
No one in Australia wants to be rich.
Actually, that’s a lie.
We would like to be a little bit rich. It's just that none of us want to be seen to be rich.
We generally believe the rich should be taxed more. Until we’re the rich. Then we get confused and point frustratedly while yelling, "I MEAN 'RICH' LIKE THAT GUY".
Australia's inability to determine what constitutes 'rich' was put under the spotlight this week, when Prime Minister Scott Morrison flippantly remarked that earning $180,000 a year doesn't necessarily make you rich.
Defending the federal government's decision to provide tax cuts for high-income earners, Morrison said of FIFO workers, "It's hard work, you're away from your families. It's fly in and fly out. And you do earn a bit more when you're doing that...
"But I tell you what — you put a bit of it away, too. And I don't think they should be penalised and treated like they're some merchant banker in Sydney. They're not. They're hardworking people working out on mines and difficult parts of the country. I think they deserve a tax cut."
In response, Sunrise host Samantha Armytage said on Thursday: "I guess it depends where you live in Australia as to whether or not you’re wealthy on $180,000… in Sydney, probably not."
Author, lecturer and social commentator Jane Caro conceded on the program that while "rich is a relative term", for many Australians, earning $180,000 a year would be beyond their "greatest dreams".
Indeed, it's well above the average income for a worker in Australia which is around $85,000. If you're earning $180,000, that means you're taking home more money than 96 per cent of the Australian population. In what is, already, a relatively wealthy country.
Listen to us discuss how to tell if someone's rich on Friday's episode of Mamamia Out Loud. Post continues below.
But while 'rich' depends on a bunch of complicated factors like debt and how many people live in your household, I've decided to put together a very clear list to make it easier for Australians to define 'A Rich Person'. Nothing against rich people, of course. You might even discover that you're one of the rich people. Do with that what you will.
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