Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

Mining barons top Australian rich list

Updated at 3:02 pm on 7 February 2011

Mining barons dominate the list of Australia's wealthiest people issued by Forbes magazine.

Radio New Zealand's Sydney correspondent says they are the same people who marched last year against the then-Rudd government's proposed super profits tax on resource companies.

Numer one on the super richlist is Gina Reinhardt, whose wealth grew by $A7 billion in the last year as iron ore prices soared.

Number two is Twiggy Forest, a Perth mining billionaire who funded an advertising campaign against the federal government last year, saying the tax would destroy the industry.

He's $A4 billion wealthier than a year ago.

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