The holding company behind Smiggle, Peter Alexander, and Just Jeans, will pay back $15.6 million in JobKeeper wage subsidies. Retail magnate Solomon Lew’s Premier Investments made the announcement on Monday. The group said JobKeeper was intended to buffer the economic instability caused by lockdowns in Queensland and Western Australia over the first half of 2021. However, following the end of the lockdowns, sales numbers increased across the store network helping offset the cost of supporting employees. “The Premier board, having regard to these outcomes, combined with the success of the Commonwealth and state government’s management of COVID-19, has determined that it is now appropriate to refund the net JobKeeper benefit of $15.6 million to the Australian Tax Office,” the announcement read (pdf). Solomon Lew has been under pressure to payback JobKeeper after his company declared a $188 million profit in March. Federal Labor MP Andrew Leigh wrote on Twitter, “Last …