Michael O'Connor isn't fazed that Paul Keating once called him a Labor rat who should be excommunicated from the ALP. In fact, the forestry industry firebrand wears it as a badge of pride.

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.

Joe Hockey looks set to have the toughest job in Australian politics come September next year. That's when, if current polls bear out over the next 18 months, he'll become Treasurer.

Union boss Paul Howes, never one lacking chutzpah, has outdone himself today by launching a bold blueprint to save the manufacturing industry

They call it 'being Adlerised': a phenomenon where the publisher of Melbourne University Publishing gets people to agree to do things that they hadn't planned on doing.

Queensland's new premier is a very brave man who's not short of answers to the state's key problems. But Campbell Newman's got problems of his own, including LNP's key party donor, Clive Palmer.

Frank Lowy's not on Wayne Swan's billionaire hit list. Yet when it comes to foreign policy, this shopping king has more sway than the rest of Australia's mega-rich combined.

Ray Hadley celebrates 30 years in radio, Janet Albrechtsen dusts off The Latham Diaries, Alan Jones spruiks for his buddy James Packer.

It's 113 years since Simcha Baevski arrived in Melbourne as a near-penniless immigrant from Belarus. But this remarkable man is still changing the face of Australia, almost four decades after his death.

This week we begin profiling Australia's most influential Rich Crusaders, the people who use their cash to influence public debate and promote causes they believe in. Here, Paul Barry presents the shortlist.

Mark Textor is the most domineering, divisive pollster this country's ever seen – and the most powerful. Even his Labor adversaries admit no-one on their side of politics can match him.

Toby Ralph has no office, no job title and no qualms about spinning for the forces of darkness. Tobacco companies, the nuclear waste industry and banks wanting to kill off the four pillars policy are some of the flamboyant freelancer's controversial past clients.

Ian Plimer is one of the most imperious purveyors of climate scepticism in the world. He's a prize-winning academic and bestselling author, meaning he's got the cultural capital and turn of phrase needed to put forward a compelling case.

Ted Baillieu's Victorian government looks set for a change of direction with the Premier's key advisor, Michael Kapel, leaving his chief-of-staff post to become the state's representative in San Francisco, and Commissioner to the Americas.

John Howard's not going to let the car industry assistance debate stand in the way of his legacy. The former PM has hit back at claims his government left the car industry in limbo upon losing the 2007 election.

Who are the intellectuals most influencing our public debate? Next week we're counting down the Top 10 Most Powerful Thinkers. Here, Tom Cowie presents the shortlist.

Tony Abbott would rather the issue of IR reform just go away, yet it's shaping up as one of the year's biggest political stoushes. So who has kept the flame of workplace flexibility burning bright?

When it comes to wielding influence in the Liberal Party, Brian Loughnane and Peta Credlin put many well-known members of Tony Abbott's shadow cabinet to shame. The husband and wife are two of the opposition leader's most trusted advisers on strategy and policy, and both can take credit for the Libs' soaring popularity in the polls.

Constitutional reform is in the headlines again. This time it's not the Republic, but how to recognise Indigenous Australians in our founding document.

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.