Part 4: Queensland’s 100 most influential people - Positions 55-41
FAMOUSLY dubbed the “agent of infection” by the LNP for helping Labor find its way through a looming electoral defeat – this political strategist features prominently on our top 100 most influential Queenslanders list.
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- Part 1, 100-86: Who’s really running our state?
- Part 2, 85-71: Power struggle at the Broncos
- Part 3, 70-56: He’s given $100m to benefit our state
THE Power 100 is a who’s who of Queensland’s most influential people.
We’re passing the halfway mark as we countdown the 100 most powerful people in the Sunshine State.
The top 10 will be revealed online and in a special edition of our QWeekend magazine this Saturday.
Who do you think are Queensland’s most powerful people?
Post your nominations in the comments section below or email to editor@couriermail.com.au.
Queensland’s 100 most influential people: Positions 55-41
55 - DAMIAN POWER, LOBBYIST
The former Queensland Labor Party treasurer now runs lobbying firm GovStrat and has offered advice to some of the country’s biggest and disruptive businesses, such as Adani, Uber and Star Entertainment Group.
The former Beattie government staff member is also heavily involved with the Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane. He also used to control Labor’s Old Guard faction, although he now appears to be losing its powerbase.
A polarising figure, Power is considered a shrewd and driven businessman to get deals done, especially in heavily-regulated industry, like energy and gambling.
Power is considered to have influence within the business community, given his business relationship with Rob Borbidge, who is GovStrat’s senior counsel.
54 - JIM MURPHY, UNDER TREASURER
Serving as Queensland’s Under Treasurer, Jim Murphy helps control the state’s purse strings.
He was appointed to the senior role in 2015 following Labor’s election win. Mr Murphy had previously served as Deputy Secretary in the Federal Treasury and had worked as an adviser to the International Monetary Fund.
He was plucked from the private sector for the Under Treasurer’s role but is no stranger to politics, having also briefly worked for former prime minister Kevin Rudd.
Murphy was awarded a Public Service Medal for his work on the former federal Labor government’s response to the global financial crisis.
53 - MARK COLERIDGE, CHURCH LEADER
This vocal opponent of abortion and same sex marriage is head of Queensland’s flock of Roman Catholics, the largest religious group in the state, at 21.7 per cent of the population.
The 69-year-old Archbishop, appointed in April 2012, leads an area that stretches from the NSW border north to Hervey Bay and west to Gatton, taking in Brisbane Catholic Education and its 141 schools, social services arm Centacare and 97 parishes.
One of Australia’s most senior Catholics and vice-president of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, he was invited to the Vatican two years ago to attend a historic discussion on the role of the family within the church.
His role as chief of the Catholic province of Queensland takes in the dioceses of Toowoomba, Rockhampton, Townsville and Cairns.
He is also a driving force behind the 2020 Plenary Council, the first national gathering of the Australian church since 1937.
52 - BRUCE and DENISE MORCOMBE
THEY suffered every parent’s worst nightmare – the abduction and murder of a child – but came out fighting. Fighting for change. Fighting for our most vulnerable. Fighting to ensure no other family had to endure what they did.
Children across Australia are safer because of Bruce and Denise Morcombe, who after losing their 13-year-old son Daniel in 2003, launched a child safety revolution that would change the way parents, teachers, police and governments did things.
Their influence was huge. Their motivation was simple.
They wanted to make Australia a safer place for all children. The main aims of their now prominent Daniel Morcombe Foundation are to educate young people about potential dangers – in the physical and online environment – support young victims of crime and empower people to better safeguard local communities.
Thanks to the devotion and drive of the Morcombes, the foundation has delivered education to more than 260,000 students across Queensland and visited over 1000 schools and communities.
It provides, at no cost, thousands of resources to children, parents, carers and professionals across Australia.
The Day for Daniel, a national day of action to educate children about personal safety, is attracting greater involvement each year.
The Morcombes also have sparked changes to police procedure, vastly improving the way missing person reports are received and responded to.
Bus companies adopted a No Child Left Behind principle in the wake of Daniel’s murder where all drivers are now trained to make the necessary decisions when a child has no fare.
The influence of the Morcombes has reached almost every household and school in the nation and will continue to provide vital protection strategies for generations to come.
51 - JOHN WITHERIFF, INFRASTRUCTURE
The chairman of MinterEllison lawyers on the Gold Coast has a reputation as a man who gets things done.
A strategist whose advice is keenly sought by industry and governments, the 58-year-old has a particular penchant for infrastructure projects and public-private partnerships.
His chairmanships include both GoldlinQ, which built and operates the $1.5 billion Gold Coast light rail system and the Nexus Infrastructure Consortium which is constructing the $1.7 billion Toowoomba Second Range Crossing bypass.
Mr Witheriff is also a director of the Plenary Group, which is building 10 Queensland schools as part of a PPP consortium, and has been short-listed for the contract to build the $5.4 billion Cross River Rail tunnel and stations network in Brisbane.
He is a member of the GOLDOC board that delivered a successful Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast earlier this year. Previous roles include the inaugural chairman of the Gold Coast Suns AFL club.
50 - JOHN KOTZAS, QPAC BOSS
He speaks quietly and tends not to blow his own trumpet, but don’t let that fool you – John Kotzas is a very determined man.
Who else could get the State Government to fork out over $150 million for a new theatre at QPAC? But he’s not empire building.
Kotzas has always been committed to the performing arts from the grassroots up and is determined that Queensland’s best should have a home at QPAC and room to move.
Kotzas, QPAC’s globetrotting head honcho is now one of Australia’s most influential arts figures. He is not as flashy as some impresarios but he is a showman at heart as well as a fine administrator and a down-to-earth people person who has made connections all over the world.
That enables him to attract the likes of the Bolshoi Ballet and The Royal Ballet to Brisbane and this year Teatro alla Scala Ballet Company from Italy is coming for QPAC’s 2018 International Series in November.
Kotzas has spent a life in the arts and is an aficionado, a savvy one with an eye for a good deal and a talent for making personal connections. He’s a boy from North Queensland who loves his home state and has helped put us on the map making QPAC an international cultural hub. He knows all the big players but doesn’t show off and is widely liked and respected.
49 - JENNY HILL, TOWNSVILLE MAYOR
When the going gets tough, the tough get going.
Townsville has struggled for the past few years, with unemployment soaring and confidence plummeting in the wake of the Queensland Nickel refinery closure and a broader economic downturn.
But Jenny Hill, elected the city’s first female mayor in 2012, has been relentless in her efforts to reignite the region’s fortunes, lobbying state and federal governments and the private sector to invest in its potential.
A new stadium and a pipeline to secure the city’s water supply are among $3.5 billion of projects, creating 7000 jobs, flagged for the next five years.
Despite the State Government veto of a NAIF loan for Adani’s rail line, Ms Hill remains a close confidante of Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk.
Seen as a champion of the ordinary person, she was re-elected in 2016 with 60 per cent of the first preference vote.
48 - HETTY JOHNSTON, ADVOCATE
This tireless campaigner for the rights of children to live in safety never shies from a challenge.
In the recent state election she ran as an independent for the new seat of Macalister, south of Brisbane, because she wanted to educate politicians on how to effectively tackle the epidemic of child sexual assault.
Although she didn’t win, Ms Johnston, 59, continues to expose systemic failures within the Family Law System placing children at extreme risk of harm.
She is also lobbying to bring to Australia the Children’s Advocacy Centre Model, which has more than 800 centres in the US.
Bravehearts, the organisation she founded in 1997, goes from strength to strength.
In the last financial year it educated 125,817 children through the Ditto’s Keep Safe Adventure personal safety show, and engaged 16,060 people in child protection training via workshops and online learning courses.
It took 6408 support phone calls for assistance and provided 3384 counselling sessions to those affected by child sexual assault.
A former Queensland Australian of the Year and Australian Businesswomen’s Hall of Fame recipient, Ms Johnston is a Member of the Order of Australia for her contributions to child protection.
47 - DAVE STEWART, DIRECTOR GENERAL
Dave Stewart is not only the State’s most senior bureaucrat, he is also one of Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s most trusted.
He has worked in senior public service roles under governments from both sides of politics over a period of more than 30 years.
He was made redundant and then rehired by the former Newman government and has served as Annastacia Palaszczuk’s director-general twice.
He first worked for her when she was appointed to the Transport portfolio under the former Bligh government. She then recruited him back when she won power at the 2015 election.
46 - DEB FRECKLINGTON, OPPOSITION LEADER
Deb Frecklington made history on December 12 when she was elected the first female leader of the merged Liberal National Party.
The former Newman government assistant minister had been serving as deputy to Tim Nicholls up until the LNP’s loss at the November 25 poll before rising to succeed him at a post-election party room meeting.
Hailing from Joh Bjelke-Petersen’s heartland, the Nanango MP – a lawyer and businesswoman – is attempting to win back ground lost by the LNP last year.
She now has her work cut out for her as she battles it out against Annastacia Palaszczuk in the Parliament, the first time both the Government and the Opposition have been led by women.
45 - GEOFF HOGG, ENTERTAINMENT CHIEF
It is difficult to over-estimate the impact that the Queen’s Wharf development will have on Brisbane over the next few years.
A $3 billion entertainment, dining and retail precinct covering 10 per cent of the entire CBD area – and including a casino-resort, five new hotels, apartments, 50 restaurants, cafes and bars, parks and gardens – it will create 8000 jobs once operational. That’s a quarter of all new positions expected in Brisbane’s city centre between now and 2031.
It is projected to bring an extra 1.4 million tourists a year to the region and boost spending in Queensland by $1.7 billion.
CEO Matt Bekier is the driving force, but as Queensland managing director for The Star Entertainment Group – lead partner in the Destination Brisbane Consortium – Geoff Hogg is responsible for making it happen.
The 46-year-old is also overseeing the $850 million redevelopment of The Star Gold Coast, including a new luxury six-star hotel “The Darling” which opened in March.
In addition to direct jobs creation and transforming Brisbane’s night-life, Queen’s Wharf is expected to supercharge the city’s appeal as an international tourism destination, particularly among the burgeoning Asian visitor market.
It is seen as a key element in positioning Brisbane as an entry point to Australia in competition with Sydney and Melbourne.
44 - STEVE CIOBO, TRADE and TOURISM MINISTER
The Trade and Tourism Minister is a regular on the world negotiating circuit, rubbing shoulders with high-powered counterparts.
He is one of five Queensland Cabinet Ministers in the Turnbull Government and well-regarded by the Prime Minister, who is relying on Ciobo and others in Cabinet to negotiate new trade deals.
It is expected he will transition out of the Trade portfolios within the next five years and take on a senior domestic portfolio.
Ciobo holds a safe Gold Coast seat, which puts him in an enviable position. Ciobo is among those in the Government demanding more infrastructure projects for Queensland, especially road upgrades on the Gold Coast.
43 - LORNA JANE CLARKSON, RETAILER
Once upon a time, there was clothing and there was sports gear. Then along came Lorna Jane Clarkson.
The retail tycoon is one of the country’s biggest business success stories, and almost single-handedly introduced the idea of wearing activewear outside of the gym.
She claims to have coined the term itself back in 1989, and now her namesake business is one of the largest in the industry.
Clarkson, 53, began her company almost unintentionally, by first making gym clothes for herself from her kitchen table while working as a fitness instructor, and becoming frustrated with what was on offer. When women began requesting pieces, she knew she was onto a winner.
Her first retail store opened in Brisbane back in 1990, and has now grown into a global mega-chain, with more than 200 stores throughout the country and the US, and stockists all over the world.
Her influence can be seen in major retailers across the globe, with activewear becoming its own fashion statement.
Lorna Jane has become a brand – not content with just building a clothing empire, but releasing multiple books, creating a strong online community and adding cafes and fitness studios to many of the larger stores.
And millions of women have bought into her “Move Nourish Believe’’ mantra of inspiration.
42 - EVAN MOORHEAD, LABOR PARTY
A former State MP, Evan Moorhead has made a name for himself in politics in Queensland through his work behind the scenes rather than in front of the camera.
Mr Moorhead is credited with playing a lead role in helping Labor win the November 25 election, righting the ALP’s campaign ship after a horror start.
Such is his political nous the former Queensland Labor state secretary left his party role in January to take on a deputy chief of staff role in Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s office where he will drive strategy for Labor in the lead up to the October 2020 election.
41 - EAMONN FITZPATRICK, POLITICAL STRATEGIST
If there is an election being held in Australia, Eamonn Fitzpatrick will be there, behind the scenes, helping drive Labor’s campaign.
A former journalist and political staffer, Mr Fitzpatrick was famously dubbed the “agent of infection” by the LNP when he was dispatched to try to help Labor find its way through a looming electoral defeat in 2011.
Most recently, he was drafted to try to save the federal seat of Longman following Susan Lamb’s dual citizenship resignation.
The political strategist is currently working as the Queensland director for lobbyist firm Hawker Britton.
He has previously served as an adviser for Prime Ministers Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd and as the director of strategy for Federal Opposition Leader Bill Shorten.
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