Advance Australia Fair? What to do about growing inequality in Australia Report following a roundtable held at Parliament House Canberra in January 2014 Bob Douglas, Sharon Friel, Richard Denniss and David Morawetz Australian Wealth Inequality $2,500,000 $2,215,032 $2,000,000 Mean $1,500,000 Household Net Worth (2011-12) $1,000,000 $766,465 $437,856 $500,000 $191,207 $31,205 $0 Lowest 20% Second Third Fourth Highest 20% Source: ABS, Household Income and Income Distribution, Australia, 2011-12 Advance Australia Fair? What to do about growing inequality in Australia Bob Douglas, Sharon Friel, Richard Denniss and David Morawetz Published May 2014 by Australia21 in collaboration with The Australia Institute Australia21 Limited ABN 25 096 242 010 ACN 096 242 010 Email:
[email protected] Web: www.australia21.org.au ISBN 978-0-9873991-7-5 The views expressed by the participants are their own and do not necessarily represent those of Australia21 ZOO 50497 or The Australia Institute. While the earnings of a minority are growing exponentially, so too is the gap separating the majority from the prosperity enjoyed by the happy few .... This imbalance is the result of ideologies that defend the absolute autonomy of the marketplace and financial speculation. POPE FRANCIS, Evangelii Gaudium 2013 The richest 85 people on the globe – who between them could squeeze onto a single double-decker bus – control as much wealth as the poorest half of the global population put together (3.5 billion people). OXFAM REPORT to the Davos Conference of the World Economic Forum 2014 Business and political leaders at the World Economic Forum should remember that in far too many countries the benefits of growth are being enjoyed by far too few people.