As Australians battle interest rate rises and cost of living pressures, some of the nation’s richest people have continued to grow their fortunes.
The Australian Financial Review’s 2026 Rich List, published on Wednesday, ranks 200 people, including mining and hotel magnates, tech entrepreneurs and manufacturing bosses.
The members have a combined fortune of $707billion, with almost a third (31 per cent) controlled by Australia’s 10 wealthiest families.
Gina Rinehart, who made her money in mining, topped the list for the seventh year running, with an estimated wealth of $39billion, up $900million from last year.
In second place is Meriton founder Harry Triguboff, 93, worth an estimated $32.29billion, up from $29.65billion last year.
Visy executive chairman Anthony Pratt, who shares ownership of the US-based manufacturing company with his sisters, ranked third with an estimated fortune of $25.19billion.
Mining magnates Ivan Glasenberg and Clive Palmer rank fourth and fifth on the list, with estimated wealth of $22.4billion and $19.6billion respectively.
They are followed by the youngest Top 10 rich listers this year, Canva co-founders Melanie Perkins and Cliff Obrecht, 39 and 40, who rank sixth with an estimated $17.56billion.
Mining magnate Gina Rinehart topped the AFR’s Rich List for the seventh year running
Visy executive chairman Anthony Pratt (pictured with Heloise Pratt at the 2023 Met Gala) ranked third, with an estimated fortune of $25.19billion
Ex-spouses Nicole and Andrew Forrest, who made their money in mining, are next, with $17.3billion and $15.9billion respectively.
Stonepeak founder Michael Dorrell is ninth with a $13.82billion fortune amassed through data centres.
Chemist Warehouse founders Mario, Marcello and Adrian Verrocchi, worth an estimated $12.76billion, pushed media baron Kerry Stokes out of the top 10.
Across the full list of Australia’s 200 richest people, 78 of them live in New South Wales, 52 are in Victoria, 21 are based in Queensland and 19 are in Western Australia.
Five rich listers live in South Australia, two in Tasmania and one in the Northern Territory.
Other names are based overseas, with eight in the United States, three in the UK and China, two in New Zealand, and one each in Switzerland, Argentina, the Bahamas and Cyprus.
News of the ‘rich listers’ ballooning fortunes comes in the same month as the Albanese government’s Federal Budget, which included measures to address rising cost-of-living pressures.
More than 13 million Australians are set to receive a $250 Working Australians Tax Offset payment annually from mid-2028.
Meriton founder Harry Triguboff, 93, was ranked second with an estimated $32.29billion
Meanwhile, more than 13 million Australians are set to receive a $250 tax offset (stock image)
The WATO, which Treasurer Jim Chalmers says is the ‘biggest cost-of-living measure in this Budget’, will cost $6.4billion in the first two years and equates to $4.81 a week.
However, Australians won’t see a cent of this until 2028.
Chalmers said the government was ‘creating space to return bracket creep’ to workers with potential further tax cuts in years to come.
However, billionaires including Clive Palmer and Lindsay Fox have criticised the policy, claiming it ignores both wealth and age and does little to address intergenerational inequality despite being pitched as a cost-of-living measure.
‘They say this (Budget) helps intergenerational equity, yeah, it helps my generation,’ Mr Palmer said.
‘Anyone in my position who gets the WATO should give it straight to (a) Foodbank. I’ll give it straight to Foodbank to feed hungry Australians.’
Meanwhile, 89-year-old Lindsay Fox, who has an estimated net worth of almost $6billion through logistics giant Linfox, said he would likely qualify for the payment despite his wealth.
‘I pay tax and if I am eligible that year I would rather give the $250 to a cause that helps the community rather than let the government keep it,’ he told The Australian.
‘I don’t think the government handles money as well as the community. I don’t think a lot of politicians understand that.’
