Australia’s 47 billionaires take home an average of A$67,000 an hour, over 1,300 times more than the average Australian, new Oxfam analysis reveals, as the anti-poverty organisation calls for the major parties to tax the fortunes of the super-rich to tackle inequality.
Using data from Forbes’ real-time billionaires list – which categorises billionaires in US dollars – to identify Australian billionaires, the report Takers Not Makers calculated that in 2024 Australian billionaire wealth rose by more than 8% or A$28bn, at a staggering rate of A$3.2m an hour.
If calculated in Australian dollars, the number of billionaires sits higher at 150, according to the AFR’s 2024 rich list.
Oxfam Australia’s chief executive, Lyn Morgain, said billionaire wealth in Australia was largely driven by “inheritance and ongoing impacts of colonialism”.
Along with real estate, the metals and mining industry has made the most billionaires in Australia. The top two richest Australians, according to the most recent Forbes data – Gina Rinehart, worth US$30bn, and Andrew Forrest, worth US$16.3bn – both made their billions out of mining.
Forrest, the former boss and current non-executive chairman of the mining and green energy company Fortescue Metals Group, has previously stated he will give away his wealth.
Morgain said: “What we can see is a direct relationship between the wealth of Australia’s many billionaires and the extraction of resources from traditional lands and the owners of First Nations.”
In Australia, 35% of billionaire wealth was inherited, she said, while a third of the First Nations peoples were in the poorest 20% of the population.
“Because billionaire wealth is often rooted in unearned privilege, much of it tied to intergenerational advantage and colonial powers, much of it goes untaxed,” Morgain said.
Oxfam is calling for a “relatively modest” wealth tax, where Australian billionaires are taxed between 2-5% of their overall wreath.
“The ultra-wealthy aren’t even going to notice it, but the effect would be to bring literally billions back into the public coffers,” she said. “And that would enable everything from schools to hospitals to adequate housing.
“As the federal election looms, it’s critical that our political leaders take bold steps to ensure the super-rich pay their fair share of taxes. There’s no other way that we can achieve that distribution of resources.”
Last year, Oxfam predicted the emergence of the first trillionaire within a decade. However, with billionaire wealth accelerating at a faster pace, this projection has been adjusted and is now on track to see at least five trillionaires within that timeframe.
