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Calls For Wealth Tax On Australian Billionaires (Read 196 times)
whiteknight
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Calls For Wealth Tax On Australian Billionaires
Jan 21st, 2025 at 3:21am
 
Billionaire wealth rises $3 trillion in 2024, at a rate three times faster than year before, Oxfam finds

Dec 21 2025
ABC News

Total billionaire wealth grew by $3 trillion last year globally, while Elon Musk remained the world's richest person.

In short:
An Oxfam report found Australian billionaires' wealth increased by more than 8 per cent, or $28 billion, last year.

Globally, the 10 richest people are all men and their wealth increased by more than $150 million a day, on average.

What's next:
Oxfam Australia is calling on the federal government to introduce a wealth tax of between 2 and 5 per cent on the super-rich.


Imagine earning $3.2 million ($US2 million) a day — that was the average daily income for the world's billionaires last year.

For the 10 richest among them, all men, that figure soared to over $150 million a day.

The figures have been revealed in the latest inequality report from the charity Oxfam, which highlights just how unachievable that sort of wealth is for the average person.

Even if someone had saved $1,600 every day since the first humans 315,000 years ago, they would still not have accumulated enough money to crack the top 10.

The report has been released as political and business leaders meet in Davos, Switzerland for the exclusive and high-profile World Economic Forum this week.

The event's guest list (it's invite only) sees high-net worth individuals and influential businesspeople mixing with heads of state, government ministers, economists and academics in the alpine resort village.


The Oxfam report has been released the same week as the exclusive World Economic Forum in the alpine resort town of Davos, Switzerland.

Elon Musk remains world's richest person
Globally, total billionaire wealth grew by $3 trillion last year, equivalent to roughly $8.4 billion a day.

That's a rate three times faster than the year before and the second-largest annual increase in billionaire wealth since records began.

Two hundred and four billionaires were created, an average of almost four a week.


Elon Musk amasses most of his wealth from his stake in Tesla and SpaceX, while Mark Zuckerberg makes his billions via his shares in Meta.

The five richest people last year, according to Forbes, were:

Elon Musk
Jeff Bezos
Bernard Arnault and family
Larry Ellison
Mark Zuckerberg
"The crown jewel of this oligarchy is a billionaire president, backed and bought by the world's richest man Elon Musk, running the world's largest economy," said Oxfam Australia chief executive Lyn Morgain.


Jeff Bezos comes in close behind the world's richest man, Elon Musk. 

Calls for wealth tax on Australian billionaires   
Australia's 47 billionaires make an average $67,000 an hour, according to the report — a figure 1,300 times higher than that of the average Australian worker.   

Mining magnate Gina Rinehart remains Australia's richest, and the world's 56th richest, person, with a net worth of $47.3 billion.

Andrew "Twiggy" Forrest is Australia's second richest, worth $29.2 billion and real estate developer Harry Triguboff is third, worth $25.3 billion.

The report finds that last year Australia's total billionaire wealth increased by more than 8 per cent, or $28 billion, at a rate of $3.2 million per hour.




Australian billionaires earn $67,000 per hour: Oxfam report

Oxfam Australia's Ms Morgain notes the "rampant growth" of billionaires' wealth in Australia "was the legacy of colonisation", with 35 per cent of billionaire wealth inherited.

"There is a relationship between this concentration of wealth and extractive industries in Australia. There's a particular historical context to this in Australia and it's that all our billionaires dug their wealth out of the ground," she says.

"The scale [of wealth] is so great that even if we adopted a 2 to 5 per cent wealth tax in Australia, they would not notice the difference, but the difference to the Australian public would be enormous."

Billionaires call on global leaders to tax them more
Photo shows A woman stands on the side of a road holding a tax the rich sign.
Hundreds of billionaires and multimillionaires have penned a letter calling on global leaders to fairly tax the super-rich, stating they'd "be proud to pay more".   

Ms Morgain says historically politicians were extremely reluctant to propose wealth taxes on the super-rich because of a "notion that it wasn't fair to tax people's wealth".

"The premise there was because they earned it, they deserve it and somehow they shouldn't be penalised for that.

"Those beliefs came from a prior economic time and I think these days, many, many Australians are concerned by the fact corporations don't pay tax at the level they do."

But what was once "a fringe socialist proposition" was now "a common conversation", Ms Morgain said.

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aquascoot
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Re: Calls For Wealth Tax On Australian Billionaires
Reply #1 - Jan 21st, 2025 at 5:13am
 
the problem with this simplistic thinking is that billionaires are mobile .

britain tried this and saw the largest exodus of billionaires per head of population in history.

if you lose a billionaire, the government can only keep economic growth rising by importing 1000 guys on  40 grand, driving ubers or pushing trolleys at woolworths.

actually you would need more then 1000.

and you end up with a country full of urban sprawl, rising house prices and people with BS jobs (sounds kind of like australia to be honest).


No white knight, we should be dropping tax rates for the wealth creartors and importing THEM

we would have the same sized economy (pie to share) and we would have zero stress on our roads, housing hospitals and schools.

try to be more like zurich .

unless you like having lots of losers around, instead of a few winners

i suppose surrounding yourself with losers makes YOU sleep a bit better at night  Roll Eyes Roll Eyes
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whiteknight
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Re: Calls For Wealth Tax On Australian Billionaires
Reply #2 - Jan 21st, 2025 at 6:43am
 
Billionaires call on global leaders to tax them more
Photo shows A woman stands on the side of a road holding a tax the rich sign.
Hundreds of billionaires and multimillionaires have penned a letter calling on global leaders to fairly tax the super-rich, stating they'd "be proud to pay more".   Huh   
 
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freediver
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Re: Calls For Wealth Tax On Australian Billionaires
Reply #3 - Jan 21st, 2025 at 9:32am
 
France tried it also. They ended up worse off. The rich left, and took all their money with them. They spent it in other countries.
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Leroy
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Re: Calls For Wealth Tax On Australian Billionaires
Reply #4 - Jan 21st, 2025 at 9:56am
 
OK if you are a democracy is this morally right.

You shall not convert, that is one of the commandments our laws are based on.
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Re: Calls For Wealth Tax On Australian Billionaires
Reply #5 - Jan 21st, 2025 at 9:58am
 
freediver wrote on Jan 21st, 2025 at 9:32am:


France tried it also.

They ended up worse off.

The rich left, and took all their money with them.

They spent it in other countries.







"The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money."
- Margaret Thatcher


.......AND why, why, why is it, that socialists tend to always prove to be,
BOTH genetically incompetent, and, wholly corrupt ?

But socialists do, do, do, love          ......any opportunity to spend 'treasure'......which others have worked for and accumulated.
/sarc off



Gordon said......
http://www.ozpolitic.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1736409364/501#501

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"....And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead."
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Re: Calls For Wealth Tax On Australian Billionaires
Reply #6 - Jan 21st, 2025 at 10:22am
 
Australia already has one of the most progressive income tax structures in the world. They have eased off a bit lately, but we are still fairly high on the list. That is, we already tax the wealthy more than most countries. In the US, the highest marginal income tax rate from the federal government is 37%. But many states also have some income tax.

This means, we are more at risk of our wealthiest people leaving the country to avoid onerous taxes. It does not even have to be a conscious decision based on tax alone. Our wealthiest people can and do travel easily and get jobs anywhere. They will not compare jobs based on highest total income, but on highest take-home pay. So jobs in lower taxing countries will be more attractive. Entire companies can move their headquarters around the globe, taking most of the high paid jobs with them. And tax will certainly influence that decision. This can become self-reinforcing, if the tax rates are high enough to harm the economy as a whole when you lean to far towards socialism.
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Gnads
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Re: Calls For Wealth Tax On Australian Billionaires
Reply #7 - Jan 21st, 2025 at 10:29am
 
aquascoot wrote on Jan 21st, 2025 at 5:13am:
the problem with this simplistic thinking is that billionaires are mobile .

britain tried this and saw the largest exodus of billionaires per head of population in history.

if you lose a billionaire, the government can only keep economic growth rising by importing 1000 guys on  40 grand, driving ubers or pushing trolleys at woolworths.

actually you would need more then 1000.

and you end up with a country full of urban sprawl, rising house prices and people with BS jobs (sounds kind of like australia to be honest).


No white knight, we should be dropping tax rates for the wealth creartors and importing THEM

we would have the same sized economy (pie to share) and we would have zero stress on our roads, housing hospitals and schools.

try to be more like zurich .

unless you like having lots of losers around, instead of a few winners

i suppose surrounding yourself with losers makes YOU sleep a bit better at night  Roll Eyes Roll Eyes


Problem there Scoot is that in general they are wealth creators for themselves..... not always others.
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Re: Calls For Wealth Tax On Australian Billionaires
Reply #8 - Jan 21st, 2025 at 10:31am
 
As I said here:
https://www.ozpolitic.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1737338252

the largest business in Australia is tax avoidance for the rich.

The super rich  hide their wealth by sending it overseas or by buying property
with shelf companies etc.

The average salary and wage earner can't do that -
they can't even claim car expenses to drive to work.
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Leroy
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Re: Calls For Wealth Tax On Australian Billionaires
Reply #9 - Jan 21st, 2025 at 10:34am
 
Bobby. wrote on Jan 21st, 2025 at 10:31am:
As I said here:
https://www.ozpolitic.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1737338252

the largest business in Australia is tax avoidance for the rich.

The super rich  hide their wealth by sending it overseas or by buying property
with shelf companies etc.

The average salary and wage earner can't do that -
they can't even claim car expenses to drive to work.


They could if they managed their money properly. Its a bit hard though if you prefer water skiing, holidays, new iphones, buying the latest of everything.
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Bobby.
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Re: Calls For Wealth Tax On Australian Billionaires
Reply #10 - Jan 21st, 2025 at 10:36am
 
Leroy wrote on Jan 21st, 2025 at 10:34am:
Bobby. wrote on Jan 21st, 2025 at 10:31am:
As I said here:
https://www.ozpolitic.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1737338252

the largest business in Australia is tax avoidance for the rich.

The super rich  hide their wealth by sending it overseas or by buying property
with shelf companies etc.

The average salary and wage earner can't do that -
they can't even claim car expenses to drive to work.


They could if they managed their money properly. Its a bit hard though if you prefer water skiing, holidays, new iphones, buying the latest of everything.



You're wrong -

You can't claim car expenses to drive to work.
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