As reported in The Australian today, former prime minister John Howard has rejected suggestions that wealth inequality is rising in Australia, noting that research by Credit Suisse in 2018 refutes this. He says that on a per capita basis, the nation has the largest middle-class in the world. Howard concedes that some people in Australia are struggling financially and need the safety net of social security, but he says that perpetuating the ‘myth’ that inequality is rising is no justification for the big tax increases that Labor has proposed if it wins the federal election:
“These figures don’t suggest inequality is growing at all,” Mr Howard told The Australian.
