The Power 50 / 2012

50

Sam Dastyari

The backbone of the NSW Labor Party's revival
49

Noel Pearson

Pearson’s got his fair share of critics, but he remains one of the most visible and influential advocates for indigenous rights
48

Andrew Scipione

The man in charge of Australia's biggest police force
47

Peter Blunden

The tabloid master can make or break reputations at the click of a mouse
46

Nick Greiner

The NSW ex-Liberal Premier is cracking the whip
45

Rod Eddington

Few are as well-connected as this infrastructure boss and events heavyweight
44

Peta Credlin

The “Queen of No” has her critics, but no-one questions her clout
43

Robert French

The High Court’s head honcho is unafraid to put governments offside
42

Paul Whittaker

The pugnacious editor of the country's most-feared newspaper
41

Dave Oliver

Expectations are high for the incoming ACTU secretary
40

Rod Sims

Sims and the competition watchdog are up for a fight
39

Julian Assange

Townsville's most famous former computer hacker is changing how the media and diplomats operate
38

Ben Hubbard

Can Gillard’s likeable chief of staff save her from going under?
37

Greg Medcraft

The banker turned regulator is keen to show up the lawyers
36

Clive Palmer

An outspoken regular donor to political parties, most of it to the Coalition and the LNP in Queensland
35

Alan Jones

The talkback titan who's stood the test of time
34

Christopher Pyne

"The most annoying man in Australia’’ is the second most powerful Liberal party member, behind his friend, Tony Abbott
33

Andrew Demetriou

The AFL czar revelling in a billion-dollar TV deal
32

Cameron Clyne

NAB’s youngest ever head and a potential future politician
31

James Packer

The casino king on a mission to 'Crownify' Australia
30

Gail Kelly

One of the most powerful women in the country
29

Joe Hockey

He’ll be ground zero of economic management in the next Coalition government
28

Paul Howes

Howes’ headline-grabbing ways are paying off
27

Andrew Bolt

Print, TV, radio: there's no medium this conservative can't conquer
26

Jay Weatherill

A leading light for the almost-extinct species of Labor premiers
25

David Gonski

Corporate Australia's Mr. Teflon: nothing sticks for long
24

Colin Barnett

WA's popular Liberal leader is riding high on the resources boom
23

Ian Narev

Former TV child star, now sitting on the CBA throne
22

Mark Scott

He's led the digital revolution and told the world about it all on Twitter
21

Mike Smith

Smith's caused a stir by setting ANZ free of the RBA on interest rates
20

Martin Parkinson

Pulling the strings of the little economy that could
19

Ted Baillieu

He's in power, but does Big Ted have the ticker to govern?
18

Kerry Stokes

He doesn't throw his weight around like the titans of old, and he's never had an obvious political agenda
17

Frank Lowy

Lowy has a huge impact on the way we live, shop and work
16

Harold Mitchell

The affable ad man sits on a slew of influential boards
15

Chris Mitchell

The crusading editor at the helm of Murdoch's most-cherished antipodean paper
14

Campbell Newman

An election landslide has given 'Can do' huge power to push his agenda
13

Bill Shorten

He's a well-connected union hero and future PM – just ask him
12

Marius Kloppers

Head of BHP Billiton: the country's largest company
11

Christine Milne

Bob Brown’s successor now wields the balance of power in the Senate
10

Barry O’Farrell

Barry O'Farrell acts as gatekeeper to all change and holds the key to fixing Sydney's transport mess
9

Kim Williams

If anyone can make the public pay it's Kim, who worked wonders at Foxtel. He's focused, ambitious and well-connected.
8

David Thodey

Making sure Telstra rakes in the NBN billions
7

Stephen Conroy

The former 'factional Dalek' has become the government’s most effective minister
6

Gina Rinehart

Money talks. And no one has more than the Pilbara’s iron lady
5

Glenn Stevens

The man who controls the price of money
4

Tony Abbott

His tactics have driven the government to the edge of destruction
3

Rupert Murdoch

Despite a series of setbacks, the Sun King still wields considerable power in his home country
2

Wayne Swan

He’s handled a GFC, mining boom and tax rebellion -- but still can’t sell Labor’s economic credentials
1

Julia Gillard

Can the PM get voters to listen to her again?

After a year of discovering who really runs Australia, The Power Index is finally set to reveal the country's fifty most powerful people.

Throughout July, Paul Barry and The Power Index team will be counting down the most influential people in the nation from business, media, politics, sport and culture.

The Power 50 / 2012

FORMER LIFE

Kelly started her professional life as school teacher before becoming a bank teller in 1980.

Email to a friend

30 Gail Kelly

Tom Cowie Wednesday, 11 July 2012

One of the most powerful women in the country

CEO, Westpac

Born in: Pretoria, South Africa, she migrated to Australia in 1997

Home Town: Sydney

Kelly on

From teacher to bank teller to Big Four CEO...not a typical CV sure, but there's not much that's standard about Gail Kelly.

With her brightly-coloured suits, silver pixie haircut and white picket fence-sized teeth, Kelly has an unmistakable presence in the corporate world. And inevitably, "first female Big Four CEO" gets included in every profile written about her, along with all the implied responsibility of being one of the few women in her game to smash through the glass ceiling.

Westpac is huge; as Australia's second biggest bank it has a $300 billion home-loan book and commands a market share of 20% in home lending and deposits. Last year, the company posted an annual profit of $6 billion, with assets of $618 billion. But it's not all cruisy. Her key multi-brand strategy, including the resurrection of the once-defunct Bank of Melbourne, has divided investors and analysts.

Still, Kelly can be as tough as nails. Smart, fierce and energetic, she has sacrificed plenty to get where she is today. She left her home country of South Africa in 1997, in the shadows of apartheid, to bring her family to Australia.

*For more on Gail Kelly see the original profile.

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The Power Index follows power and influence in Australia. Paul Barry and a team of investigative journalists find out who really runs Australia via regular Power Lists profiling powerful individuals across Politics, Media, Money, Law + Order, Culture and special lists. The Power Index Email Alert is a twice weekly snapshot of power-related news, views and features. Web development of The Power Index by Valegro.