If there's one thing that Julia Gillard has on Kevin Rudd, it's that US president Barack Obama hasn't cancelled a visit to Australia on her – at least not yet.

If the numbers keep telling Labor MPs they can hold onto government (or their seats) with Rudd as leader, then the party's powerbrokers will eventually be flattened in the stampede. And right now the numbers do show that.

Powerbrokers stood their ground on opposing sides of the productivity debate, Gina Rinehart's legal woes hit the headlines and 35,000 public service workers protested in Sydney: these are The Power Index's top picks of people who mattered this week.

Phillip Adams has used one of his megaphones to beg for embattled prime minister Julia Gillard to resign and hand over power to his old mate Kevin Rudd.

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.

Attorney-General Robert McClelland's has attempted to water down the Prime Minister's attack on the High Court, releasing a statement overnight declaring that the Government respects the court, and its judges.

Despite rumblings that Julia Gillard could be turfed out before the next election, Labor factional boss Bill Shorten is standing by the woman he helped install as leader.

Maybe money can't buy happiness but, as property developer and newspaper tycoon Chau Chak Wing has learnt, it can help give you remarkable access to Australia's most powerful politicians.

We've called them megaphones, but we could have called them shit-stirrers, tub-thumpers or loudmouths. These are the people who rustle up controversy, spark debate and help set the tone of our national conversation.

A round-up of Australian Political Fixers would be incomplete without mentioning the legendary men who made fixing an art form. So where are they now and what can they still do?

It was Shorten who marshalled the numbers for Gillard, working two mobile phones from a Canberra restaurant on the night of the ALP leadership spill. And Shorten still retains the power to do it all over again.

The Labor Party is suffering at the hands of unelected factional bosses and union leaders. Paul Barry explains how the party ended up in such a mess, and what must now change.

The mastermind behind the hit Kevin 07 advertising campaign has been tapped to orchestrate a multi-million dollar Qantas media blitz, aimed at selling the airline's controversial international restructure.

You don't become one of Australia's richest men without making friends in pretty high places. So, just who are some of Andrew Forrest's mates? And what have they done for him lately?

Dick Smith never sits still and never shuts up. He's the wildcard in our pack of megaphones.

She's carved out a niche as Australia's answer to Ayn Rand: anyone who's anyone in conservative intellectual circles reads her, as do the bigwigs in the Liberal Party.

While some MPs are facing questions as to why they fail to call their electorates home, Kevin Rudd has reaffirmed his commitment to the people of Griffith with the ultimate statement: purchasing a block of land in Brisbane to build a second home just a short stroll away from his existing Norman Park house.

Ingeus, Therese Rein’s flourishing job placement firm, is ramping up operations once again in Australia, three and a half years after the millionaire entrepreneur sold the local arm of the business as her husband Kevin Rudd sought to become prime minister.

When the powerful want to talk to Melbourne, there's one man they choose: Neil Mitchell.

Don Farrell and his Shoppies Union mates have done it again, writes Paul Barry.