Numbers 25 to 1 revealed: Bendigo’s top 50 most powerful and influential people ranked
We’ve ranked Bendigo’s top 25 powerful and influential movers and shakers. See who has been ranked number 1 and why.
The most influential movers and shakers from across Bendigo have been ranked in our list of the top 50 most powerful people in the region.
Captains of industry, voices for their communities, innovators and senior public servants, they all play important roles.
Today we reveal the who made number 1 in our top 50 list.
Click HERE to see who was ranked 26-50.
No. 25 Andrew Cooney
Andrew Cooney is the chief executive of Bendigo council, controlling the municipality’s operations and services.
The chief executive has a lot of sway over what is put before councillors to publicly debate, with directors of each department reporting to him.
The main driver in negotiations on contracts and financial policies of council, Cooney has a big say on how ratepayers’ money is spent.
Cooney was promoted from a director role to chief executive in 2018.
Before working for Bendigo council, he held senior executive roles at Coliban Water and the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning.
No 24. Craig Tweed
Craig Tweed is a veteran Bendigo real estate agent with more than 52 years of experience and founder of a nation spanning realty empire.
The titan of the real estate industry founded his firm Craig Tweed and Co back in 1976, and was the founding member of what would become The First National Real Estate Group where he is the current principal.
TSFN is headquartered in Bendigo with a staff of 40 and is part of a network of over 300 independently owned agencies across Australia and internationally.
Tweed has been heavily involved in the Bendigo community over the decades, notably serving as an executive member of the Anglican Bendigo Diocese, a funding board member of Girton Grammar and as a past member of the Golden City Lions Club Bendigo.
No. 23 Danny O’Bree
Danny O’Bree is the head coach of the Bendigo Pioneers, the city’s premier footy side.
The Pioneers is a major AFL recruiting ground, having produced legends like Harley Reid and Dustin Martin.
O’Bree’s role is nurturing Bendigo talent into future elite footballers, giving them an opportunity to play professionally at the highest levels.
No. 22 Carol McKinstry
Carol McKinstry is a professor of occupational therapy and deputy dean of the La Trobe University’s Rural Health School. She is the Bendigo Football Netball League chairwoman, holding an influential position in a major Victorian sporting competition that has, and continues to, produce professional athletes.
Notably, McKinstry was the first woman in the league’s 140-year history to be appointed board chair.
She also holds a number of senior board positions in major health related institutions including Bendigo Health.
Prof McKinstry is also a Board Director of Occupational Therapy Australia, Trustee of the Occupational Therapy Australia Research Foundation.
She was previously on the Board of Rochester and Elmore District Health Services and was recently appointed a Life Governor. She is a graduate with the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
No. 21 Anne Marie Rodgers
Anne Marie Rodgers is the principal of one of Bendigo’s fastest growing elite schools, Victory Christian College.
VCC recently lodged a $50m master plan with the state government to build a new P-12 school in Bendigo for more than 1000 students amid “huge interest” from parents wanting to send their kids to the college.
The new campus is set to be located in Epsom, a major population growth corridor of Bendigo.
No. 20 David Richardson
David Richardson is head of campus at Bendigo TAFE and responsible for running one of the biggest training organisations in Central Victoria, with more than 8000 enrolments each year.
Richardson is a major player in helping to get tradies onto job sites amid a massive worker shortage.
Dedicated to helping get young people into jobs, he is also a non-executive director at CVGT Australia, an organisation that helps match job seekers with employers.
Richardson is also chair of Loddon Campaspe Regional Partnership, a body set up by the state government to help get young people skilled up for tomorrow’s workforce.
He is also the non-executive director of the Bendigo Art Gallery.
Richardson holds a Master of Business Administration and is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
No. 19 Brian Turner
Brian Turner is the principal of Bendigo’s largest catholic school, Catherine McAuley College.
Overseeing 1600 students and 240 staff across two campuses, Turner is one of the region’s most senior education leaders.
Turner has more than 25 years of experience, serving as deputy principal at MacKillop College, Swan Hill and Notre Dame College, Shepparton before taking the top job at Blackfriars Priory School in Adelaide.
In 2014 he was appointed principal at CMC, Bendigo and under his leadership it has become one of Northern Victoria’s most sought after schools for young families.
No. 18 Kylie Hand
BSSC principal Kylie Hand recently took over from the venerable Dale Pearce in 2024.
With more than 1700 students, BSSC is one of the largest provider of VCE, VET and VCAL in the state.
Students from Eaglehawk Secondary, Bendigo South East, Crusoe and Weeroona Colleges transition to BSSC for their final two years of schooling.
Hand started at the school as a graduate teacher in 2002, and was appointed assistant principal in 2010. Hand is relatively new to the top job, but has so far not disappointed.
No. 17 Hayley Tibbett
Business leader Hayley Tibbett is the chief executive of Be. Bendigo, the city’s chamber of commerce.
Tibbett rose to prominence with her famous business Indulge Fine Belgian Chocolate – selling literal tonnes of luxurious chocolate and was one of the major players who put the town on the global map as a city of gastronomy.
After selling her business, Tibbett stepped into a leadership role in the business community.
With decades of hospitality and retail experience, and oodles of professional contacts and associations, Tibbett uses her influence to champion local businesses, and contribute to a thriving, innovative business landscape in Bendigo.
No. 16 Dr Emma O’Rielly
Dr Emma O’Rielly is the principal of Bendigo’s most elite private school, Girton Grammar, where parents can pay more than $17,000 a year for their child’s education.
She has taught at the school, which has about 1200 students, in various head of department roles since 2007.
She was nominated at the 2025 Bendigo Business Excellence Awards for the Leader of the Year Award.
O’Rielly previously worked as a research scientist and completed a PhD in molecular biology, where she discovered seven new species of bacteria.
No. 15 Chris Garlick
Chris Garlick is the founder and director of Priority1 Property real estate firm.
Garlick is a shrewd businessman and influential property mogul with very powerful friends.
Garlick owns quite a bit of property around Bendigo and has his fingers in the pie of several business ventures.
Aside from his business savvy, Garlick is known for being a generous member of the community.
Garlick is involved with a number of local sporting clubs and local community organisations through volunteer work and philanthropy.
No. 14 Andrew Lethlean
Andrew Lethlean is a local publican and businessman turned politician who almost won the seat of Bendigo from incumbent Lisa Chesters with a 9.8 per cent vote swing during the federal election.
Lethlean has a number of influential backers in Bendigo’s upper crust, and ranks highly on this list as a very real rival to the state’s most powerful politician.
He is rumoured to be the Nats’ pick to run against Premier Jacinta Allan in the upcoming state election.
If he decides to run, Lethlean is tipped to eat away a big chunk of one of the safest Labor seats in the state.
Mr Lethlean is well-respected and well-connected in the Bendigo community and his campaign saw a massive upswell of support.
No. 13 Yorick Piper
Yorick Piper is one half of Bendigo’s most influential power couple; husband of Victoria’s top politican Jacinta Allan, who is also the member for Bendigo East.
A high ranking public servant, Piper is director of the Victorian Fisheries Authority and of Forest Industries Employment and Training Services.
He also serves in leadership roles with La Trobe University and the Bendigo Manufacturing Group and various other vocational training organistations to support skill development for workers’ career development and more effective and successful businesses.
No. 12 David Hubbert
David Hubbert is the Hofmann Engineering Pty Ltd general manager, a major engineering and manufacturing firm that produces highly specialised machinery parts.
Hofmann recently secured a $30m contract to produce bogies for Melbourne’s new high capacity Metro Trains.
The company manufactures highly specialised machinery parts out of their Bendigo factory for a variety of industries including mining, renewables, defence, oil and gas.
The company recently invested $11m into state-of-the-art technology at the Bendigo site, creating new manufacturing opportunities and opportunities for growth and more jobs locally.
No. 11 Paul Chapman
Paul Chapman is the founder and executive chairman of The Australian Turntable Company Pty Ltd, a major manufacturer based in Bendigo that supplies industrial turntables that are used from car showrooms up to major mining and construction projects all over the world.
Chapman has created a “world leading” specialist engineering company that exports its products to over 20 countries worldwide.
The heavy duty turntables allow large, heavy vehicles to be used in tight and awkward spaces in heavy industry like mining and construction.
Chapman is very influential in the mining and construction industry, being a key player in the industry supply chain, and is recognised as a leading Australian Advanced Manufacturer.
Chapman and ATC are also heavily involved in engineering and industry research with universities across Australia and internationally.
ATC has won multiple industry awards over the years.
No. 10 Jacinta Allan
Premier Jacinta Allan holds the highest job in Victoria leading the state government. She holds executive authority, meaning she has the final say on public policy and how the state executes its power over the everyday Victorian.
While she may be one of the most powerful players in the state, she isn’t at the top of the list because her role in the top job sees much of her power and influence directed elsewhere from Bendigo and so has remained in the number 10 spot.
Allan’s government came under fire by her constituents during the 2024 federal election amid a youth crime crisis plaguing Bendigo.
Perhaps in protest from frustrated voters demanding action, Labor saw a vote swing of almost 10 per cent against incumbent Lisa Chesters towards the Nats’ candidate Andrew Lethlean who campaigned heavily on law and order.
Ms Allan will answer to those same voters during the 2026 election, and although she has a large support base, the seat will likely be heavily targeted by her political opponents.
A true Bendigonian, Allan grew up and went to school in Bendigo and now sends her own two kids to local schools and it’s not unusual to see Allan at the local shops with her family.
Over her 25 year career as the Member for East Bendigo, Allan also boasts being behind the upgrades of many local schools, five new ambulance stations across Bendigo, the new Joan Pinder and Stella Anderson residential aged care facilities, the new Bendigo Hospital, major upgrades to the Bendigo Stadium, and the new Bendigo Tech School.
The Labor government, under her predecessor Dan Andrews, made Victoria the most locked down state in the world during the pandemic and scrapped the 2026 Commonwealth Games that Bendigo, and regional Victoria, were set to host.
No. 9 Brad Dixon
Superintendent Brad Dixon is Bendigo’s top cop.
With almost 40 years of experience on the force, Dixon controls more than 500 police officers across Central Victoria and has a massive say over how the force operates in the Bendigo community.
He is responsible for driving community safety initiatives and stamping out crime.
Dixon and his officers were handed a crisis of crime as youth criminals terrorised Bendigonians by brazenly breaking into family homes over the last 12 months and more.
The detectives of Bendigo’s criminal investigations unit deserve recognition for their unwavering dedication in pursuing the criminals terrorising the community.
Their hard work has seen a number of repeat offenders taken off the street, as they continue to work to keep the community safe.
Bendigo police also oversaw a marked drop in drug crime after the regional city was named Victoria’s meth capital in 2024.
Police operations dismantling drug trafficking networks saw a 17 per cent drop in drug crime across Bendigo, according to Victorian Crime Statistics Agency data.
No. 8 Don Erskin
Bendigo industrialist Donald James Erskine is the founder and managing director of Industrial Conveying (Aust) Pty Ltd, a company that employs more than 70 people and is integrally linked to Bendigo’s business supply chain.
He makes the list not only for his wealth and influence, but also for literally shaping Bendigo’s industrial industry since 1979.
His engineering company specialises in design and fabrication of equipment for various industries – making the things that allow the wheel of the economy to turn.
If a company needs something made for a project, ICA can make it.
Erskine’s company works with clients across Australia and all over the world, generating revenue in the tens of millions of dollars every year.
The industrialist’s influence reaches beyond the manufacturing sector through his various interests in the finance and real estate industries.
Erskine is also the managing director of DJE Investments Pty Ltd, or YourLand Developments, a major property development firm that since launching in Bendigo in 2009, has delivered more than 15,000 homes across more than 20 projects in Bendigo and Melbourne.
He has also held leadership positions in the business and commerce spaces including: Non-Executive Director at Bendigo Telco Ltd, Mr. Erskine has previously held positions as Chairman at Australian Technical College of North Brisbane, Director at Bendigo Bank Ltd., Director at Community Telco Australia Pty Ltd., Director at Coliban Regional Water Corp, Director at Bendigo Regional Institute of TAFE, and Director at North West Country Credit Union Co-Operative Ltd.
No. 7 Lance Faulkner
Lance Faulkner is the general manager of Fosterville Goldmine, the largest gold producing mine in the state.
The company employs more than 800 people and has extracted more than 4.4 million ounces of gold since 2005 to the end of 2024 – worth more than $10b.
Before starting at Fosterville, Faulkner served as general manager of the Ballarat mine for Castlemaine Goldfields Limited between July 2011 and December 2014.
Faulkner was also the senior site executive at Eloise Copper Mine from June 2016 to March 2017.
No. 6 Margaret O’Rourke
Margaret O’Rourke is a prominent member of the political, business and senior management class of Bendigo.
O’Rourke made the top of the list last year, but has since been knocked off as she basks in the twilight of an exceptional career.
She is now serving as head of La Trobe University’s Bendigo campus, and while that position is certainly August, Ms O’Rourke’s steps are no longer sharing the halls of power, instead now making way for the next generation.
Her professional networks in the public and private sectors, after decades of working in the highest levels of industry still make Ms O’Rourke a formidable powerbroker in the regional city however.
O’Rourke has been a councillor for the City of Greater Bendigo, head of campus at La Trobe University Bendigo and a board chair of Bendigo TAFE.
O’Rourke was awarded a medal of the Order of Australia for her services to her home town in 2024 and was previously the Telstra Countrywide general manager.
She has been Bendigo mayor four times and owned her own business, M’OR Consulting, from 2011 to 2021.
The Australian Institute of Company Directors fellow decided not to recontest the upcoming October council election.
No. 5 Tim Bird
Tim Bird is the managing director of ASQ, a locally owned company he founded that has grown into a $300 million vertically integrated conglomerate that has become a major supply chain player.
ASQ Group is made up of three divisions, ASQ Allstone Quarries, ASQ Garden Landscape and ASQ Premix Concrete that offer a variety of products and services from quarry products to mobile crushing, construction and demolition waste recycling and ready-mix concrete through to garden and landscape supplies to domestic, commercial and industrial projects.
ASQ employs more than 100 people locally across Central Victoria and is heavily involved in the local communities it operates in by sponsoring local groups and organisations, offering apprenticeships and work placement positions and collaborating with local businesses.
Bird also holds several industry leadership positions including: management committee member of the Construction Material Processors Association since 2005 and he is also an active member of the Bendigo Manufactures Group.
No. 4 Eileen Hannagan
As the boss of Bendigo Health, Eileen Hannagan holds major decision making power in the day-to-day running of the largest public hospital in the region – answering only to the board of directors.
Bendigo Health is a major public hospital for regional Victoria with a catchment area covering a quarter of the state. Her decisions directly impact the health outcomes of tens of thousands across Central Victoria.
It employs about 5400 staff and treats more than 57,000 inpatients, dealing with more than 60,000 emergency attendances, delivering about 1600 babies and taking more than 110,000 medical images each year.
Hannagan is an accomplished senior executive with more than 20 years’ experience in the health industry, and has previously held various chief executive roles.
No. 3 Damien Wells
This powerful executive’s responsibility affects almost every Bendigonian right in their homes, making number one on this list because he is personally responsible for the drinking water of almost all of Central Victoria.
As managing director of Coliban Water, Damien Wells is accountable for all aspects of the service provided to 49 towns and the maintenance of more than 50 reservoirs and water storage basins across North-Central Victoria, with an area of responsibility covering about 20 per cent of the state.
The region serviced by Coliban Water extends from Cohuna and Echuca in the north to Kyneton and Trentham in the south.
He was previously executive director of the Victorian Environment Protection Authority where he led the statewide regulatory operations.
Wells also sits on the boards of La Trobe University’s Bendigo and Zero Emissions Water, a group of water corporations dedicated to reducing emissions.
No. 2 Andy Hoare
Andy Hoare is the chief executive and founder of Yellow Iron Fleet, and head of a nation spanning heavy machinery empire worth more than $680 million that supplies heavy earth moving machinery to the mining and construction industry all over Australia.
With more than 35 years’ experience serving the civil, construction and mining industries, Hoare built his own heavy machinery company from, Andy’s Earthmovers Pty Ltd, from scratch into a major business supply chain player, ultimately merging with ASX listed Emeco Holdings Ltd and Orionstone in 2017.
He then later bought the company out and founded Yellow Iron Fleet.
No. 1 Michael McKern
Our number one spot goes to Michael McKern,the director and patriarch of Bendigo family steel fabrication business McKern Steel – “the largest supplier of structural steel to the largest residential builders in Victoria”.
The McKerns have three sites in Eaglehawk and employ about 80 people locally, with ambitions to grow the operation and provide more jobs.
A captain of industry, McKern is a larger than life figure in the Bendigo’s business scene.
McKern is a director of the Bendigo chamber of commerce Be. Bendigo and is actively involed in shaping the local economy.
McKern is also one of Bendigo’s biggest philanthropists, sponsoring the children’s ward at Bendigo Health and contributing significant funds over the years to the hospital for specialised medical equipment.
He also set up the McKern Foundation, the charity arm of the steel business, which donates significant funds to youth and health programs.
The McKern Foundation also supplies fresh fruit to more than 30 schools across Greater Bendigo and 10,000 school kids weekly.
The McKerns sponsor the junior golf program at Bendigo Golf Club and provide scholarships for the Bendigo Sport star’s future athletes.
McKern is the Empowering Eaglehawk chairman and actively works towards the betterment of the historic borough.
