We’re not quite debating wealth taxes yet in Australia but there are clear signals that the Gillard regime is going to target ‘the rich’ in the months ahead.

Nile is the grandfather of the NSW upper house with more than thirty years’ service. A well-known adversary of the gay movement (every year he leads a prayer for rain during Mardi Gras), Nile is part of the so-called Guns n Moses power-sharing arrangement in the legislative assembly (along with the Shooters’ Party). On his hit list is banning the teaching of ethics in the classroom.

There's something about David Thodey. In just three years, the Telstra chief's been able to mend fences with customers and suppliers, and even with both political sides.

With Bob Brown gone, Labor’s relationship with the Greens was bound to come to grief. But given Labor's lack of moral and political capital, distancing itself from the Greens won't be enough against a relentless Tony Abbott.

Thanks to the Greens' position on asylum seekers and a high carbon price, Tony Abbott is set to cruise into government with a large margin and a mandate to repeal the carbon tax.

If you want to see a pretty pack of pollies, you need look no further than James Packer's new political mates. The billionaire's offices in Sydney's Park Street are now becoming a stronghold for the Labor Party in exile.

Tomorrow, we start counting down the Top 10 most powerful Union Heavies. Here, Matthew Knott presents the shortlist.

The Labor government’s lost the authority and audience to deliver a compelling, influential message – and has handed the ability to dictate the national debate to the Opposition in the process.

Rob Purves is using the fortune he made in nursing homes and railway locomotives to bankroll troops willing to fight the climate and mining wars.

Neil Lawrence, the marketer behind the Kevin07 ad campaign, has slammed the Gillard government's attempt to sell the carbon tax as puerile and asinine.

He still flies into Australia to sack his right-hand man, rip apart the front pages and terrify his editors, and they hang on every word, in case they should fail to catch a passing wish.

The past year has provided a smorgasbord of power snatching opportunities for those looking to increase their influence. Here we present eight of our favourite 2011 power grabs.

Simon Banks understands the Labor Party better than any other lobbyist. He's worked on five ALP federal election campaigns, was Kevin Rudd's chief of staff and helped broker the deal between the independents and the Gillard government.

It's been a long weekend for Justice Geoffrey Giudice. One that may well have reminded him why, just last Thursday, he announced his intention to resign as president of Fair Work Australia.

How's that for power? No sooner does The Power Index publicize Cate Blanchett's desire to create an arts precinct in Sydney's Walsh Bay, than the idea receives official backing.

Journalism experts fear the Gillard government's media inquiry, which is expected not to examine bias or media ownership, is shaping up to be a missed opportunity and waste of time.

Social Inclusion Commissioner David Cappo has unloaded on the 'self-serving' South Australian government bureaucracy for being an unmovable obstacle against achieving real social reform.

Just when she thought it couldn't get any worse, legendary business powerbroker Don Argus has come along to give Julia Gillard a kick when she's down.