Torpedo 7, took the money in August as lockdowns slashed earnings.
In June, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said she was angry at the company for pushing on with the restructuring while receiving the wage subsidy.
Auckland resident Geeta said while the move was a positive one, the company should never have fired so many people.
Ministry of Social Development (MSD) figures from May show 25 per cent of all wage subsidy payouts were to firms with at least 100 employees. Of the $14b paid out through the scheme, that s around $3.5b to large firms.
Christel Yardley/Stuff
A number of New Zealand’s biggest retailers have reported profits, despite the Covid-19 crisis, so which ones are paying back the wage subsidy? Since August, a number of big businesses, particularly retailers, have reported significant profits despite the pandemic. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and leader of the Opposition Judith Collins both said in a leaders debate it was immoral for companies that posted a profit and paid dividends to have held on to the wage subsidy.
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Covid 19 coronavirus: The Warehouse Group to repay $68m wage subsidy
21 Dec, 2020 04:50 AM
2 minutes to read
The Warehouse Group will repay its $68 million wage subsidy.
The group - which includes retailers such as The Warehouse, The Warehouse Stationery, Noel Leeming and Torpedo 7 - claimed the money back in April as the lockdowns slashed its earnings.
The Warehouse Whangarei. Photo / Tania Whyte
However, the group came under fire from unions, commentators and some politicians including the Prime Minister for taking the money, proceeding to lay off staff then reporting a full year profit of $44.5m.
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Without the subsidy the company would have made a loss of just over $4m.
This is the latest ride on the merry-go-round of legal shit-fuckery that penalises community groups who dare to face off in opposition to the rape and pillage of the environment. Less than a decade ago, voluntary community organisations were able to apply for Government financed grants, now no longer available, when challenging the likes of Councils, big-moneyed developers, international consortiums and Government agencies in respect of environmental concerns. In almost all but the most frivolous of cases, legal costs were never awarded against community groups but left to lie where they may. This was in the interests of justice being seen to be done in both quasi and full legal proceedings that were being tested by those who were committed to upholding the incrementally unfolding joke of ‘A Clean Green New Zealand’ by their works and deeds. Up and down the country, these communities of voluntary environmental workers and supporters of the notion that we are only caretakers of t