20 most powerful people in Penrith | Full list
The Penrith region has produced plenty of big hitters from TV and the silver screen, politics, sports and the arts. Here are the people making moves around the world.
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Penrith may be about as far as you can go from the CBD before leaving the city, but that hasn’t stopped the region producing plenty of movers and shakers.
Here are some of the most influential, famous, and important people that have called Penrith home.
KEIYNAN LONSDALE
Keiynan Lonsdale grew up in St Marys, but is now taking his acting and musical talents to the world.
The 29-year-old got his start in the Mockumentary Razzle Dazzle: A Journey into Dance in 2007 before a guest appearance on the popular medical drama All Saints in 2008.
He made his big break in the United States in 2015 when he was cast as Kid Flash in The Flash, and followed it up in 2016 with a role in The Divergent Series: Insurgent.
Mr. Lonsdale’s most famous role is possibly Bram in Love, Simon, which saw him win MTV’s best kiss award alongside co-star Nick Robinson.
NATHAN BRACKEN
Nathan Bracken played 116 One Day Internationals for Australia as a left-armed fast bowler, and was ranked the best ODI bowler in the world at one point in 2008.
Bracken was born in Penrith and grew up in the Blue Mountains, attending school in Faulconbridge and Springwood.
He made his first-class debut with NSW in 1998 at the age of 21, and played his first ODI in 2001, the start of an eight-year career that saw him take 174 wickets. He also played five test matches between 2003 and 2005.
Bracken retired due to a chronic knee injury in 2011, and sued Cricket Australia the following year for alleged mismanagement of the injury.
Since his retirement, Bracken has moved to the Central Coast with his famous wife Haley, and contested the 2013 federal election as an independent.
ROYCE SIMMONS
There may be no name more loved in Penrith than Royce ‘Roycey’ Simmons.
Simmons was born in Gooloogong, a small town near Cowra, and made his first-grade debut with the Penrith Panthers in 1980.
He played 238 games with the Panthers, but his finest moment was his last when he became the club’s first premiership captain in 1991.
He also played 10 games for both his state and country.
Since his retirement, Simmons has coached several first-grade teams, including the Panthers from 1994 to 2001.
He also has the honour of having The Royce, an aged-living facility at Panthers, named after him.
FIRASS DIRANI
Actor Firass Dirani grew up in the western suburbs and went to school at St. Paul’s Grammar before he exploded on to the scene in Underbelly: The Golden Mile.
His role as former Kings Cross nightclub owner John Ibrahim in 2010 could be considered his premier television role, although he also played the part of Justin in House Husbands from 2012 to 2017.
Dirani was the Cleo Batchelor of the Year in 2010, had a role in the 2016 film Hacksaw Ridge, and acted alongside Jason Statham and Robert De Niro in 2011 film Killer Elite.
JASON DUNDAS
TV Presenter Jason Dundas has had a successful career with several stations across Australia and the United States, but his story started in Penrith.
Dundas was born in Penrith and attended Jamison High School before his lucrative career.
Some of his highlights include working on the 2009 Logie Awards, working as a presenter on Getaway, and hosting the X-Factor in 2016.
He has also hosted several shows for MTV and VH1.
Mr. Dundas now lives and works in Los Angeles full time where he runs a self-funded media company.
JESSICA FOX
Penrith’s Jessica Fox is one of the most decorated slalom canoeists in history, male or female.
She has won 15 medals at the ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships, including 10 golds, and has a silver and bronze medal from the Olympic Games.
She’s also won 30 World Cup events and seven overall world cup titles.
Despite her worldwide success, Fox still regularly trains at the Penrith Whitewater Stadium alongside her sister Noemie, who is also a competing canoeist.
DOMINIC PURCELL
Dominic Purcell has built a solid acting resume since his childhood in Penrith.
After attending Blaxland High School, St Dominic’s College, and McCarthy Catholic College, Purcell enrolled at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts where he studied alongside Aussie legend Hugh Jackman.
He landed a role in Mission: Impossible 2 in 2000, and played Drake in Blade: Trinity before he was cast in his defining role in Prison Break in 2005.
Purcell is now known worldwide for his role as Lincoln Burrows, and has since flipped that fame into the role of Heat Wave on DC’s Legends of Tomorrow.
STUART AYRES
Penrith state Liberal MP Stuart Ayres celebrated his 10-year anniversary in state politics last year as the Minister for Jobs, Investment, Tourism and Western Sydney, positions he still holds.
Mr Ayres successfully beat Labor’s John Thain in a 2010 by-election while recording the largest swing against a sitting government in state history, and hasn’t lost an election since that time.
In his almost 11 years in politics, Mr Ayres has been the Minister for Police and Emergency Services, the Minister for Sport, the Minister for WestConnex, and the Minister for Trade, Tourism and Major Events.
Before his career in politics, Mr Ayres was a student at St Dominic’s College and worked for several companies in the marketing sphere.
KAREN MCKEOWN
Karen McKeown has been the mayor of Penrith since September last year, replacing Ross Fowler in the top job.
This is Ms McKeown’s second stint as Mayor, as she served in the capacity in 2015 and 2016. She has also been the council’s deputy mayor twice in 2006-2007 and again in 2019-2020.
Ms McKeown was first elected as a Penrith Councillor in 2004, and has won a seat in every election since then.
As well as her position as the Mayor, Ms McKeown is also a councillor on the Hawkesbury River County Council, the director of Penrith Performing and Visual Arts, a member of the Penrith CBD Corporation Board, and the chair of several other groups and committees.
JIM AITKEN
Jim Aitken started his first business at the age of 15 selling goods in a “hole in the wall” at Penrith railway station.
Now, Mr Aitken runs one of the biggest real estate agencies in the Penrith area as well as serving as a councillor on Penrith City Council.
Mr Aitken said his real estate company, Jim Aitken + Partners, started in 1995 after he got out of the meat business.
“I did a real estate course because I wanted to retire up the coast and earn a few dollars,” he said.
“My friend’s son, who was also in the meat game, and my daughter, a hairdresser, said they wanted to find a business, so that’s how it started, and the rest was history.”
Mr Aitken said the people of Penrith made the area a great place to live.
“They’re pretty straight and honest out here,” he said.
“It’s a place where lots of people come to afford a house with plans to leave, but they like it so much they never do.
“The people are very active, they’re always happy to help a neighbour out, and they’re very generous.”
MARK GEYER
Panthers great Mark Geyer played 10 seasons with our club, but had a five-year break in the middle of his career, including one year out of the NSWRL.
The second-rower was building quite a career for himself in the late 80s and early 90s, and was a key part of the club’s inaugural premiership in 1991.
However, Geyer left the Panthers after the 1992 season, and wouldn’t return until the 1998 season.
In that time, he played one season for the Balmain Tigers, three season for the Western Reds, and one season with the Umina Beach Bunnies on the Central Coast.
After his retirement in 2000, Geyer moved into the media with Triple M and Fox Sports, and is involved with MG Activ, a personal training studio, with his son Logan.
KENT SMALL
A graduate of St Marys Senior High School, Kent ‘Smallzy’ Small got his start in commercial radio on the Central Coast at the tender age of 19.
In 2007, Smallzy moved to Brisbane to present the night show for Nova, and was nominated along with Michelle Anderson as the Best On-Air Team at the 2008 Australian Commercial Radio Awards.
He now presents the popular Smallzy’s Surgery, a national nightly show for Nova, as well as the Nova Fresh 40.
You can also hear him on Sydney’s Nova FM in the mornings.
ROSS SINCLAIR
Influential businessman Ross Sinclair has been active in the Penrith community for more than 50 years since he started Sinclair Ford in Kingswood back in 1969.
In the 52 years since, Mr Sinclair has been involved with several businesses including renting a site to another man on this list, Brent Grundy, in the mid 2010s.
Mr Sinclair was famously the owner of the old Log Cabin Hotel when it burned down in 2012, and recently sold the Penrith Valley Inn.
LEE WATERHOUSE
Lee Waterhouse is one of the biggest names in real estate in Penrith as the general manager of Property Central.
Mr Waterhouse started his real estate career with RE/MAX in 2007 while his brother Trent was playing footy with the Panthers.
The “born and bred” South Penrith resident said it was a great time to be living in the area.
“It’s growing all the time and maturing as a city, and it’s a great place to be in real estate,” he said.
“Penrith has been in growth mode just about the whole time I’ve been here – there’s plenty to do, plenty of work if you want it, and it’s well positioned if you work closer to the city.”
Mr Waterhouse, who graduated from Jamison High School, said now is the time to invest in Penrith.
“Get excited,” he said.
“The next 10 years is very exciting with the airport opening 10 minutes from our doorstep – there will be a lot of new opportunities.”
BRIAN FLETCHER
Panthers’ chief executive Brian Fletcher has been in the job since he stepped down as chairman of the club’s board in 2016.
He was previously the chief executive of the Hawkesbury Race Club for 26 years.
Mr Fletcher has seen the club through the COVID-affected season in 2020, and has them strongly positioned for the coming years.
BRENT GRUNDY
Brent Grundy started a trampoline park out the back of Panthers over the Christmas period in 2012 after going broke on a bad business deal.
Now, just nine years later, Mr. Grundy is worth millions of dollars and has taken his company, Flip Out, to the world.
Although no longer involved with the Australian arm of Flip Out, Mr. Grundy is still heavily involved in Great Britain, where Flip Out is the number one children’s entertainment centre in the country.
He moved back to the area at the start of COVID, and is looking to expand his business interests around Penrith.
JOHN TODD
John Todd is the executive officer of the Western Sydney Business Centre based in Penrith.
Mr Todd has been with the centre since 1992 after a 20-year career was a bank manager with Westpac.
As well as his commitment to the business centre, Mr Todd is also the chair of BEC Australia.
He has previously been a director for Nepean Skillshare, the Penrith Business Alliance, the Biznet Regional Chamber of Commerce, and the Blacktown Spartans Football Club.
Mr. said his 29 years at the centre have gone “very quickly”.
“I was looking back through some stuff the other day, and I couldn’t believe how the years have gone past,” he said.
“It started off with a secretary, myself, and a part-time Adviser, and now we have 20 staff.
“From my point of view, managing the centre and continually increasing its reach and income (has been rewarding), and from a business point-of-view, it’s great seeing all the small businesses we assist and look after on a day-to-day basis.”
JASON PIETRUSZKA
If there’s any big crime in the Penrith area, Jason Pietruszka is the man you’ll see on your television screen.
The Nepean PAC crime manager started in his position in 2019, and has been the face of the Nepean police since then.
Detective Inspector Pietruszka has worked on cases such as the murder of Mak Muon in Emu Plains, an alleged serial arsonist operating in Penrith in last summer’s horrific bushfire conditions, and more recently in a Cambridge Gardens shooting believed to be the result of a love triangle.
THE CLEARY FAMILY
Two members of this family are currently very important people at the Penrith Panthers, so we didn’t want to split them.
Family patriarch Ivan played in the NRL for 11 years with Manly, North Sydney, Sydney, and New Zealand before starting his coaching career in 2006.
He coached the Panthers from 2012 to 2015, and returned to the club in 2019.
His son Nathan is the current Panthers and NSW halfback at the tender age of 23, and will look to captain the side to a premiership in 2021 after a heartbreaking grand-final loss in 2020.
While the two boys are the famous Clearys, they have the behind-the-scenes support of Ivan’s wife Bec and three other children.
Daughter Indiana has worked as a real estate receptionist in the region, son Jett is making his way through the Panthers’ junior grades, and daughter Milaya is still in school.
TIM ROSENSTRAUSS AND JOSH DELUCA
Burger Head has been one of Penrith’s favourite eateries since opening in 2016, and it wouldn’t have happened without the drive of young owners Tim Rosenstrauss and Josh DeLuca.
Mr Rosenstrauss, now 26, and Mr DeLuca, now 28, could be seen as the catalyst for the burger boom Penrith has experienced over the past five years.
“When we first decided to come out, we could find anything as high quality as us,” Mr Rosenstrauss said.
“All the joints like ours were in the city, but nothing this far west, so we wanted to bring something great.”
In the years since opening, the boys at Burger Head have been in trouble with McDonald’s, operated a successful food truck across the city, and are now ready to open their second permanent site in Botany.
“We’re addicted to quality,” Mr Rosenstrauss said.
“We build the brand on a good product, and although we’re growing, we’re not changing the product at all.
“In fact, we’re getting more hardcore on protecting the consistency.”
PAT CUMMINS
Despite having a long cricketing history, Penrith doesn’t have an extremely successful history when it comes to Test cricketers, but Pat Cummins is certainly breaking that curiosity.
The fast-bowler is currently the number-one ranked bowler in Test Cricket, and was far-and-away Australia’s most effective bowler in the recent series loss to India.
Cummins made his Test debut as an 18-year-old in South Africa in 2011, but injuries prevented him from playing another match until 2017.
He has now played 34 Tests for 164 wickets, and is Australia’s highest-ranked bowler since the legendary Glenn McGrath.
Cummins is touted by the press as a potential future captain of the Australian side.
GREG ALEXANDER
Another Panthers’ legend, and the current vice-chairman of the club’s board, Greg Alexander’s name is synonymous with Penrith.
Alexander made his first-grade debut in 1984, and played 14 seasons with the club to 1999 which was only broken by two seasons with the Auckland Warriors in 1995 and 1996.
The famous halfback and fullback was part of the Panthers 1991 Premiership side, but was heavily impacted by his brother Ben’s death in 1992.
He made his return to the Panthers in 1997, and finished his career in 1999 on 228 games and 1141 points with the club.
Since his retirement, he’s been a frequent media pundit with Fox Sports and was inducted into the Panthers hall of fame in 2016.
MARISE PAYNE
Marise Payne, the Federal Foreign Affairs Minister, first joined the senate in 1997 following the resignation of Bob Woods, and has been a mainstay ever since.
Ms Payne has previously served as Human Services Minster, Defence Minister, and is currently the Minister for Women in the Scott Morrison government.
She currently lives with her partner, Penrith state Liberal MP Stuart Ayres, in the Penrith region.
ERIK HORRIE
Erik Horrie, one of Australia’s most decorated para-rowers, lives in Penrith.
The 41-year-old was also a member of Australia’s men’s national wheelchair basketball team until 2009 when he took up rowing.
Horrie has won two silver medals at the Paralympics, and has five gold medals at the World Championships.
He was awarded an Order of Australia Medal in 2020 for services to rowing, two years after being named the 2018 Rowing Australia para-rower of the year.
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