NT’s 120 Most Powerful people for 2022
Outback Wrangler star Matt Wright has dropped 97 places to 120 on this year’s Most Powerful list, while former chief minister Michael Gunner has fallen from number 3 to 116. Follow the countdown from 120-101.
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The NT’s Most Powerful people wield considerable power and influence.
Those who have made the list in years past face a challenge to keep their position – or move up.
Others fall.
Today we reveal the people who made the NT’s Most Powerful list, from 120 to 101.
Outback Wrangler star Matt Wright has dropped 97 places to 120 on this year’s list, while former chief minister Michael Gunner has fallen from number 3 to 116.
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Follow the countdown from 120-101.
120. Matt Wright
Outback Wrangler Matt Wright’s star significantly waned in 2022 while corporate sponsors lined up to back away from commercial arrangements with the Territory TV star after he was charged in relation to a fatal helicopter crash in February.
Wright has continued to deny any wrongdoing after facing court in November charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice, destroying evidence and fabricating evidence relating to the crash that claimed the life of co-star Chris “Willow” Wilson in Arnhem Land.
In December, clothing brand Ariat Australia became the latest company to distance itself from the NT celebrity, confirming it had “paused its partnership with Matt Wright while investigations continue”.
However, Wright continues to operate several businesses in the Territory, including Top End Safari Camp and Tiwi Island Retreat.
He is also still active on Instagram where he has more than 500,000 followers, posting pics and videos of his family – wife Kaia and kids Banjo and Dusty.
119: Kel Spencer
A new-entrant in the Territory property scene, Spencer and his son James operate Southern Cross Equities that earlier this year parted with $80m to buy Berrimah Corporate Park from Brett Dixon.
Adelaide-based, Spencer fell for the Territory when he was here in the mid-1970s surveying the Top End as part of the reconstruction.
He made his pile when he invested in Propell national Valuers in 2007 and sold it for $25m in 2015 before founding the SPG.
He sees plenty of potential in Berrimah Park with room for up to three more major buildings at the park.
With the large Bet365 headquarters construction nearing completion, work is expected to commence soon on an identical building nearby.
His plan is to attract local investors going forward.
“The location is terrific and I think it’s got a good future so we’re happy to be putting more money into there,” Spencer said.
118. Cathryn Tilmouth
A former Territory government insider is leading the push to expand mining across the Top End as the new Minerals Council of Australia Northern Australian Executive Director. Tilmouth is a 120 Most Powerful list first-timer after coming in at number 69 in the Most Powerful Women earlier this year.
She has been around the halls of power for the best part of two decades and before that her dad Tracker loved and loathed the Labor Party, eventually falling out over preselection of Aboriginal candidates.
Appointed Minerals Council of Australia Northern Territory executive director in February, Tilmouth has taken on an advocacy role on behalf of the mining industry.
She worked for the Martin Labor government soon after it won office in 2001 and in 2009 she left the Territory to work as a policy and media adviser to then federal resources, energy and tourism minister Martin Ferguson.
From 2013, for 18 months, she worked in one of the most difficult jobs, media adviser to then opposition leader Delia Lawrie.
She has long understood the benefits of mining to economies and worked as an adviser to then primary industries and resources minister Ken Vowles between 2016 and 2018.
After Vowles’ career clashed with former chief minister Michael Gunner, Tilmouth became manager of onshore gas reform until May 2019, which was code for getting fracking going.
She then moved to Santos as the senior government and public affairs adviser for three years before taking on the MCA role.
She has been a Darwin Festival board member since May 2021, despite protests from environmental activists Fossil Fuel Free Arts NT.
117. Darlene Chin
She’s already got the retail space locked down, so the next logical step was to expand into a boutique liquor store, right?
Number 36 on the NT News’ Most Powerful Women list in 2022, Chin has been a stable fixture of the business community in Darwin for decades.
She has channelled an internationally-honed business acumen, which runs through her veins, into every challenge she has taken on, including the redevelopment of Knuckey St’s Attitude for Men.
She clearly has a good grasp on what her customers want and will be one to watch as her shops go from strength to strength.
Chin’s advocacy for the CBD and Darwin retail community does not go unnoticed.
116. Michael Gunner
With his hands no longer on the levers of power as the Territory’s chief minister, Michael Gunner was always going to slip down the list behind his successor, Natasha Fyles, in 2022.
But after taking a job as head of the new northern Australian team for Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest’s Fortescue Future Industries, Gunner was never going to fade completely into obscurity.
As the former leader of a government still packed with his close friends and political allies, he will have significant sway in parliament’s corridors of power as he lobbies for renewable energy projects in the new role.
The appointment to the Fortescue job drew criticism after coming so close on the heels of Gunner’s former role in politics and while he satisfied the six-month cooling off period, there can be no doubt his representations will still be taken seriously by his former colleagues.
115. Richard O’Sullivan
It has been another big year for the Darwin Turf Club chairman who this year saw the club unshackled from the $12m grandstand debt to the government.
It did however come at a cost with $6m in funding to be redirected to regional tracks, a move O’Sullivan suggested would have a great impact on the Darwin club.
O’Sullivan took over the role in a period of great turmoil, and while he’s not on the other side just yet, the Turf Club’s relationship with the government has turned a corner.
The 2022 Darwin Cup was one of the largest, attendance wise, on record with interstate trainers and jockeys once again returning after Covid restricted access.
And race meets across the year injects millions into the Northern Territory economy from direct spending trackside to accommodation and hospitality.
Racing is an important industry in the Territory and O’Sullivan is the man who needs to steer it in the right direction.
114. VASSY
Vassy is undeniably one of the Territory’s biggest claims to fame on the world stage.
The singer and songwriter was the first Australian Artist to go No. 1 on the US Billboard Dance Chart with her solo single – and debut – release, “We Are Young”.
Her music has been featured in hit Disney film Frozen and popular TV drama Grey’s Anatomy, while she has also collaborated with David Guetta and other huge names.
Vassy’s songs have been featured in EA Games, Nickelodeon, Sketchers, Victoria’s Secret and Pepsi commercials, while she’s also featured in some of the globe’s biggest EDM music festivals.
The Darwin High School alumni regularly talks up her tropical home town and has used her career to promote Top End businesses and locations.
Today she boasts more than 228,000 Instagram followers and fans of her unique dance, reggae and soul music.
113. Glen Hingley
The general manager of Tourism Top End for more than four years now is front and centre of big decisions across one of the Top End’s biggest sectors.
In the past year his team has worked on the NT Cruise Tourism Strategy 2022-25 – a road map to ensure this important industry grows in the aftermath of Covid-19.
During the pandemic, Hingley was also instrumental in maintaining aviation connection, while he played an important part in getting Qantas to move its base for the London direct flight to Darwin (instead of Perth).
Hingley has more than 30 years’ experience in private and public sector marketing and event tourism.
He arrived in Darwin in 2018 after 16 years based in Shanghai as a director of a range of companies specialising in travel management, destination management, event management and tourism representation.
112. Dr Len Notaras AM
Notaras travelled to Darwin in the 90s to rebuild an ailing hospital system and less than a decade later directed Australia’s medical response to Bali bombing evacuees.
Notaras led the plan to treat 65 wounded Aussies at Royal Darwin Hospital, one which has left a crucial legacy.
The systems he and his staff enacted would become known as the National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre – at the request of former prime minister John Howard, no less.
The team then went on to operate several emergency responses overseas, particularly in Papua New Guinea, before handling the first year of the Territory’s pandemic response at the Howard Springs quarantine facility.
Dr Notaras remains executive director of the centre today.
He has also held roles as Country Liberal Party president and executive director of the NT Department of Health.
111. Dr Miriam-Rose Ungunmerr-Baumann
A true Territory treasure, Ungunmerr-Baumann was one of just 10 everyday Australians chosen to attend Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral in September last year.
Born near the Daly River, Ungunmerr-Baumann became the first fully-qualified Aboriginal teacher in the NT and is a strong advocate for inclusive education, as well as Indigenous teachers working with non-Indigenous children.
After training as a teaching assistant in 1968 she became principal of the Catholic school in her home community.
From there, Ungunmerr-Baumann has dedicated her life to ensuring children can express themselves through art and education.
She speaks five local languages along with English and is responsible for establishing the highly successful Merrepen Arts centre in Nauiyu.
The educator and activist has been awarded an honorary doctorate from Charles Darwin University for her life-changing work, as well as the esteemed Australian Senior of the Year award in 2021.
110. Karen Weston
Coming up to three years as the Department of Education’s chief executive, Weston has been highly influential in one of the country’s most challenging education sectors.
The department has banned mobile phones in all state schools, a move that comes into effect in 2023, as well as commissioned a broad review into secondary schooling across the Territory.
Ms Weston’s team has also been involved in a major change to the way the government recognises school attendance, and therefore allocates funding.
In 2021, the department also released its 10-year education engagement strategy, aimed to get Territory children from the city to the bush into classrooms.
She brings more than two decades’ experience to the important role, with stints in her departmental counterparts in both South Australia and Victoria.
109. Russell Goldflam
Russell Goldflam is one of the Territory’s fiercest law reform advocates who has spent the past 25 years fighting for justice in the NT.
Goldflam served as the principal legal officer of the NT Legal Aid Commission’s Alice Springs office from 2001 to 2018 and the head of the Criminal Lawyers Association of the Northern Territory from 2011 to 2017.
Goldflam retired from legal practice in 2018 but as a member of the Northern Territory Legal Commission and the governance committee of the NT Aboriginal Justice Agreement, he still wields significant influence in the world of law and reform – the occasional shout-out on Twitter from the Territory’s Attorney-General is testament to that.
108. Cavenagh St shade structure
The Cavenagh St shade structure remains one of Darwin’s most controversial infrastructure projects.
The $2.7m project, completed in 2018, is yet to reach its full potential with the vines planted to cover the entire structure failing to take off from the word go.
Four years later, the structure is costing Territorians $100,000 per year to maintain – twice what was previously estimated.
Stretching 55m long, the structure forms a significant part of the Cavenagh St landscape and appears to be settled in for the long haul.
The shade structure, however little shade it may provide, seems destined to be around for a long time.
And despite a chorus of calls for the Labor government to cut its losses and bin the project, the Cavenagh St shade structure is still standing.
107. Karen Sheldon
The president of the NT’s largest and most representative business organisation, the Chamber of Commerce, Sheldon continues to be a giant of the Territory business world.
Although she has slipped some 21 spots from last year’s most powerful list, Sheldon’s influence as head of the Chamber of Commerce, which represents more than 1200 businesses, cannot be underestimated.
Her own business, Karen Sheldon Catering, was behind feeding the thousands of people who went through the Howard Springs quarantine facility.
On top of that, Sheldon’s ever-expanding training program boasts nationally recognised accredited qualifications across hospitality, retail, leadership and management, childcare, tourism and community services.
106. Darwin Waterfront Corporation
Responsible for operating one of Darwin’s premier food and drink locations, the Darwin Waterfront Precinct, the Darwin Waterfront Corporation wields a huge amount of influence in attracting visitors and locals to the city.
The body behind Darwin’s main New Year’s Eve event, the Darwin Waterfront Corporation continues to attract major acts to the Territory, including Amy Shark.
On the back of an announcement last year that a new hotel would be erected at the waterfront, plans for further expansion seem constantly around the corner, including a surf park and tropical snorkelling lagoon.
Targeted towards a corporate demographic, the new hotel, once completed, could see the Darwin Waterfront Corporation wield even more power in promoting Darwin as both a holiday and business destination.
105. David Ciaravolo
As the chief executive of the Amateur Fishermen’s Association of the Northern Territory, the peak body for recreational fishing in the Territory, Ciaravolo represents more than 30,000 NT constituents.
Ciaravolo has a direct link to the NT government, which engages AFANT to participate in the engagement and development of recreational fishing in the Territory.
Outspoken on issues affecting NT fishos, particularly permits and lockout zones, Ciaravolo has almost a decade of experience at the executive level in peak industry bodies, having previously worked as executive director at RecFishSA.
104. Dr Rob Parker
Covid was still a big part of 2022 in the NT and the Australian Medical Association’s NT branch president Parker was kept just as busy as the previous years, if not more so.
While lockdowns, border closures and even masks were aspects of the past, cases spiked early on and a major shake-up in the hospitals and workforce shortages hogged headlines during the year.
Arguably the biggest issue Parker spoke out against last year, as head of psychiatry of Royal Darwin Hospital, were the rumours circulating that all 40 heads of department were being sacked.
The initial uproar this news caused forced NT Health to speak out about the structural upheaval it planned, before ultimately pausing those plans a few months later.
Parker has also been vocal on the workforce shortage and capacity issues the system continues to grapple with that forced the hospitals to call a number of code yellows and browns throughout the year.
Despite a bit of a drop from previous years’ lists, Dr Parker continues to be a voice to speak for the health needs of the NT.
103. Anya Lorimer and Dee Madigan
The power duo of Lorimer and Madigan have cemented their spot in the top 120 by being an unshakeable force in advertising in the NT.
The two joined up to form Campaign Edge Sprout and have had a chokehold on the marketing landscape ever since.
Madigan has a huge influence in political campaigns, including wins for Labor in the NT and Queensland.
Lorimer is best known for creating her media agency in 2001 at age 28 and coming in at number 45 on the NT’s Most Powerful Women list.
She is also on the board of the NT Chamber of Commerce and chairwoman of Activate Darwin, which is tasked with reinvigorating Darwin as a destination.
The pair continues to be the firm of choice for places like City of Darwin, making their mark on the annual reports, and the Darwin Cup Carnival.
102. Pina Somerville and Darren Lynch
A couple of stalwarts of the Darwin Waterfront Precinct, there isn’t many businesses this couple hasn’t tried.
Lynch and Somerville currently run not one but two restaurants – Wharf One and Bella Fresh Pasta – in the tourism area, as well as the ever-bustling pub on the corner aptly named the Precinct.
Their adventure tourism brand has also gone from strength to strength, starting with 00Seven Jet Ski Adventures shortly after the pandemic and growing to quad biking through the Charles Darwin National Park, both of which were heavily visited when the hordes of tourists returned in 2022.
Both of them have a big say on any future developments in the area, to which there are some big plans in 2022 and beyond, including a surf park, tropical snorkelling lagoon and new hotel. Keep an eye on these two business tycoons this year, who claim to “have some awesome plans for 2023”.
101. Halkitis Bros Group
Making their debut on the 120 Most Powerful list, the NT’s Halkitis Bros Group are a solid inclusion.
HB group have the concrete market locked down, being a steady fixture of the Territory since 1960.
At the heart of their business is the HB Quarry at Mt Bundy Station, producing up to hundreds of thousands of tonnes of rock each month.
And as the Territory grows, so does their business, supplying the literal foundation for the roads and buildings of the booming population.
The company, led by general manager Mike Cull and managing director Nick Halkitis have won the Supplier of the Year at the NT Civil Contractors Awards two years running.
Some of their bigger projects they have worked on include the new Palmerston Hospital, the Palmerston Police Station and the Darwin River Dam Upgrade as well as the Stuart, Roper, Arnhem, Victoria and Daly Highway Bridges.
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