Latest news with #ChristianGilles
Herald Sun
5 days ago
- Business
- Herald Sun
Number of high net worth Australians outpaces economic growth
Don't miss out on the headlines from Breaking News. Followed categories will be added to My News. The wealth of Australia's millionaires and billionaires significantly outpaced economic growth in 2024, new analysis shows. Research from French multinational business consultancy firm, Capgemini, shows 334,800 Australians are now deemed 'high net worth individuals', up 0.5 per cent last year. Just under 10 per cent of those people have investable assets between $US5m-$US30m. There are now 2450 Australians with investable assets over $US30m. The total wealth of high net worth Australians grew 3.3 per cent in 2024, the report shows, while the Australian economy grew just 1.3 per cent for the year. Owning a house continues to be the largest differentiator between the rich and the least wealthy 50 per cent of the population. Picture: NewsWire / Max Mason-Hubers The Capgemini report, released this week, also throws up a broad view of how the wealthy will pass on their riches, and how their children are likely to invest the funds. In the next two decades, globally some $128 trillion will change hands by inheritance, Capgemini estimates. The inheriting generation are more open to risk, Capgemini says, and advises wealth and asset managers to prepare for the change in appetite. Separate analysis released this week by Oxfam shows the number of Australian billionaires has doubled in the space of a decade to 161. The wealth of Australia's high net worth citizens grew 3.3 per cent last year, while the country's economic growth came in at 1.3 per cent. Picture: Christian Gilles / NewsWire 'This level of inequality is not just morally wrong – it's economically and socially dangerous,' Oxfam Australia acting chief executive Chrisanta Muli said. 'While millions of Australians are struggling to make ends meet, the country's richest continue to amass eye-watering fortunes, often without lifting a finger.' In the past decade, the wealth of Australia's richest 200 people has risen 160 per cent to $667bn, Oxfam says. 'It is scandalous and unjust that property continues to be one of the biggest drivers of wealth across the decade while over 99 per cent of rentals are unaffordable for people earning a full-time minimum wage,' Dr Muli said. Originally published as 'Scandalous': Number of high net worth Australians outpaces economic growth
Perth Now
5 days ago
- Business
- Perth Now
‘Scandalous': Uber wealthy Aussies get richer
The wealth of Australia's millionaires and billionaires significantly outpaced economic growth in 2024, new analysis shows. Research from French multinational business consultancy firm, Capgemini, shows 334,800 Australians are now deemed 'high net worth individuals', up 0.5 per cent last year. Just under 10 per cent of those people have investable assets between $US5m-$US30m. There are now 2450 Australians with investable assets over $US30m. The total wealth of high net worth Australians grew 3.3 per cent in 2024, the report shows, while the Australian economy grew just 1.3 per cent for the year. Owning a house continues to be the largest differentiator between the rich and the least wealthy 50 per cent of the population. NewsWire / Max Mason-Hubers Credit: News Corp Australia The Capgemini report, released this week, also throws up a broad view of how the wealthy will pass on their riches, and how their children are likely to invest the funds. In the next two decades, globally some $128 trillion will change hands by inheritance, Capgemini estimates. The inheriting generation are more open to risk, Capgemini says, and advises wealth and asset managers to prepare for the change in appetite. Separate analysis released this week by Oxfam shows the number of Australian billionaires has doubled in the space of a decade to 161. The wealth of Australia's high net worth citizens grew 3.3 per cent last year, while the country's economic growth came in at 1.3 per cent. Christian Gilles / NewsWire Credit: News Corp Australia 'This level of inequality is not just morally wrong – it's economically and socially dangerous,' Oxfam Australia acting chief executive Chrisanta Muli said. 'While millions of Australians are struggling to make ends meet, the country's richest continue to amass eye-watering fortunes, often without lifting a finger.' In the past decade, the wealth of Australia's richest 200 people has risen 160 per cent to $667bn, Oxfam says. 'It is scandalous and unjust that property continues to be one of the biggest drivers of wealth across the decade while over 99 per cent of rentals are unaffordable for people earning a full-time minimum wage,' Dr Muli said.
Courier-Mail
29-05-2025
- Business
- Courier-Mail
Qantas announces direct flights between Newcastle and Perth, reinstates Perth-to-Hobart service
Don't miss out on the headlines from Breaking News. Followed categories will be added to My News. Qantas has announced its first direct flights between Perth and Newcastle, cutting out a lengthy drive for travellers commuting between the cities. The New QantasLink route launching on September 8 will make it easier for Aussies looking to travel to and from the east and west coast, with flights operating three times a week on Fridays, Sundays and Mondays. The five-hour direct flight is set to save commuters time, as a flight or lengthy drive between Newcastle and Sydney will no longer be required. The route will be chartered by a 150-seat Airbus A319, meaning that 900 seats are available per week and more than 45,000 annually to and from Western Australia. The new QantasLink route will launch in September. Picture: NewsWire / Christian Gilles Perth is the fifth most travelled-to destination for people in the Newcastle Airport catchment, and a Newcastle Airport survey in July last year revealed that an overwhelming 97 per cent of respondents said they would likely travel to Perth if direct flights were available. The new Perth service is forecast to inject about $21.7m into the Newcastle economy each year and create 74 new jobs. Newcastle Airport chief executive Linc Horton said the 'direct to Perth' service was necessary for the region. 'We've worked hard to secure this route because it's one our community and extended region needs,' Mr Horton said. Flights will operate three times a week on Fridays, Sundays and Mondays. Picture: NewsWire / James Gourley 'The five-hour service saves travellers a lengthy drive to Sydney and connects Newcastle and the Greater Hunter directly with WA's resources sector, creating enormous potential for business travel and fly-in fly-out operations. 'It also brings loved ones together and unlocks international one-stop connections via Perth to cities like London, Paris, Johannesburg and seasonal to Rome. 'Western Australia is a vital part of Australia's economy, and this service gives the Hunter's businesses and workers faster, easier access to it. It also supports our strategy to strengthen the airport's role as a key economic enabler for the region. 'The benefits aren't just outbound. With direct access to the Hunter, Perth-based travellers now have easier reach to a region known for wine, coastlines, defence and energy innovation.' Port Stephens Mayor and Newcastle Airport director Leah Anderson said the region deserved direct flights to Perth. Qantas will reinstate a direct Perth-to-Hobart service. Picture: NewsWire / Dylan Coker 'It's about time saved, convenience gained and opportunities unlocked. For the people of Newcastle, Port Stephens, the Greater Hunter and south through to the Central Coast, whether it's for FIFO work, family reunions or seeing more of Australia – this new route makes travel easier and more accessible,' she said. Qantas will also reinstate a direct Perth-to-Hobart service for the first time since 2023, operating three times a week most months of the year. Flights between Perth and Hobart will begin from September 26 and will be available year-round outside of May, June and August. The services will be available for booking on from Thursday morning. Picture: NewsWire / Andrew Henshaw The flights, also chartered by A319 aircraft, are available on Mondays, Fridays and Sundays and will add an additional 32,000 seats annually. The services will be available for booking on from Thursday morning, with economy launch fares starting from $299 Perth-Newcastle one-way and $299 Perth-Hobart one-way. The sale ends 11.59pm AEST on Monday, June 2, unless sold out prior. QantasLink chief executive Rachel Yangoyan said the company was proud to be supporting WA's resource and tourism sector. 'These direct services will not only boost inbound visitors to WA but offer more opportunities for those working in the resource sectors across the country with improved options for their travel,' she said. Originally published as Qantas announces direct flights between Newcastle and Perth
Perth Now
28-05-2025
- Business
- Perth Now
Qantas' first direct flights to Aussie capital
Qantas has announced its first direct flights between Perth and Newcastle, cutting out a lengthy drive for travellers commuting between the cities. The New QantasLink route launching on September 8 will make it easier for Aussies looking to travel to and from the east and west coast, with flights operating three times a week on Fridays, Sundays and Mondays. The five-hour direct flight is set to save commuters time, as a flight or lengthy drive between Newcastle and Sydney will no longer be required. The route will be chartered by a 150-seat Airbus A319, meaning that 900 seats are available per week and more than 45,000 annually to and from Western Australia. The new QantasLink route will launch in September. NewsWire / Christian Gilles Credit: News Corp Australia Perth is the fifth most travelled-to destination for people in the Newcastle Airport catchment, and a Newcastle Airport survey in July last year revealed that an overwhelming 97 per cent of respondents said they would likely travel to Perth if direct flights were available. The new Perth service is forecast to inject about $21.7m into the Newcastle economy each year and create 74 new jobs. Newcastle Airport chief executive Linc Horton said the 'direct to Perth' service was necessary for the region. 'We've worked hard to secure this route because it's one our community and extended region needs,' Mr Horton said. Flights will operate three times a week on Fridays, Sundays and Mondays. NewsWire / James Gourley Credit: News Corp Australia 'The five-hour service saves travellers a lengthy drive to Sydney and connects Newcastle and the Greater Hunter directly with WA's resources sector, creating enormous potential for business travel and fly-in fly-out operations. 'It also brings loved ones together and unlocks international one-stop connections via Perth to cities like London, Paris, Johannesburg and seasonal to Rome. 'Western Australia is a vital part of Australia's economy, and this service gives the Hunter's businesses and workers faster, easier access to it. It also supports our strategy to strengthen the airport's role as a key economic enabler for the region. 'The benefits aren't just outbound. With direct access to the Hunter, Perth-based travellers now have easier reach to a region known for wine, coastlines, defence and energy innovation.' Port Stephens Mayor and Newcastle Airport director Leah Anderson said the region deserved direct flights to Perth. Qantas will reinstate a direct Perth-to-Hobart service. NewsWire / Dylan Coker Credit: News Corp Australia 'It's about time saved, convenience gained and opportunities unlocked. For the people of Newcastle, Port Stephens, the Greater Hunter and south through to the Central Coast, whether it's for FIFO work, family reunions or seeing more of Australia – this new route makes travel easier and more accessible,' she said. Qantas will also reinstate a direct Perth-to-Hobart service for the first time since 2023, operating three times a week most months of the year. Flights between Perth and Hobart will begin from September 26 and will be available year-round outside of May, June and August. The services will be available for booking on from Thursday morning. NewsWire / Andrew Henshaw Credit: News Corp Australia The flights, also chartered by A319 aircraft, are available on Mondays, Fridays and Sundays and will add an additional 32,000 seats annually. The services will be available for booking on from Thursday morning, with economy launch fares starting from $299 Perth-Newcastle one-way and $299 Perth-Hobart one-way. The sale ends 11.59pm AEST on Monday, June 2, unless sold out prior. QantasLink chief executive Rachel Yangoyan said the company was proud to be supporting WA's resource and tourism sector. 'These direct services will not only boost inbound visitors to WA but offer more opportunities for those working in the resource sectors across the country with improved options for their travel,' she said.
The Australian
05-05-2025
- Health
- The Australian
Prevention is missing in action as Australia's health systems fail
You can now listen to The Australian's articles. Give us your feedback. You can now listen to The Australian's articles. No clinician can forget the controlled rage experienced when attempting to locate a nonexistent bed at 3am for an acute mental admission. Nor the warm wet stench of groin fold thrush in the futile search for femoral vein access in a young obese patient. There is a signature dry-mouth emotional numbness of breaking bad news unnecessarily; a lost limb due to delayed treatment or an entirely preventable bowel cancer diagnosed at stage 4 in a 50-year-old who failed to do a free screening test. These sensations unleash a floodgate in my mind's eye – unravelling years of suppressed anger, heartbreak and moral injury exacted as a public hospital doctor. In the midst of a looming healthcare crisis that threatens to implode under its own weight, during the 2025 federal election campaign Labor's recent major promises including an $8bn injection into Medicare, $3.2bn into cheaper medicines and $1.8bn to reduce waiting times for hospitals might appear heroic. Yet this colossal outlay is more about shoring up political capital than meaningfully fixing top-of-funnel demand or the system's deep-seated dysfunction. It's a calculated move to placate swing voters rather than heal a sickly healthcare architecture. Beneath the veneer of hope lies a persistent mirage: taxpayer dollars being flung at a flawed model – without fundamental redesign – propping up political theatre, leaving population health stagnant, at best. Australia's healthcare: drunk on a tightrope Australia's healthcare system, like so many in the developed West, is not just wobbling; it's careening toward catastrophe like a drunk on a tightrope. Striking doctors and psychiatrist walkouts notwithstanding, our problems extend beyond workforce, rising costs and diminishing returns; they stem from a pervasive national mindset that treats healthcare as a 'debt' – something to be grudgingly paid for rather than an investment in long-term wellbeing. Moreover, our system falsely frames individual health as an entitlement, not a hard-won asset. Doctors have been walking off the job as health systems fail. Picture: Christian Gilles / NewsWire This collective and individual mindset sees a paltry 1.5 per cent of our health budget – barely 0.13 per cent of GDP – allocated to keeping people well. Instead, we funnel vast sums into reactive measures, administrative overheads and a pharmaceutical arms race. We play whack-a-mole with symptoms instead of tackling root causes – or, better still, the causes of the causes. Australia's preventive health expenditure, just $89 per person, per year, is dwarfed by the OECD average, revealing our skewed reliance on reactive care rather than clinician and patient behaviour change. For perspective, the overall health budget is about $132bn a year in Australia. In other words, the federal government allocated roughly 0.1 per cent of our health spending to new prevention measures, and 99.9 per cent to treating people after they get sick or old – algorithms that move the dial. Consider these sobering figures: • 15.2 per cent of Australia's $734bn 2024-25 federal budget is allocated to health, yet more than one-third (38 per cent) of our total disease burden was preventable • From 2003 to 2023, mental and substance use disorders experienced a 30.9 per cent increase in the standardised rate and a 73.8 per cent increase in the burden of disability • Despite high life expectancy, Australian men and women now spend 9.7 and 11.5 years, respectively, in ill-health – a rise of about 20 per cent since 2003. For those schooled in the social determinants of disease; we are all too aware of the painful correlation between socioeconomic status, disadvantage and ill-health. Cultural gaslighting Part of this is because we have become a people narcotised by learned helplessness and governed by a pervasive sense that the system owes us. This personality cancer is on view through chronic disease indicators that compound reliance on reactive care. The tragedy of our times is marked by a cultural gaslighting of biblical proportions – the belief that clinicians can somehow outrun systemic societal dysfunction. Equally, that individuals can be passive or medicate or inject their way to health. This delusion ignores the structural issues at play. Instead of investing in boring, long-haul strategies that might stop Australians from getting sick in the first place or, better still, improve risk, our leaders shovel cash into the latest downstream quick-fix. But consumers, too, seem all too willing to take what they believe is the easy path, oblivious to the risk of side-effects. Enter the Ozempic craze: a weekly jab that costs nearly $2000 a year per patient, subsidised for diabetes and with mounting pressure to extend that largesse to weight loss too. The taxpayer, of course, is expected to foot the bill for this 'miracle' drug, but there seems to be no shortage of consumers willing to pay big for what they see as the quick route to losing weight. The real miracle is how deftly Big Pharma and Big Food have managed to turn chronic illness into a perpetual motion machine for profit. Ozempic is transformative for some. But let's not kid ourselves about why so many Australians need a $150-a-month injection in the first place. Our society manufactures chronic illness at scale: junk-food marketing, food deserts, sedentary lifestyles, stress, inequality – the whole sick circus. Mei Ling Doery is a medical doctor, public health advocate and former VicHealth board member. Instead of tackling these upstream, our government is content to treat bodies like something to pawn and tax dollars like Monopoly money, and we are playing along. Too often, the concept of 'personal responsibility' is wielded as a pejorative political weapon rather than a constructive principle. In truth, good governance – like loving parenting – should aim to maximise individual agency, not perpetuate cycles of futile Band-Aids or individual dependency. Central to this is the federal health budget's gaping omission centring on two distinct and related pathologies; an escalating mental health crisis and anaemic investment in prevention. Mental health: the forgotten subtext Australia's mental health epidemic is not a stand-alone 'illness' – it is the fallout of decades of broken social contract, disintegrating relational capital, rising cost-of-living pressures and unresolved grief-related loss of function in people's lives. The uncomfortable truth is that the majority of mental health problems, such as depression and anxiety, are the predictable sequelae of bad design that engineers the loss of hope and collapse of social and economic prospects. Let's not pretend we're stumped by this either. The evidence is as thick as a Sydney property developer's wallet: prevention works. Study after study, review after review, find these interventions are cost-effective, sometimes even cost-saving. Secure housing, purposeful work, social warmth and accessible counselling – these are not radical ideas, they're the equivalent of putting air in your tyres before the blowout. Yet the government's idea of progress is renaming and reshuffling programs. When one in five young Australians meets criteria for a serious mental illness, governments rebrand youth mental health services, from headspace to Orygen or whatever the buzzword of the day is. Australian governments have poured an eye-watering $1bn into Orygen since its inception – a program whose outcomes are fiercely contested within the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists. According to prominent academic psychiatrist Professor Jeffrey CL Looi, there is little compelling evidence that the premise of prevention has been proven by Orygen. Social media has been eroding the mental health of many young people. Picture:Despite this significant investment in Orygen over almost 20 years, youth mental health outcomes – assessed through population-level indicators such as psychological distress, self-harm and suicide – have worsened during this period. Of course, there have been other trends in society affecting young people, including the rise of social media; however, it is questionable whether the investment in youth services has effectively addressed the pathology that has arisen. Opposition health spokeswoman Anne Ruston's response to the federal budget was a vision-free zone. The Coalition blindly and immediately adopted the government's bulk-billing policy, which is being widely lambasted by doctors as incentivising fast medicine. The Liberals' biggest pitch during the election campaign was to reinstate 20 (versus 10) subsidised psychology sessions – despite the fact evaluations have shown such sessions are mostly utilised by the privileged and reduce overall access. The idea to establish an ill-defined 'national youth mental health institute' is as bold as a decaf latte. Even the Australian Medical Association, not exactly a hotbed of radicalism, has blasted the government for ignoring calls to let GPs and psychiatrists set their own fees and cut the red tape. Re-imagining health: from necessary expense to asset If the proof is in the pudding, then Australians have gorged on debt to the point of reflux. For all its purported generosity, our healthcare expenditure underperforms. It's as if the government looked at a raging dumpster fire and declared: 'Perfect, let's toss more cash in.' According to a report prepared by the Menzies & George Institute, and backed by the University of Sydney and ANU, barely 3 per cent of Medicare Benefits Schedule items (less than 1 per cent of total healthcare spend) have been rigorously evaluated against contemporary standards for safety, clinical and cost effectiveness. Worse still, this same review flagged more than 150 high-volume clinical services on the Medicare Benefits Schedule that are either unsafe, ineffective or inappropriate under certain circumstances. It's Russian roulette with your health – but with 150 bullets in the chamber. Collectively, the MBS and PBS, along with much of what takes place in hospitals, are all prime examples of reactive care – they are by their very creation squandering what should be the nation's shared wealth – our common wealth. The truth is that the change we require demands both a transformed investment mandate from the public purse and the active co-operation of individuals to resolve. We must collectively wake up to the fact that our bodies and minds are not credit cards to be maxed out; they are our most valuable assets. A new vision: collective & individual investment mindset Real progress requires a bold, transformative mindset – one that views healthcare as an investment in our collective future rather than a fleeting political slogan or a number in a doomed budget plan. We owe it to ourselves and future generations to advocate for a system that truly prioritises and safeguards our shared mental and future wellbeing. It is equally crucial to empower individuals to take an active role in nurturing their own health as the most previous thing they own. What we need now is courageous policymaking and a cultural shift in the way we approach health management. Every dollar spent must be seen as an investment in the nation's future, not merely a cost to be balanced at the end of the fiscal year. Only by embracing such a vision can we, as a nation, truly demonstrate our commitment to the health and prosperity of every Australian. Mei Ling Doery is a medical doctor and public health advocate, and the managing director of the healthcare and innovation consultancy MDMD. She is a previous board member of statutory agency VicHealth a medical adviser to the Department of Veterans' Affairs, Medical Officer for the Australian Defence Force, and team doctor for the AFL's Richmond Tigers reserves.
