Last year, Australia’s billionaires made $67,000 an hour! That’s about a whole year’s salary for many average workers.
People like Gina Rinehart and Clive Palmer have increased their wealth by about 8% or $28 billion last year, while the rest of Australia’s wages struggle to keep up with inflation.
The Oxfam report Takers, not Makers breaks it down really simply: even if someone had saved $1,600 every day since the first humans around 300,000 years ago, they would still not have accumulated enough money to crack the top 10 richest people in the world.
Most of Australia’s billionaires own or invest in mining companies- that are literally destroying our country and our planet.
And the other most popular industry is real estate, hoarding properties while the rest of us struggle to afford mortgages or rent in a housing crisis.
Don’t doubt for a second that the way these billionaires are increasing their wealth, is by taking away from the rest of us.
They’re exploiting their workers, extracting from the environment and monopolising industries.
35% of billionaire’s wealth is inherited. These people hoard their wealth and keep it locked away for generations, which public services like health and education remain underfunded.
In this country, which has a population of over 26 million the richest 250 people equal about 25% of national GDP.
What does that leave for the rest of us?
We need to put a stop to this outrageous hoarding of wealth.
We need to tax the billionaires back to millionaires to pay for the things the rest of us need.
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