Oxfam has released a new report, entitled “Public good or private wealth”, which claims that inequality in Australia has worsened, with the top 1% of Australians owning more wealth than the bottom 70%, as well as 2018 recording another record number of billionaires, from 33 to 43:
The number of Australian billionaires increased by a record number again last year, from 33 to 43, with a corresponding wealth increase of $36 billion – equivalent to $100 million a day…
The Australian billionaire wealth increase of $36 billion last year is enough to fund about half of the Australian Government’s total health budget for the 2018-19 financial year.
The latest Credit Suisse data shows that the share of wealth concentrated in the hands of the top 1% of Australians was 22% last year (figure 2). As was the case in previous years2, the top 1% of Australians owns more wealth than the bottom 70% of all other Australians combined. This is while worker wage growth remains sluggish and the wealth share of the bottom half of Australians remains stuck at just 9% in 2018…
For four consecutive years since 2013-14, more than one in three of Australia’s largest corporations have not paid any taxes in Australia – and 281 companies have not paid a cent in tax for all four years.6 The official corporate tax gap amount of almost $2 billion7 – the shortfall on tax that would have been collected if all taxpayers were compliant – is more than double the Australian Government funding to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health programs…
According to The ABC, the ten wealthiest Australians are as follows:
- Gina Rinehart, $17.4b
- Harry Triguboff, $9.2b
- Vivek Chaand Sehgal, $6b
- Frank Lowy, $5.9b
- Anthony Pratt, $5.5b
- Andrew Forrest, $4.4b
- John Gandel, $4.1b
- James Packer, $4.1b
- Mike Cannon-Brookes, Scott Farquhar $3.4b each
- Lindsay Fox, $3.4b
The full Australian report is here, whereas the full global report is here.