Dolly Jensen voted Gympie's most influential person in stunning poll result

The outspoken councillor who challenged fluoride removal has proven her political clout by topping an influence poll ahead of established male politicians and community figures. See who made the top ten.

Gympie Deputy Mayor and 2025 Most Influential person Dolly Jensen.

Deputy Gympie Mayor Dolly Jensen is a political force to behold, and she takes pride in her everyday community involvement.

She is a staunch advocate for women, the foremost challenger to the council status quo, a wife, a mother, and has been voted the most influential person in Gympie in 2025.

The outspoken Division 2 councillor took out an impressive 22 per cent of the vote against some powerful and accomplished men, including LNP Federal MP Llew O’Brien and Queensland Agricultural Minister Tony Perrett.

Gympie social media sensation Mal Dodt cam in second in the poll, securing 19 per cent of votes, and Mr Perrett was close behind on 13 per cent.

From decades of union involvement to 10 years spent as a “floater for the banks”, Ms Jensen is “not scared of the challenge”, she said.

“People don’t scare me.”

The Theebine resident said she is proud of Gympie holding onto its country identity.

“(I love) that we’re still a country town, with a strong community.

Gympie councillor Dolly Jensen moved to Theebine when she was 15 months old, and has lived there ever since, she said.

“Once you’ve lost that, people don’t look after people.”

Ms Jensen said she was, however, concerned the region was in danger of losing some of that charm.

“People need to get out there and volunteer, it’s important.

“We’ve lost some of that community involvement, (like) going out and helping you neighbour.”

The political influence of Ms Jensen was on full display in her impassioned opposition to the Gympie council decision to remove fluoride from its drinking water earlier this year.

Ms Jensen, who is also Queensland president of the Australian Local Government Women’s Association, spoke on gender equity at the Women’s Unlimited Summit in Brisbane in September, which included other speakers such as Hillary Clinton, Leigh Sales and Julia Gillard.

Mal Dodt, the man behind Gympie – The real treasure is the town, came in second. “I’m still number one,” he said in response to the news.

Ms Jensen said her defining passion had likely been the fight for gender equity — but not in the sense that workforces should be an even male-female split, she said.

“It’s more about fairness.”

When asked about her vision for the region, the James Nash State High alumnus imagined one free of homelessness and gendered disadvantage.

“It’s a very slow-moving wheel … we’ve still got 170 years to go,” she said.

In the interim, “it’s important not to erode what’s been won”, Ms Jensen said, pointing to increased social media exposure for young men as a primary threat.

“I find it really concerning.”

When all is said and done, Ms Jensen said, “I want people to think I’ve been a good leader, and a good person”.

Congratulations to the top three most influential Gympie region men and women, and a big thank you to all those who keep our region moving.

Below are the final poll results, as a percentage of total votes cast:

Dolly Jensen — 22%

Mal Dodt — 19%

Tony Perrett — 13%

Llew O’Brien — 7%

Rob ‘Ice Man’ Gough — 6%

Andrew ‘Aussie’ Corbet — 5%

Terry Nolan, Martin Muller and Mick Curran — 4% each

Rosie Fitzgerald — 3%

Sean Connelly, Colleen Miller, Glen Hartwig and Emma Buhse — 2% each

Tim and Amber Scott, Matt Golinski, Deanne Mitchell, Russell Bennett and Michele Perrett — 1% each

Originally published as Dolly Jensen voted Gympie's most influential person in stunning poll result