There is always a chance they could have paid income tax so they...

There is always a chance they could have paid income tax so they could pay franked dividends. For them to do that, they just had to vary their PAYG tax instalment upwards. I suspect the current instalment rate would be zero or close to it, considering in the 2021 financial statements they had noted (in a round about way) that they had tax losses in Australia. The rate will be 'reset' upon lodgement of their 2022 tax return, which probably hasn't been lodged yet.

I seriously hope management have thought about this, considering their desire to pay out large franked dividends. But most management teams are reluctant to pay the ATO early.