Paul McIntyre: Splash on dosh in Rich 200

Pornography for capitalists. The new issue was out this week in the form of BRW magazine's Rich 200 list and, by crikey, there's a lot of super-rich people in Australia.

To get a mention you now need a minimum of A$110 million ($117.5 million), which is why the Rich 200 is the one business magazine issue each year which unites the lovers of manna and its critics.

BRW's sales will double this week as capitalism's backers and detractors rush to the newsagent for a copy of who's got how much dosh. Most will drool, some will growl.

This year there are a few surprises and one constant. Yes, the same face is still at the top of the cash pile - Kerry Packer. For 17 years the media tycoon has been number 1 and 2005 is no different, lifting his worth by A$400 million to A$6.9 billion.

But the big surprise was the arrival of Dutch migrant John Van Lieshout into the billionaires' club.

Van Lieshout started a discount furniture chain 25 years ago called Super Amart, just as the Americans were coming to Australia with Kmart. He's only just made his debut on the Rich List at A$1 billion, which means some kind of oversight from the BRW team in previous years.

Van Lieshout wasn't the only new billionaire in this year's crop - he was one of six new ridiculously wealthy individuals who now number 17 in Australia. The arrivals include property developer Lang Walker, who has developments from Sydney to Malaysia, Mexico and North America. Last year he was worth A$759 million. This year it's A$1.16 billion.

Retailing billionaire Gerry Harvey is a slightly less bullish story. He's still a billionaire (A$1.1 billion) but his worth has slipped A$40 million, mainly because his listed chain, Harvey Norman, is a little less sexy for investors now that's it's not delivering 20 per cent year-on-year profit growth. But Harvey, who owns about 700 race horses, is not going anywhere. Last September he delivered this classic quote to the investment community: "The only thing that's going to make me retire is MS, dementia or death. I could even lose my arms and legs - as long as my head's OK, I've got a chance."

There are a few colourful folk in the billionaire league but Harvey delivers the best lines by a long shot.

Another horse lover and the brain behind Melbourne's Crown Casino (now owned by Kerry Packer's PBL), is Lloyd Williams. Up A$20 million this year to A$710 million, Williams still sleeps only three or four hours a night. But instead of working, he's down at the racetrack at 3.30am.

Williams told BRW: "In the 1980s we owed $2 billion, then in the 1990s we owed $1 billion developing Crown Casino. Now I have no debt and I love it. I never want to ring a bank again in my life."

Overall, a booming sharemarket has expanded Australia's 200 wealthiest by 17 per cent to A$83.4 billion this year. The resources sector, underwritten by huge demand from China for commodities, has been pivotal.

Australia's wealthiest woman, Gina Rinehart, proves that point. The daughter of the late Western Australian iron ore baron Lang Hancock, Rinehart's fortune has more than doubled to A$900 million, thanks largely to China.

The Casella family's wealth rocketed from A$250 million to A$600 million in the past 12 months off the back of a hugely successful push into the United States with its Yellow Tail wine label. It's hardly a premium drop but the Americans love the price point and its origin.

A few aspiring millionaires will be quaffing Yellow Tail this weekend while digesting 196 pages of this year's Rich 200. Cheers to big bucks.