Australian Billionaires Continue to Rake It In, as Their Influence Over Politics Grows

Much of the coverage of increasingly influential billionaires since the 2025 second coming of the US Trump administration has involved a focus on the US kind. However, a recent Oxfam report reveals that just like US billionaires, those in Australia are continuing to increase their wealth exponentially, and just like in the States, over 2026, the local 1 percent has revealed their far-right proclivities.

Oxfam reported in May 2026 that the collective wealth of Australian billionaires increased by more that $25 billion over the 12 months prior. This growth translates to a “staggering surge” of $50,000 every minute. This obscene wealth gain follows a three-year trend. And this extreme spike comes as the number of billionaires in this country has risen to the highest on record.

There are now 178 billionaires locally. Their numbers are rising alongside their wealth, under the global capitalist system that results in an ever-greater concentration of wealth in the hands of the 1 percent to the detriment of the bottom 50 percent. And the 20 richest locals in this country now hold more wealth than the bottom 3 million Australians.

Just like in the US, Australian billionaires now appear to be taking a more proactive role in federal politics. In the States, the world’s richest man Elon Musk was placed in charge of that nation’s most important databases, while tech bro Peter Thiel bankrolled JD Vance into the US vice-presidency. And now we have mining magnate Gina Rinehart vying for a One Nation-led government over here.

But in a recent op-ed, Greens Senator David Shoebridge set out that he considers that rising feelings of hopelessness and despair are often by the design of the billionaire class, as it attempts to shield the fact that the people can unite and wrest back power.

Australia’s wealthiest

“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,” said Oxfam Australia chief executive Jennifer Tierney, in the July report.

Oxfam notes that the market is continuing to redistribute wealth to the billionaire class, whilst the rest of the population is reeling from a dual housing and cost-of-living crisis. And many billionaires manage to avoid paying tax.

Researchers further note that the $25.67 billion that Australian billionaires collectively acquired over the previous year could have been used to lift one million Australians out of poverty or to pay the electricity bill of every Australian household for more than a year. This extra cash could be used to fund the national aid budget five times over or cover the groceries of 3 million for a year.

In a further statement last month, the coalition of nongovernment organisations posits that as the number of Australian billionaires increases, every one of them marks a “policy failure”. Oxfam also posits that the “very existence of booming billionaires is evidence of an economic system that fails to deliver for humanity”.

Tierney too insisted that “the reality is that the wealth of the superrich continues to grow while poverty persists”, and more “structural reform to the tax system” is needed to build upon the recent reforms the Albanese government made to capital gains tax and negative gearing, or the divide between rich and poor “will only deepen”.

Representing the billionaire class

The last eight months have featured far-right minor political party One Nation and its leader Pauline Hanson surging to the top of the political polls to knock out the eight decade-old Liberal party from its opposition position, and then she went on to take the number one spot in the preferred prime minister poll midyear, and she’s been doing all this with the backing of Australian billionaires.

Hancock Prospecting mining magnate Gina Rinehart has been leading the shift of billionaire class support towards One Nation and away from the Liberals and Nationals, after the Coalition’s poor performance in the 2025 federal election. Other wealthy figures, like stockbroker Angus Aitken, Adam Giles and Ian Pilmer, have also been throwing their wealth behind Hanson’s party.

Just like the US billionaires backing Donald Trump, Rinehart and other mining industry players are betting on Hanson to take the primeministership at the next federal election, as she heads up a far-right coalition government, and the wealthy backers want to see her wind back climate reforms to favour fossil fuels and end mass migration, which is a disputed phenomenon.

Indeed, the angling to get One Nation into governing seats, which has succeeded in two byelections, is following the MAGA playbook, which saw Donald Trump returned to the White House for a second term in office. Trump’s supporter base is made up of white working-class people, as well as American billionaires, and his policies favour the 1 percent, despite his continued populist support.

Rinehart flew Hanson to the US state of Florida on her personal jet in October 2025, so the One Nation leader could address a CPAC event held at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago. Hanson spoke on deregulation of the mining and fossil fuel industries and ending mass migration. These are key priorities of MAGA, which Trump is progressing in the US. And Gina is a keen supporter of Trump.

Besides the heightened visibility of billionaires, like Musk and Rinehart, in the politics of their own nations, the other issue that’s brought billionaires into view has been the revelations of the Epstein Files, which exposed the crimes of the wealthiest, and their complete disregard for laws, morality and humanity, while some such individuals are so rich they can openly fly above the law.

Disparities in stark relief

“We cut back, while billionaires accumulate extraordinary wealth at extraordinary speed,” Oxfam said, of the current moment of unaffordability that the 99 percent is experiencing. “The existence and rapid growth of billionaires and the superrich is a sign of an economy where too much wealth and power are concentrated in too few hands.”

With Trump in the White House, America’s billionaire class can sit back as one of their own ensures that policies being progressed suit the wealthiest. However, in Australia, the billionaires are none too pleased with the Albanese government remaining in power, and they’re now backing One Nation, and so are a growing number of the general public.

Writing in deepcut recently, Senator Shoebridge asserted that the “political struggle of the moment” is how to galvanise the 99 percent into a political movement that can wrestle back power from the 1 percent. According to the federal politician, it’s the ultrarich who are driving the “war, climate collapse and economic chaos” that the globe is experiencing for their own financial gain.

Shoebridge considers the power remains with the 99 percent, and that “the Left must meet this moment”. The senator further posits that the 1 percent is well aware of this, and the recent outpouring of support for Palestine has scared the Epstein class.

That is why jurisdictions around the continent are now experiencing an onslaught of “policing and surveillance powers” –think, mobile device scanners, drone surveillance and facial scanning – because as the light shines ever brighter on the disparities that are now accelerating to the extreme in western societies, those at the top are seeking to ward off any threat to their control.

“The people’s anger is legitimate and real,” Shoebridge made certain and he added that the “people can see a bunch of self-interested politicians washing between parliament and industry, milking the knowledge they got in government for private profit.”

“They can see the megarich getting richer while they struggle with rent, insurance and debt,” the senator added.

Image: Gina Rinehart from Shutterstock. Pauline Hanson is in the public domain. Photo of David Shoebridge by Paul Gregoire.