<
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/jun/02/australian-billionaires-richer-than-last-year>
"The wealth of Australia’s billionaires increased by $25.67bn in the past year,
equivalent to almost $50,000 a minute, according to new Oxfam Australia
analysis of the
2026 Australian Financial Review Rich List.
The anti-poverty organisation said the total wealth of Australian billionaires
in 2026 has reached more than $686bn, while Acoss figures show 3,706,000 people
live in poverty, including 757,000 children under 15 years.
One in three households experienced food insecurity last year, meaning they
stressed about or struggled to put food on the table.
Australia now has its highest number of billionaires on record, at 178, up 17
from last year.
A large amount of this new wealth has come from artificial intelligence and
datacentres. In addition to regular rich listers such as Gina Rinehart, the new
billionaires include property developers Anthony El-Hazouri and Charbel
Hazzouri, AI-driven jobs platform founder Katrina Leslie, mining boss Chris
Ellison, fashion label White Fox founders Daniel and Georgia Contos, and luxury
property developers Adrian and Peter Puljich.
Oxfam said the figures highlighted the widening gap between Australia’s
wealthiest people and ordinary households, with the 20 richest Australians now
holding more wealth than the bottom 3 million households.
Oxfam Australia’s chief executive, Jennifer Tierney, said while many
Australians continue to feel the brunt of high living costs, billionaire wealth
was continuing to surge.
“There is something fundamentally wrong with a system where extreme wealth
keeps skyrocketing while so many people are struggling to afford the basics,
and governments claim there is not enough money for housing, healthcare,
climate action and essential services,” she said.
The increase in billionaire wealth in the past year alone could have lifted
nearly a million Australians out of poverty or covered household electricity
bills for every single Australian household for well over one year, she said."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
