While more regular Australians are contending with rising costs, following a difficult few years of border closures and global uncertainty, the uber rich are getting richer. A lot richer.
The latest Oxfam report tells the story of the 1 per cent who are 61 per cent richer than prior to the pandemic, and the massive wealth divide that continues to expand between the 1 and the 99 per cent.
And well into the fractions of that one percent, the divide is even more staggering. There are 42 Australians who now have a combined wealth of almost $232 billion.
Australia also now has 11 more billionaires now in 2023, than we had in 2020. A reason to glow with patriotic pride? Hardly.
Oxfam has called for the introduction of a wealth tax on releasing this latest inequality report, declaring it could raise $29.1 billion annually in Australia – noting that such money could build 36,000 social houses every year, support homes in moving away from gas, and help households shave $1900 off the yearly energy bills.
Globally, the top 1 per cent have done very well out of the past two years, making nearly twice as much as the remaining 99 per cent of the population, according to the Survival of the Richest, report by Oxfam. The figures come as the World Bank says the world is on track for the biggest jump since the second world war in global inequality and poverty.
Oxfam says the divide between rich and poor is undermining progress against poverty and damaging economies around the world. It says that it is also contributing to public anger and unrest, especially with the rise of climate-related disasters.
Recently, new Australian research found a direct link between financial inequity and poor health outcomes for women, and noted that women aged 18 to 24 are reporting the highest financial distress this year than in every year since 2021. Women aged 55 to 64 have reported the second highest financial distress year in 2022, second to 2018.
“Poverty has increased for the first time in 25 years. At the same time, these multiple crises all have winners,” the Oxfam report authors state.
“The very richest have become dramatically richer and corporate profits have hit record highs, driving an explosion of inequality.”
Oxfam Australia’s director of programs, Anthea Spinks, has described this decade as a “Roaring ‘20s boom for the world’s richest”.