Power 50: Who has dropped from the list of South Australia’s most influential people
A year is a long time for South Australia’s movers and shakers. See who’s been cut from the ranks of our most influential people.
SA News
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Liberal losses in two elections have spurred wholesale changes in the ranks of the state’s most powerful people, headlined by former premier Steven Marshall.
Mr Marshall has gone from pandemic hero to zero on this year’s Advertiser Power 50 list, to be revealed on Wednesday – he does not make the cut after last year being ranked second.
Police Commissioner Grant Stevens, who was also State Co-Ordinator at the time, topped last year’s Power 50 list as Covid gripped the state.
The Advertiser is revealing those who have fallen off the list altogether ahead of publishing online, and in an 8-page wrap of the paper, on Wednesday the 2022 Power 50.
Mr Marshall’s ranking last year reflected his role as the leader of the state which had, until state borders reopened, among the world’s best records in keeping Covid-19 at bay.
But Mr Marshall’s leadership unravelled as infections spiralled – the Liberals were trounced by Peter Malinauskas-led Labor at the March 19 state election.
Speculation abounds about Mr Marshall, now a backbench Liberal MP, next year quitting politics for a more lucrative business career.
The chief public health officer who was catapulted to prominence by the pandemic, Professor Nicola Spurrier, also has been omitted from this year’s list.
Professor Spurrier’s health advice plunged the state into lockdowns in late 2020 and mid-2021 as severe curbs on civil liberties were implemented to counter the coronavirus.
Former Adelaide Football Club chairman Rob Chapman and AFLW co-captain Erin Phillips both do not make this year’s list.
Mr Chapman remains an influential business figure, albeit less prominent, while Phillips has a lower profile after in June stepping away from her full-time role at Mix 102.3. Phillips in April became the first player to sign with Port Adelaide’s inaugural AFLW team.
The Coalition’s loss in May’s federal election ousted former federal Cabinet ministers Simon Birmingham and Anne Ruston from the list.
Former politicians Christopher Pyne, Rex Patrick and Sandy Verschoor, deposed as Lord Mayor in mid-November, also do not make the cut.
Labor’s landslide state election victory has transformed the balance of power in parliament’s lower house, erasing the potential kingmaker power for four independents.
An independent rat pack of six crossbenchers was ranked fifth in last year’s list – one spot ahead of the-the opposition leader Peter Malinauskas – because of their extraordinary power over a minority Liberal government and the potential for some to decide power in the event of a tight election.
While political change has caused many shuffles, others to drop off the list, such as Josh Cavallo, Adut Akech and Maggie Beer, are a victim of new influencers emerging.
* Return to Advertiser.com.au tomorrow morning or buy a copy of Wednesday’s paper to read the 2022 Power 50 in full *
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