Australia has 178 billionaires with a combined wealth of $686 billion. Most of these billionaires were involved in mining, building, retail and gambling.
In 2026, another 17 more individuals joined this exclusive club. While the wealth of these individuals grows, many Australians are struggling to survive the harsh economic conditions.The most notorious Australian billionaires are Gina Rinehart and Clive Palmer who are well known for bankrolling far right political groups such as One Nation and The Trumpet of Patriots.
Naomi Klein, below examines the role of billionaires and billionaires who become trillionaires by floating their companies on the stock market (IPOs). the funds they get are often from pension and superannuation funds. They are overvalued and talked up before they crash leaving the latter to suffer the loss while the rich go on to talk up another stock market bubble. As in Australia, the rich bankroll the electoral extravagances in the USA.
The latest mid-term elections attracted over US $11.9 billion in corporate donations, roughly divided between the Republicans and Democrats. Elon Musk, the Space-X newly minted trillionaire spent $474 million supporting his candidates. The cost of the theatre that is U.S. democracy is steep indeed.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/nov/02/ai-ipos-tax-billionaires
Sharpen the Guillotine!
