[LINK] Aussies rolling in dough, figures show

[Deus Ex Machina]

http://www.smh.com.au/news/Business/Aussies-rolling-in-dough-figures-show/2006/10/18/1160850992741.html

"Don't worry - you're $11,000 richer than you were three months ago.

Treasury figures, released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, show
Australians are rolling in dough - more than $7 trillion (over $7,000
billion) to be exact.

Total private sector wealth hit $7,100 billion in the June quarter,
equating to $348,493 for every man, woman and child.

The total wealth of Australians is up from $6,900 billion in the March
quarter, which equated to $337,049 a head.

In today's dollars, Australians are more than twice as wealthy as they
were a decade ago and four times as rich as a generation ago.

A day after taking credit for the nation's baby boom, Treasurer Peter
Costello was happy to take responsibility for the surge in national
wealth.

While much of the rise was because of share ownership and the growing
value of the family home, Mr Costello said government policies had
played a part..

Mr Costello attributed the rising wealth to a low jobless rate, generous
welfare benefits and tax cuts.

And one of the best things about the national riches, was its relatively
equitable spread across the rich and poor.

"You will quite often hear some people say that the rich get richer and
the poor get poorer," Mr Costello said.

"Over the last eight years in Australia, the rich have got richer and
the poor have got richer.

"What we see is that there has been a huge run-up in wealth in Australia
and there has been a very significant increase in incomes for the lowest
income earners in Australia."