Cameron to repay $126k in farm wage subsidies
Director James Cameron, creator of the highest-grossing film of all time, has pledged to repay $126,532 that his Wairarapa organics farm received in wage subsidies during last year’s Covid-19 lockdown.
But he has also confirmed that his Greytown, Wairarapa, organics shop, which received a further $25,288 in subsidies, had fallen victim to the Covid-19 pandemic and would not open again.
Staff there were paid ‘‘healthy severance packages’’, he said.
Cameron was commenting after being asked about the sale of the Greytown shop property.
Records show that 101 Main St in Greytown was registered as being sold on February 22 this year for $1.1 million. Cameron’s company, T Base 2, bought the same property in 2014 for $780,000.
The Government set up a wage subsidy scheme to keep Kiwis working as New Zealand went into lockdown last year. Ministry of Social Development data show $14.15 billion was paid out to 820,734 successful beneficiaries of the scheme.
Cameron said the Food Forest Organics shop and farm were separate business entities. Food Forest Organics was the shop, which had employed four people. T Base 2 employed 18 farm staff.
‘‘With the closure of grocery and organic produce shops during the Covid-19 shutdown the farm vegetable sales decreased, and the subsidy allowed all employees to continue to receive their full wage during this period,’’ Cameron said.
The $126,532 subsidy would be repaid to the Government ‘‘shortly’’, he said. Thanks to some restructuring and the lockdown easing, the company did not suffer a 30 per cent drop in revenue.
Government rules state the businesses had to have projected – or suffered – a 30 per cent drop in revenue to get the subsidy.
Food Forest Organics had always operated at a loss, Cameron said.
‘‘We paid the deficit because we enjoyed the store’s warm reception by the Wairarapa community, and the acceptance by our customers of our message of eating healthy wholefood plant-based meals, grown locally . . . We considered it giving something to the community.’’
Staff had their wages topped up to full pay by the business, he said.
‘‘The decision to close permanently was based on our analysis of market forces and our belief that the pandemic would last for 18 months minimum, during which there would be no revenue from tourism, which the store relied on. Our projections have proven accurate.’’
Last month, the BBC reported that Cameron’s Avatar film had reclaimed the title of highestgrossing film of all time after a rerelease in China.
The wage subsidy rules stated that employers must keep employees on during the period covered by the subsidy. Businesses had to agree to endeavour to keep employees paid 80 per cent of their normal wages during the lockdown period.