Power list: State’s top most influential who aren’t Queenslanders

The Courier-Mail reveals the most powerful people who are not based in Queensland but have enormous clout all the same.

The Courier-Mail reveals the state’s most powerful people who aren’t Queenslanders.

They say we Queenslanders are a parochial bunch – be that as it may, there’s no denying the influence that some people south and west of the border have on our state.

Here we reveal the top most powerful people who are not based in Queensland but have enormous clout all the same.

Seven feature in The Courier-Mail’s Top 100 Most Powerful People in Queensland, and one of them also features in our Arts/Entertainment/Celebrity list along with two other big names.

Scroll to the bottom to read how we selected the list

Anthony Albanese

1. ANTHONY ALBANESE

Prime Minister of Australia

A diehard Blues supporter who lives in inner-western Sydney, Anthony Albanese is no Queenslander. But by virtue of leading the nation, there is no doubt he still wields power and influence in the state – and constitutionally, at least, he is the most powerful person in Queensland.

Despite rarely being seen together on the election campaign trail, Albanese has a decent working relationship with Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, which could play in the state’s favour.

Albanese – who ranked 3rd in The Courier-Mail’s Top 100 Most Powerful People in Queensland – knows he needs to win seats in Queensland in 2025 if he is to retain power, after Labor lost one seat here and failed to win any back from the Coalition at the May election.

The infrastructure-mad PM will be keen to invest in nation-building projects in Queensland but given the state of the budget, he will also keep a tight hold on the purse strings – so the Premier will have to prove the value of any pet projects she is hoping to get over the line.

This all means Albanese will be spending plenty of time in Queensland in the next three years.

John Coates

2. JOHN COATES

Australian Olympic Committee past president

No ifs, buts or maybes, Sydneysider John Coates is the person responsible for Brisbane’s successful bid to host the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Coates reframed Olympic host bidding criteria from a scramble among cities to a preferred candidate option so Brisbane could break away from the pack and seal the deal.

When Coates says jump, the Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk asks how high.

Well connected on both sides of parliament, he has one key advantage over friends and particularly rivals – he outlasts them all, and is often referred to as the nation’s most successful never-elected politician.

He placed 7th in The Courier-Mail’s Top 100 Most Powerful People in Queensland.

Andrew Liveris

3. ANDREW LIVERIS

Brisbane Organising Committee for the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games president

The former boss of Dow Chemicals has a massive challenge ahead: keeping the Games somewhere near its goal of being cost-neutral in its $4.5bn budget, no mean feat given a 2020 study showed most Olympic Games cost up to three times as much as their initial budget.

Since stepping down from Dow, the Queensland University graduate has chaired companies such as electric car maker Lucid Motors. He now lives in Sydney although spends months each year overseas.

Liveris claimed position 10 in The Courier-Mail’s Top 100 Most Powerful People in Queensland.

Gina Rinehart

4. GINA RINEHART

Australian Outback Beef and Hancock Prospecting executive chairman

She might be based in Western Australia, but there is no doubt our nation’s richest person is staking a massive claim on Queensland and, as we know, money talks.

Rinehart’s huge cattle operation S Kidman & Co – it and its parent company Australian Outback Beef have net assets of $392m – is moving its head office to the sunshine state.

Rinehart is also Australia’s biggest landholder, controlling more than 9.2m hectares or 1.2 per cent of the country’s landmass. But it seems Queensland is her favourite patch.

She owns a riverfront mansion in Brisbane which she paid $18.5m for in 2017 – and recently paid more than $76m for four homes at Sunshine Beach.

A major donor to the Queensland Ballet, Rinehart is also a big wig in Australia’s Olympics efforts, being patron of four teams and the largest single non-government contributor to the Olympic effort.

She placed number 12 in The Courier-Mail’s Top 100 Most Powerful People in Queensland.

Peter V'landys

5. PETER V’LANDYS

ARLC chairman

Sydneysider Peter V’landys is in charge of the direction and expansion of rugby league, a game beloved by Queenslanders.

Despite his mishandling of the recent debate over where this year’s grand final will be held aside (Sydney ended up the host, as always expected), V’landys has shown commitment to Queensland through the addition of the state’s fourth NRL team, the Dolphins, next season.

Well connected across politics and sport, he has also bolstered the NRL’s off-field position in Queensland with the recent acquisition of the Gambaro Hotel and iconic seafood restaurant in Caxton Street.

V’Landys snatched spot 14 in The Courier-Mail’s Top 100 Most Powerful People in Queensland.

Andrew Abdo

6. ANDREW ABDO

NRL chief executive

Also in 14th spot in the Top 100 list is fellow Sydneysider Andrew Abdo, a reliable and high performing chief executive despite living in the shadow of his colourful chairman Peter V’landys.

Abdo was appointed in September 2020 after being the NRL’s chief commercial officer for four years, primarily responsible for revenue growth. During this period, he led the growth of the game’s total revenues by 12 per cent annually.

With V’landys, he played a pivotal role both in the NRL becoming the first national sporting code to return to the field following the suspension of the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Baz Lurhmann

7. BAZ LUHRMANN

Hollywood director

US-based Baz Luhrmann may not come to Queensland often but when he does everyone takes notice, particularly the starry-eyed Premier.

The flamboyant film director’s decision to film his 2022 biopic Elvis entirely in Queensland injected more than $130m into the state’s economy.

The production, staggered over three years due to the impact of Covid, employed almost 1000 Queenslanders and was a boost for businesses with stars such as Tom Hanks dropping in and providing priceless publicity.

Luhrmann ranked 58th in The Courier-Mail’s Top 100 Most Powerful People in Queensland.

Chris Hemsworth

8. CHRIS HEMSWORTH

Actor

The Hemsworth name needs no introduction in the world of entertainment. But the Byron Bay-based star is increasingly contributing to the Queensland scene, acting in locally-made sci-thriller Spiderhead which was released on Netflix in June.

The Thor actor and his Spanish actor-model wife Elsa Pataky are a popular pair. In August Magic Millions co-owner Katie Page-Harvey announced Pataky as the 2023 Magic Millions Global Ambassador for Showjumping.

Hemsworth and Pataky are more than celebrities. Their influence is now felt across multiple sectors including tourism where Hemsworth has been an Australian ambassador for years.

Hemsworth placed 13th in The Courier-Mail’s Top 65 Most Powerful People in the Arts/Entertainment/Celebrity.

Margot Robbie

9. MARGOT ROBBIE

Actor/director

Gold Coast educated Margot Robbie might live in the US with her British filmmaker husband Tom Ackerley, but her connections in Queensland remain strong. Should the Academy Award nominee wish to use her influence, people would take notice. Receiving a Rad Impact Award, which honours “cultural icons who inspire purpose”, the actor chose to share the going with Brisbane’s Youngcare which funds services for young people with high care needs.

Robbie was 58th in The Courier-Mail’s Top 65 Most Powerful People in the Arts/Entertainment/Celebrity.

HOW DID WE DETERMINE THE LISTS?

Firstly, The Courier-Mail senior leadership team engaged the newsroom – reporters on the ground and in the know, those whose job it is to cover these sectors every single day.

The leadership team then used its combined years of experience and extensive contacts to brainstorm more names, adding and culling – all the while consulting with external experts and trusted sources in relevant fields.

We have excluded executives and editors of News Corp, The Courier-Mail, Foxtel and Fox Sports. That is because News Corp Australia is the publisher of The Courier-Mail, and owns 65 per cent of Foxtel.

We understand that any such list is bound to be subjective, and is by no means exhaustive – but this list is as accurate a one as possible to produce in terms of where things are right now.

It is a unique insight into who calls the shots in Queensland. And as a subscriber it is yours exclusively.

But remember that power is more often than not temporary. Who plays large in 2022 might not be so powerful in 2023. Watch this space.