Surprise - Our Politicians are listed amongst Australia’s  Richest List

THEY may not feature on the latest list of Australia's richest people, but federal politicians are doing very nicely.

Analysis by BRW magazine of the pecuniary interests of the 150 MPs in the House of Representatives showed the average wealth of Liberal MPs was $4.9 million - almost three times that of Labor MPs, at $1.7 million.

Compiling the latest BRW Rich 200 list, magazine editor-in-chief Sean Aylmer said the figures were slightly misleading because once the fortunes of former merchant banker Malcolm Turnbull and Prime Minister Kevin Rudd were removed from calculations, wealth averages plummeted.

Mr Turnbull made the list for the second year in a row, scraping in at number 197 with a "conservatively" estimated $186 million fortune - up from $178 million in 2009.

The cut-off for the new list was $185 million, and so Mr Rudd's $56 million fortune - thanks largely to his wife Therese Rein's successful business ventures - didn't make it.

When he was removed from calculations, Labor MPs were worth, on average, $1 million. When Mr Turnbull's wealth was discounted, the average of Liberals fell to $1.6 million.

Mr Aylmer said wealth estimates were "conservative" because the magazine tended to "underestimate", but added: "Generally speaking we don't have a bunch of rich politicians."

Victorian Labor MP Mark Dreyfus' fortune was valued at $4.2 million, while NSW Liberal and treasury spokesman Joe Hockey - who owns a raft of properties - is estimated to be worth $4.4 million.

Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard may be touted as a rival for Mr Rudd but her wealth - valued at $1.5 million - is no match for her boss.

According to the Rich 200 list the combined wealth of the nation's 200 richest people soared more than $21 billion in the 12 months to mid-May.

Shopping mall supremo Frank Lowy topped the list for the first time with a staggering $5 billion fortune, up from $4.2 billion in 2009.

Despite the Rudd Government's controversial proposed mining super profits tax, the resources and mining entrants on the list were worth a combined $7.9 billion.

Iron ore magnate Gina Rinehart came in at No. 2 with a fortune of $4.8 billion and was one of 16 women to make the list, up from 13 last year.

Media and gambling mogul James Packer remained steady at No. 6 with $4.1 billion.