Thread by @JeremiahTBrown

Leigh Sales is very off the mark here. Last year I did a bit of work (hopefully out soon) looking at ultra high net worth giving patterns in Australia, and changes in wealth for those in the top-200 wealthiest Australians. Here is a thread with some key points about the topic.

https://twitter.com/MediaActive/status/1514208924647702536

1/ Only a few give large amounts: Last year the top-50 philanthropic donations totalled approximately $964 million; of which, only 15 of the donations came from people in the top-200 wealthiest Australians - 11 were from other living Australians outside the top-200.

2/ Many of the top donations come from deceased people: 24 donations in the top-50 came from deceased people, or foundations in the name of people who are deceased.

3/ The rates of donation are greatly outstripped by the growth in wealth for those at the top: From 2015 to 2021, the wealthiest 200 Australians have seen their wealth grow by 145%, from $195.9 billion to $479.7 billion (per AFR Rich List).

4/ Australia's wealthiest did very well during the pandemic: Overall wealth increased for the top-200 by an average of 13.1% from the 2020 AFR list to the 2021 AFR list.

5/ Australia's wealthiest hold a significant portion of Australia's wealth: collectively the top-200 hold just under 4% of Australia's total wealth, and this share is growing.

6/ Even within the top-200 there is significant inequality: the top-5 hold around 1/4 of all the top-200s wealth.

7/ The top-200 do not donate much as a share of their wealth: Per my own calculations, only 4 members donated 1% of their wealth or more for the 2021 list.

8/ The most commonly missed part of this conversation is that this groups wealth is not tied to their income, it's tied to their assets, and changes to the value of those assets is how their wealth changes- this is what Leigh Sales should actually be talking about.

9/ Meaningful change in addressing wealth inequality requires a shift in our conversation about the economy. We need to talk about the fact we live in asset economy, not a labor one anymore, and that the most meaningful tax reform would be around how we tax assets.

10/ A final point: The total wealth of the top-200 Australians is $479.8 billion. The TOTAL amount of ALL donations and bequests to Australian charities in 2019 was $11.8 billion. Marginal tax policy is not what is shaping their attitudes towards donations.