Australia’s 20 richest people now hold more wealth than the poorest three million households combined, with the Greens accusing Labor, the Coalition, and One Nation of protecting corporate interests while ordinary Australians fall further behind.
Thu 15 Oct 2026 08.43 AEDT
South Australians Greens senator Barbara Pockock addresses the Australia Institute Revenue Summit 26 in the Theatrette of Parliament House in Canberra. Photo: Mike Bowers
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Australia’s 20 richest people now hold more wealth than the poorest three million households combined, with the Greens accusing Labor, the Coalition, and One Nation of protecting corporate interests while ordinary Australians fall further behind.
Greens Senator Barbara Pocock used the Australia Institute’s Revenue Summit to call for sweeping tax reform, arguing that corporate power, tax avoidance, and generous concessions for property investors are fuelling the nation’s growing wealth divide.
“Much of it is driven by the concentration of corporate power in a small number of very large firms that dominate our economy – in banking, finance, supermarkets, resources, just to name a few,” she said.
“Too many of these very large corporate interests paying too little tax, and throwing their weight around the corridors and phone lines of this building.”
Senator Pocock said more than 1,000 big corporations paid no company tax in 2024–25, representing more than one in four.
“And they get away with it because their mates in Labor, the Liberals and One Nation are writing laws that let them,” she said.
She also took aim at Australia’s Big Four accounting and consulting firms – PwC, KPMG, EY and Deloitte – accusing them of dominating tax advisory services while facing weaker transparency and accountability obligations than most corporations.
“It’s time to end the special treatment of the Big Four partnership structures,” she said.
The Greens senator said that the four firms each generated more than $2 billion in annual revenue; however, their “unjustifiable” tax arrangements mean they did not pay corporate tax or payroll tax on partner earnings.
“The Big Four are the parents of privatisation,” she said.
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“They have eviscerated our public sector for 30 years. Hollowed it out – so that consultants run whole departments.”
All four firms have faced scrutiny over governance and professional standards in recent years, including PwC’s tax-leak scandal, allegations that KPMG misused confidential client information, a banking data breach involving EY employees, and Deloitte’s use of AI in a flawed government report.
“Even though these massive firms do not transparently report on their own affairs, they are responsible for auditing the largest companies in our country. Their assessments are the pillars of our superannuation and financial system,” said Senator Pocock.
Senator Pocock also called for a minimum 25 per cent gas export tax, arguing “nowhere is the perverted nature of our tax system more obvious than in relation to our resources”.
“Multinational gas corporations are ripping us off, and Prime Minister Albanese is letting them.”
The Australia Institute estimates the flat tax could generate about $17 billion in revenue each year.
Senator Pocock said Labor’s gas reservation scheme, which was introduced to Parliament on Wednesday, was “no substitute for a tax policy”, accusing the government of watering down its original proposal.
While it initially announced that LNG exporters would be required to reserve 20 per cent of their gas for the domestic market, but later retreated, now proposing a requirement of “up to 20 per cent”.
“Enough is enough,” she said.
“This Labor government needs to stop listening to the gas lobby and start listening to the Australian people who are demanding a tax on our gas exports.”
