Oxfam Australia's Chief Executive said the divide between the megarich and poor has blown out during the global crisis. 9News
That is according to a new report by global anti-poverty charity Oxfam that claimed the 47 billionaires in Australia doubled their collective wealth during the pandemic to a combined $255 billion. When broken down over two years, that equates to the 47 billionaires earning $205 million a day or $2376 every second of the global crisis.
: Australia's top three richest people: Gina Rinehart, Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar. As a result, there is now more wealth in possession of 47 Australian billionaires than there is in the poorest 30 per cent of residents, estimated to be around 7.7 million people. Oxfam Australia's Chief Executive Lyn Morgain said the divide between the megarich and poor has blown out during the global crisis. "The record-breaking nature of the growth in their wealth means that while many have been pushed to the brink, billionaires have had a terrific pandemic," Ms Morgain said.There are calls for the world's richest man Elon Musk to pay more taxes to bridge the gap between the uber-wealthy and the poor. Mining magnate Gina Rinehart remains Australia's richest person with an estimated personal net worth of more than $22 billion, followed by software entrepreneurs Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar each with a shade over $19.5 billion, according to Oxfam estimates.The report also dealt with wealth on a global scale, finding that the world's ten richest men – including current top spot holder Elon Musk – made a collective $1.6 billion a day during the pandemic or $18,750 per second.Mining magnate Dr Andrew Forrest was listed as the fourth richest Australian with an estimated $18.6 billion net worth. If those top 10 richest men were to lose 99.9 per cent of their wealth, they would still be richer than 99 per cent of all people on Earth. Ms Morgain blamed Australia's economic landscape for the widening divide between rich and poor, arguing the system enables the uber-rich to more easily grow their wealth.Oxfam Australia CEO Lyn Morgain has called for a wealth tax in Australia. Mirroring a growing movement in the United States, Ms Morgain called for a "wealth tax" that would see higher tax rates imposed on the ultra-rich. "It's time for the Australian Government to take this issue seriously and take action to close the gap between the rich and poor. We have calculated that an annual $30 billion wealth tax would have a massive impact," she said. "For example, it could cover close to half the cost of achieving the World Health Organization's mid2022 vaccination goal for lower income countries, helping protect all people, including Australians, from further variants and preventing millions of people around the world being pushed into greater hardship and poverty,"
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