The gap between rich and poor continues to grow as it’s revealed the number of billionaires has more than doubled in the past decade prompting calls for greater income equality across Australia.
Last year saw the biggest increase in the number of billionaires, and their wealth, with the country’s top one per cent having more wealth than the bottom 70 per cent combined.
The report this month by Oxfam International shows that wealth inequality in Australia is among the worst in the developed world, with Australia ranked 22 out of the 35 OECD countries, the ACTU says.
The number of billionaires has more than doubled in the past decade prompting calls for greater income equality across Australia (pictured: James Packer)
A new report has prompted calls for greater income equality across Australia (pictured: top billionaire Gina Rinehart)
The ACTU says the report also found the top one per cent of people in Australia have increased their share of wealth from 22 to 23 per cent, while the wealth share by the bottom half has fallen.
The figures prove the enterprise bargaining system is broken, ACTU secretary Sally McManus says.
‘Working people can’t get fair pay rises because workers rights no longer balance the power of employers, and as a result, we have rising and crippling inequality,’ she said in a statement.
The nation’s top 10 billionaires include Gina Rinehart, and Andrew Forrest – who found success through iron or mining – joined by property and shopping centre magnates Harry Triguboff, Frank Lowy and John Gandel, Visy manufacturer Anthony Pratt, James Packer, Linfox transport owner Lindsay Fox, and Atlassian co-founder Mike Cannon-Brooke, Fairfax reported.
Oxfam Australia chief executive Dr Szoke told the Sydney Morning Herald hard work was no longer the guarantee into a better life as they system was clearly not working for so many people.
Wealth inequality in Australia is among the worst in the developed world according to a new report (pictured: Harry Triguboff)
The country’s top one per cent have more wealth than the bottom 70 per cent (pictured: Andrew Forrest who places number three on the top billionaire list)
‘Over the decade since the Global Financial Crisis, the wealth of Australian billionaires has increased by almost 140 per cent to a total of $115.4 billion last year. Yet over the same time, the average wages of ordinary Australians have increased by just 36 per cent and average household wealth grew by 12 per cent.’
‘The richest one per cent of Australians continue to own more wealth than the bottom 70 per cent of Australians combined. While everyday Australians are struggling more and more to get by, the wealthiest groups have grown richer and richer,’ she said.
A focus on greater tax transparency, she said, is vital and laws requiring companies to publicly report income, taxes and profit in all countries they work across.