Meryl Swanson told a closed-door meeting of colleagues on Tuesday “we sound like we are whingeing and people don’t like it” in reference to Labor’s push for major businesses such as Harvey Norman to hand back the pandemic lifeline after the company’s profits soared during 2020.
Labor MP Meryl Swanson raised concerns over her party’s stance against Harvey Norman’s JobKeeper subsidies.But according to her parliamentary register of interests, Ms Swanson, who holds the Hunter Valley seat of Paterson, is a shareholder in the furniture and appliances retailer. Her husband Nick Swanson is also the franchisee of Harvey Norman’s Maitland store, which is also contained on the parliamentary register.The Paterson MP’s comments follow shadow assistant minister for treasury Andrew Leigh calls for the company’s founder to repay the subsidies after the retailer’s profits more than doubled in the first half of last year.
“Australian taxpayers gave Harvey Norman and franchisees $22 million in JobKeeper. They don’t need a cent of it. Firms with far smaller profits have already paid back their JobKeeper funds,” Mr Leigh said earlier this year. “At a time in which one million Aussies are out of work, taxpayers shouldn’t be supporting a billionaire. Time to pay it back, Gerry.”Comment has been sought from Ms Swanson’s office.Our Morning Edition newsletter is a curated guide to the most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up to