How was your 2020?
Did you buy a new jet? ✈️
Go on holidays overseas? 🏖
Or was it more homeschooling, zoom meetings, doom scrolling, and watching your savings dwindle? 💸
Well while your year was tough, billionaires in Australia did better than billionaires anywhere else in the world. 💰💰💰
The billionaires have made out like bandits
During the pandemic, billionaire Kerry Stokes made over $570 million. His companies took millions in corporate welfare like JobKeeper, and cut workers’ wages. Meanwhile, Stokes bought a new jet.
At the same time millions of people lost their jobs. More women lost jobs than men, and did more unpaid work. A third of young people went jobless.
Before the pandemic, billionaires and big corporations had too much power. Now, this special treatment is out of control.
To turn around this growing inequality, and the climate crisis, we have to fight for our future.
The billionaires made how much?!?!
- The ten wealthiest billionaires in Australia increased their wealth during the COVID pandemic by $68.4 Billion.
- Gina Rinehart's personal wealth more than doubled during the pandemic from $16BN to $36BN.
- The current total wealth of Australia’s billionaires is $417 billion, an increase of $90 billion.
- The number of billionaires is growing and currently stands at 122.
- Australia’s billionaires use complex schemes to avoid paying tax, while donating millions to the Liberal and Labor Party.
Corporations got welfare, while women
and young people lost their jobs
During the pandemic, the government paid over a billion dollars in JobKeeper to the biggest, and most profitable companies. These companies paid over $24.7M in bonuses to their executives. 1 in 3 big corporations paid no tax.
Women and young people were already behind before the pandemic, but over the last year, these trends accelerated. Women were more likely to lose their job, lose hours, do more unpaid work at home, and were less likely to get government support through JobKeeper. A third of young people lost their jobs, and a quarter of young people faced mental distress. Young people were also estimated to lose around $35,000 over the next decade.
The Greens will make billionaires and big corporations pay their fair share.
The Greens will:
- Introduce an annual extra 6% wealth tax on billionaires
- Tax the mega-profits of big corporations earning over $100m annually
- End government handouts to the billionaires and the big corporations, like the fossil fuel industry
- How does does the billionaire tax work?
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A 6% Billionaire’s Tax would only apply to the net wealth held by Australia’s billionaires. To stop the billionaires shifting assets offshore, the tax would still apply to 90% of their original wealth. This tax on just 122 Australian citizens would raise approximately $40 billion over the medium term to pay for the services and jobs that Australian’s need.
A fair share for Australia
6% of Australia’s billionaires’ wealth is a fair share for Australia, but generally, much less than the growth of biggest billionaires during the pandemic. For example, Australia’s richest person Gina Rinehart’s wealth has increased by 123% to $36.28BN, 6% of her wealth is $2.2BN. Billionaire coal miner Clive Palmer more than doubled his wealth to $9.76BN. Six per cent of his wealth is $586 million.
The Billionaires Tax, the Super-Profits Tax, and ending corporate welfare and handouts, will help fund genuinely free public schools, dental into Medicare, and a job for everyone who wants one.
Before the pandemic, billionaires and big corporations had too much power. Now, this special treatment is out of control.
To turn around this growing inequality, and the climate crisis, we have to fight for our future.
We have a plan to Fight for the Future and we need you to read it and share it with your friends and family if you want to see it become a reality.
Sources:
- Australian Financial Review Rich List 2019 - 2020
- The Australian Rich List 2020
- Australian Tax Office Report of Entity Tax Information 2018-19
- JobKeeper Company Profits, The New Daily 03/03/2021