Controversial climate change sceptic Professor Ian Plimer says the “average punter” inspired him to write his new tome, which teaches students that human-induced global warming is a scam. Plimer is currently doing the rounds plugging his new book How To Get Expelled From School: A guide to climate change for pupils, parents and punters. It’s been […]

The past year has provided a smorgasbord of power snatching opportunities for those looking to increase their influence. Here we present eight of our favourite 2011 power grabs: Alan Joyce It was the industrial relations power play no one saw coming. Qantas had been involved in a running battle with the unions over Joyce’s plans […]

Every Friday, The Power Index profiles a place where powerful people wine, dine and travel. Today we start the series with a restaurant frequented by Melbourne’s business elite, The Italian … The Italian enjoys its power by proximity. The elegant CBD long-lunch spot sits smack bang in the rear of one of Melbourne’s centres of […]

In a country where sport means more than religion, Andrew Demetriou’s church is the biggest and most dominant. But it’s not enough for the AFL pontiff. He wants even more disciples, even if it means gambling on the game’s future. He’s already got the audience: of the four big codes this year, the AFL boasted […]

NRL CEO David Gallop’s power has long come with one big caveat: whatever you do, don’t piss off the bosses. Until recently, that is. Long-ruled by a combination of long-lunching powerbrokers and News Limited heavies, a new independent commission looks set to deliver Gallop increased power over the biggest game in Queensland and NSW. Tall, […]

Every four years, for 16 days, Olympics kingpin John Coates becomes one of the most influential people in the world. The rest of the time he’s still powerful, just on a smaller scale. Coates’ ability to continually eke out government funding for Olympic sports, despite increasing opposition, demonstrates his power. And with the 2012 London […]

Frank Lowy is widely credited as the man who fixed the mess that was Australian soccer. It’s a reputation that has given the shopping centre magnate incredible influence over the direction of the game in recent years. Yet his power could be on the wane, particularly if increasing calls to oust him come to fruition. […]

You may not know him, but Patrick Delany plays a major role in determining which sports you watch on free-to-air TV, and which are restricted to those willing to pay for the privilege. That’s because Delany’s the head of Premier Media Group, owners of the lucrative Fox Sports network, and he’s working to take as […]

Australians are bored with cricket and our players are underperforming. As CEO of Cricket Australia, it’s up to James Sutherland to resurrect our national summer sport and oversee the biggest shake-up cricket has seen since the Packer World Series revolution of the 1970s. In Packer’s day the players took on the establishment to try and […]

Ian Frykberg is the most powerful sports rights agent in the country. With his sandy brown hair and intimidating physique, the former journalist, media executive and rugby front-row forward casts a large shadow over the sporting landscape — literally and figuratively. When the NRL hammers out a $1 billion-plus deal to sell its TV rights next year […]

You probably hate the club and you may hate the man, but you can’t deny that Collingwood president and all-round media loudmouth Eddie McGuire isn’t a power machine. Just check his list of bona fides: he runs the country’s biggest sporting club (tick); he’s so ubiquitous everyone knows him by his first name (tick); his […]

The country’s two biggest footy leagues may have just staged their respective grand finals, but there’s no off-season for the powerbrokers running sport. Not when there’s a quid to be made. We don’t have to tell you that sport is a pretty big deal in this country, but we’ll lay down some figures anyway: 7.6 […]

Broadcast authority ACMA has commenced an investigation into comments made by Channel Nine rugby league commentators Ray Warren and Phil Gould, as fallout continues to spread from their anti-poker machine reform editorial. An ACMA spokesman confirmed the investigation this morning, telling The Power Index that a statement would be released shortly. Independent MP Andrew Wilkie and fellow anti-gambling […]

When more than a million people tuned in to watch Nine’s coverage of the NRL preliminary final at Sydney Football Stadium last Friday night, it’s doubtful they were expecting to be drawn into a Canberra bunfight.

Glenn Stevens calls himself Sydney’s most boring person. And he probably is. Other people call him conservative and overpaid. And he probably is. Either way, you won’t see the RBA governor eating out at flashy restaurants or hanging around with other movers and shakers. In fact, the bald-headed Baptist is the very model of a […]

If you want something bought or sold, you go to Matthew Grounds. After all, Kerry Stokes did. So did James Packer. And Ralph Norris. His fingerprints are on deals stitched up for AMP, Shell and the Future Fund for starters. In fact, the UBS CEO features in the foreground of almost every big deal you […]

From teacher to bank teller to Big Four CEO. Not a typical CV sure, but there’s not much that’s standard about Gail Kelly. With nearly 13 million customers and 40,000 Westpac staff to her name, Kelly is the lone woman of the money movers top ten. Westpac is huge; as Australia’s second biggest bank it […]

Garry Weaven is not your typical financial high flyer. For a start, he’s an ex-trade unionist. He’s also a former radical left-winger, having been a member of the Socialist Club during his time at La Trobe University in the early 1970s. Back then the campus was such a hotbed of Vietnam War protest and activist ideas, […]

One of the first things Cameron Clyne did when arriving at NAB was pull down the partitions separating workers. And there’s no glassed-in corner office with city views for the youngest-ever head of the big four bank — Clyne likes to tell people he works at a desk, just like everyone else. It’s this kind of approach […]

When Mike Smith lines you up, he doesn’t miss. The plain-speaking ANZ CEO has a propensity to run his mouth off when things don’t agree with him. Just ask any business editor looking for a quote on a slow news day; he’s not your typical boring banker. He has regularly attacked the country’s much-vaunted four-pillar […]

Samantha Stosur became the first Australian woman to win a tennis grand slam in 31 years today after pulling off a stunning US Open victory. But the real interest is now in how her management can leverage Sam’s success to send her up the power athlete charts. Stosur’s upset straight sets win over home-town favourite […]

It was Tony Montana who used to evangelise, amongst many other unprintable things, that money equals power. While the fictional Cuban drug lord was on the mark most of the time, on this topic he was only half right. Because it’s not just money that equals power, it’s the power over other people’s money that gives […]

Glenn Milne is no longer an Insiders panellist, that much is clear. But as to his future at News Limited, well let’s just say we’re waiting to see what happens when the columnist returns from the naughty corner. The man has endured a horror week since his column in The Australian last Monday was pulled from the online version […]