"wasn't there a shareholder named Commonwealth of Australia...

"wasn't there a shareholder named Commonwealth of Australia holding around 8.5% before the takeover offer? is this a tax payer funded shareholding ?"

No ... nothing remotely like that in any of the top 20 shareholder reports ever. Look em up at the end of each annual report.
So it's not a taxpayer funded holding.
Where did that crazy idea come from?
The CofA doesn't dabble in junior exploration companies on the stockmarket.