The AFR’s rich list for 2026 shows how property plays were important to our successful Aussies’ wealth-building, but is the Budget set to KO all that for anyone hoping to get richer one day?
At a time when the Albanese Government is punishing those who had the educated audacity to invest in something more reliable than stocks, bonds and even superannuation at times, that is property, analysis of the Australian Financial Review’s Rich List for 2026, comes up with an unforgettable conclusion. And that is: “If you want to make the rich list, buy houses!”
Well, I would’ve said this confidently before Jim Chalmers’ 2026/2027 Budget, but now I’m not so sure.
Call me an economist, who has watched, analysed and interviewed some of our richest over my years in the media but I would tweak that advice to read: “Start a business and then buy property.”
As someone who founded the small business success stories in The Australian newspaper in the 1990s, I recall taking a Greek holiday and laying on a beach in the blazing sun reading a copy of the now defunct Australian Business Magazine, which then published the Australian Rich List piece each year. In those days the people who topped the list were the likes of Rupert Murdoch, who created News Corp, Frank Lowy who masterminded the shopping centre empire known as Westfield and of course Kerry Packer who inherited his father, Frank’s, magazine and Nine TV network, and then went on to grow it on steroids!
In fact, his Australian Consolidated Press company published ABM, which Australian Business Magazine came to be called, and I remember at the time thinking that I was the only joker on that Greek island beach who was trying to work out how to get rich by reading ABM. And what I had learnt after years of watching and interviewing the fledgling entrepreneurs like Gerry Harvey, Aussie’s John Symond, Wizard’s Mark Bouris, Boost’s Janine Allis and others that their wealth started with a successful business and invariably the profits of these enterprises often ended up in property.
I was staggered to learn that in those days the only CEOs on the rich list were self-appointed bosses who also wanted to run their operations. There might have been the odd employees, who ended up as fabulously rich Australians, but it was not from their excessively big wage but from their share options, which effectively meant they were more owners of a business, rather than employees.
The AFR’s analysis of its own work on, who is really rich, concluded the following: “Property was the second most common way to make the top 200 over the past year – it made up $136 billion of the List’s $707.25 billion total value, second only to mining. And for those who made their money in other industries, property remains a source of personal or secondary investment.”
Looking at the top three billionaires, mining magnate Gina Rinehart, apartment builder Harry Triguboff and Visy’s Anthony Pratt are all owners of valuable properties. And their lessons were not lost on the likes of Atlassian co-founder, Scott Farquhar, who the AFR reported that: “The most expensive house purchase goes to Atlassian co-founder Scott Farquhar, 13th on the rich list with wife Kim Jackson, who paid $130 million for the Point Piper mansion Uig Lodge in 2022.”
Over the years, many wealthy people and would-be wealthy types used negative gearing and the 50% capital gains discount to get richer by buying and then flipping the property. Historically, negative gearing tax deductions softened the blow of the losses for investors because the rent received on these investments did not cover the interest repayments. Also, the pay-off was the capital gain, which to be fair, the investor shared with the tax office because there was a 50% discount on that gain. But the other half went to the ATO and the Treasurer!
The Government’s proposed changes to negative gearing and the capital gains discount makes property investment less rewarding, and so the wealthy, along with those who would like to be richer, will focus on their principal property because, as of now, this asset can be sold capital gains tax free.
But here’s one thought worth contemplating. Right now, there are expert commentators saying it is OK for prime ministers to break election promises, pointing to many examples of this happening in Australian politics. John Howard talked about core promises that shouldn’t be broken, but he did break one of these with his GST, but he did have the guts to go to an election with his broken core promise. He nearly lost that election!
My concern is that if we get relaxed about our political leaders breaking promises, what if some promise-welcher decides to take away the capital gain tax exemption on our principal property if the home is valued at say $3 million or $4 million, with this figure indexed to inflation?
There would be millions of homeowners who might think their place will never be worth a figure like that and might think it was a good way to pay for something like the NDIS, hospitals or to reduce HECS loans.
In a world that is becoming very tribal, a politician who breaks promises to curry favour with potential voters could be a huge threat to people who would like to get richer.
In my book Join the Rich Club, I looked at how property is a great way to build wealth and it looks like I will have to rewrite a few chapters thanks to Jim Chalmers’ Budget. And when I think about how Jim and Albo are trying to close a door or two on how Aussies get richer, which will undoubtedly help their union mates who run a lot of industry super funds, I recall the words of the US actor Sophie Tucker, who said: “I’ve been rich. I’ve been poor. Rich is better!”
I hope we are not seeing the golden goose of wealth-building for many normal Australians, not just the rich, being cooked to make super more digestible than investing in property.
