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The wealth of the three richest Australians — Gina Rinehart, Andrew Forrest and Harry Triguboff — has more than doubled since 2020 at a rate of $1.5 million an hour, according to new analysis.
Charity Oxfam’s latest report found the total wealth of the country’s billionaires increased by more than 70 per cent, or $120 billion in that same period.
The global wealth of billionaires grew three times faster than the inflation rate — a stark contrast to the experience of many Australian households struggling with rising cost-of-living expenses.
Poverty remains at pre-pandemic levels. Oxfam found five billion people around the world have been made “life-threateningly poorer” since 2020.
According to the Australian Council of Social Services, one in eight adults are living in poverty, scraping by on 50 per cent of median household income, which ranges from $489 a week for a single adult to $1,027 a week for a couple with two children.
Oxfam is calling on the federal government to reduce the growing gap between the super-rich and the rest of society by scrapping the stage three tax cuts.
The tax cuts, which come into effect on July 1, will offer greater relief for high-earning Australians by lowering marginal tax rates.
A single tax bracket will be created for workers earning between $45,000 and $200,000 a year.
Workers with a taxable income above $45,000 will benefit from the tax cuts, but high-income earners are set to receive the highest gains.
Oxfam Australia chief executive Lyn Morgain said governments needed to step up to address wealth inequality.
“We cannot accept a society that promotes the gross accumulation of wealth alongside widespread global poverty,” she said.
“One of the best mechanisms we have to address this is progressive taxation.
“The shame of our woeful global response to catastrophic disasters, displacement, famine and the climate crisis cannot be attributed to a scarcity of resources, it is distribution — and that’s a problem all governments, including the Australian government, need to tackle urgently.”
The report also called for the introduction of a progressive wealth tax of two to five per cent on Australian multimillionaires and billionaires, which could generate $32.36 billion each year.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese committed to the contentious tax cuts despite criticism.
“The government’s position hasn’t changed … inequality is an issue and the government has looked at ways in which we can improve that position,” he told ABC radio on Monday.
He said the government would continue to look at measures to help Aussies doing it tough, in the lead up to the federal budget.
(7 NEWS)