AUSTRALIA'S economic prosperity is under siege from vested interests trying to poison political and economical debates in this country, warns Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan.

Writing in The Monthly magazine, Mr Swan denounced the vested interest of tycoons including mining giants Clive Palmer, Gina Rinehart and Andrew Forrest who are he says the "0.1 per cent".



"I fear Australia's extraordinary success has never been in more jeopardy than right now because of the rising power of vested interests. This poison has infected our politics and is seeping into our economy. Though these vested interests have not yet prevailed, every day their demands get louder," he wrote.



"For every Andrew Forrest who wails about high company taxes and then admits to not paying any, there are a hundred Australian business people who held on to their employees and worked with government … during the GFC."



Mr Swan said while the majority of business owners helped shoulder the burden of the global financial crisis by keeping staff, tycoons like Gina Rinehart and Clive Palmer were attempting to hijack public debate for their own vested interests by funnelling money into campaigns like the one which derailed the Government’s original mining profits tax.



"Between exploiting divisions by promoting fear and appealing to the sense of fairness and decency that is the foundation of our middle class society, between standing up for workers and kneeling down at the feet of the Gina Rineharts and the Clive Palmers''.



Ms Rinehart’s purchasing of shares in Channel Ten and Fairfax Media were further examples said Mr Swan of attempts to wield greater influence.

"The combination of industry deep pockets, conservative political support, biased editorial policy and shock-jock ranting has been mobilised in an attempt to protect vested interests," he said.



That was reflected in how the Coalition under Mr Abbott had recently radicalised itself into an Australian version of the US Tea Party movement.



"They were more than willing to kneecap Australia's three-decade reform project for cheap political points."



Opposition frontbencher Christopher Pyne said the treasurer was motivated by sour grapes.



"Labor always falls back on class warfare and the politics of envy when they have nothing left in the cupboard to talk about of any substance," he told ABC Radio today.



Mr Pyne rejected suggestions Australia was a less fair nation than it was 20-30 years ago, and that the gap between rich and poor is widening.



"I think Australia is very much the country it has always been," he said.



Mr Swan scoffed at Mr Pyne's criticism.



"It's not about envy," he told ABC radio.



"It's about opportunity, in ensuring that Australia remains a country of the fair go."



But the treasurer accepted entrepreneurs like Mr Forrest, Ms Rinehart and Mr Palmer made a significant contribution to the country because they were big employers.



"But not everybody seeks to exert political power," he said.



"They are openly seeking to exert an inordinate degree of political power, and I'm highlighting that fact."