Daily London
Oxfam Australia, a branch of the global charity organisation, found that 48 billionaires held more wealth than the bottom 40 per cent – almost 11 million people of Australia’s population of 27 million.
And their wealth only increased last year, growing a collective $10.5 billion.
Triguboff, for example, had a wealth increase equivalent to the amount needed to build 10,600 new homes.
The latest analysis is in line with a global trend that saw the world’s 3000 billionaires’ wealth rise 16 per cent to $27.7 trillion last year – the highest level in history.
Meanwhile, more than 3.7 million people live in poverty in Australia, according to Oxfam.
One in three households was found to have faced food insecurity last year, which meant they either stressed about or struggled to put food on the table.
Oxfam Australia chief executive Jennifer Tierney said rising billionaire wealth exposed a failing system.
“The gap between those doing it toughest and those benefiting most is stark, and well evidenced.”
Oxfam called on the Australian government to reduce the gap by reforming the tax system to effectively tax billionaires, including ending the capital gains tax discount and phasing out negative gearing.
Greens treasury spokesperson, Nick McKim, who is chairing a Senate inquiry into the capital gains tax discount, agreed that Labor needed to make billionaires pay their fair share.
“The Oxfam report shows exactly what’s broken in our economy,” he said.
“While renters and working people are doing it tough, billionaires are pocketing more than half a million dollars a day, turbo-charged by tax breaks like the capital gains tax discount.
“Ending handouts to the extreme wealthy would free up billions for housing, cost-of-living relief and the services Australians rely on.”
Research by national housing campaign Everybody’s Home has found the federal government was losing tens of billions of dollars each year in forgone revenue through negative gearing deductions and the capital gains tax discount.
But federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers has ruled out any changes to negative gearing or the capital gains tax discount after Labor’s promises of tax reform cost the party at the 2016 and 2019 elections.
