Last year, the wealth of billionaires worldwide grew at a rate three times faster than the average annual increase observed over the previous five years.

“It’s an unjust, unsustainable, and, in our view, an unethical situation for such a small number of individuals to hold the majority of the nation’s wealth,” remarked Tierney.

Tierney suggested that practical measures could be implemented to prevent this disparity from continuing at its current rate.

Source: SBS News

One potential solution she proposed includes eliminating the capital gains tax discount and gradually removing negative gearing.

That could include ending the capital gains tax discount and phasing out negative gearing, she argued.

The Greens have repeatedly proposed a 10 per cent tax on the net wealth of Australian billionaires to bring down the costs of food, medical and dental care, public transport and university education.

“Correcting this would raise huge amounts of extra revenue for essential services and ease growing inequality in Australia.”

Concerns about social cohesion worldwide

“When one billionaire can spend hundreds of millions of dollars to shape political conversations, it shows how extreme wealth can translate directly into political power — undermining a fair and healthy democracy,” Tierney said.

Twelve billionaires have served in Trump’s administration, according to a Washington Post tally.

“It’s just really a vicious cycle.”

Artificial intelligence adds a new dimension

Australia has one of the most concentrated media markets in the world, with the country’s largest media company, News Corp, forming part of billionaire Rupert Murdoch’s global media empire.