We’re excited to reveal the top 10 most influential people in TNQ for 2017.

There are some big surprises in this final section of both our TropicNow Power 50 List and The Cairns Post’s most influential list.

Don’t forget: the full list will be published in the next edition of Tropic Magazine, due to hit the streets of Cairns early next week.


Cairns Post most influential vs TropicNow Power 50


 

Ranking Cairns Post TropicNow
50.

Leigh Boswell

Kelly Reaston

49.

Rick Hanlon

Shaneen Fantin

48.

Michael Delaney

Karl Latham

47.

Harry Sou

Suellen Maunder

46.

Cynthia Lui

Amy Eden

45.

Ralf Dutton

Kristy Vallely

44.

Anita Veivers

Molly Steer

43.

Bill Cummings

Cairns councillors

42.

Andy Ridley

Ranjit Singh

41.

Russell Parker

Clive Skarrott


Ranking Cairns Post TropicNow
40.

Allan Tan

Wendy Morris

39.

Gary Young

Carlo Amerio

38.

James Foley

John MacKenzie

37.

Darren Halpin

Michael Delaney

36.

Richard Ireland

35.

Andrea May Churcher

(= 35) Sam Marino / Michael Healy

34.

Sandra Harding

Noel Pearson

33.

Justice James Henry

Stephen Foster

32.

Pat Bailey

Nick Loukas

31.

Ben Woodward

Danny Betros


Ranking Cairns Post TropicNow
30.

Sally Mlikota

Regional mayors

29.

Tony Baker

Ken Chapman

28.

Tony Williamson

Chris Boland

27.

Julia Leu

Paul Taylor

26.

Pip Close

Jennifer Spilsbury

25.

Anthony Ritter

Sally Mlikota

24.

Col McKenzie

23.

Ross Moller

(= 23) Nick Holloway/Davy O’Rourke

22.

Clive Skarrott

Fred White

21.

Brett Olds

Jodie Duignan-George


Ranking Cairns Post TropicNow
20.

Scott Bowman

Tony Williamson

19.

Russell Beer

Zak Thaker

18.

Amy Turnbull

Craig Crawford

17.

John Andrejic

Dean Pradal

16.

Brett Schafferius

Amy Turnbull

15.

Richie Bates

Adam Adams

14.

Clare Douglas

John Andrejic

13.

Norris Carter

Luckbir Singh

12.

Ken Chapman

Russell Beer

11.

Trent Twomey

John Richardson


Positions 10-1

 


Ranking Cairns Post TropicNow
10.

Johnathan Thurston

Warren Entsch

9.

Warren Entsch

Darren Halpin

8.

Kevin Byrne

Andy Taylor

7.

Nick Loukas

Norris Carter

6.

Bob Katter

Trent Twomey

5.

Billy Slater

4.

Curtis Pitt

(= 4th) Sandra Harding / Scott Bowman

3.

Wendy Morris

Curtis Pitt

2.

Bob Manning

Bob Manning

1.

Ghassan Aboud

Ghassan Aboud

Positions 10-1

He might be a slightly controversial choice given he doesn’t live here and only visits a few times a year.

But there’s no doubt about his influence over Cairns during 2017.

GA Group billionaire Ghassan Aboud has been ranked number one on TropicNow’s Power 50 List.

In a rare alignment between the two lists, Mr Aboud was also ranked in the top spot on the Cairns Post’s list.

With his investment in TNQ now soaring above half a billion dollars, it’s easy to see why.

Mayor Bob Manning also provided a moment of commonality between the two lists, featuring at number 2 on both lists.

But that’s where the similarities between the sets of top 10s end.

The Post has made some strange choices for its top 10 powerbrokers.

Footy players Billy Slater and Johnathan Thurston are included in spots 6 and 10 respectively, while Federal MP Bob Katter is ranked in the lofty spot of position 6 – despite his lack of impact and results for the region in 2017.

In contrast, we have placed Curtis Pitt in the third spot, and university leaders Sandra Harding and Scott Bowman in equal fourth position.

All three delivered funding, projects and passion for the Cairns region during 2017. It’s hard to see how footy players and Mr Katter delivered more for our local community and economy than this trio throughout the year.

We also placed business leaders Norris Carter (Cairns Airport) and Darren Halpin (Halpin Partners) much higher on our list than the Cairns Post, who put both of them outside the top 10.

Mr Carter is a sharp, smart operator delivering growth at our most important economic asset, while Mr Halpin has been involved in everything from horse racing to golf courses, startups to politics and much in between.

We placed Prime Group boss Andy Taylor at number 8 on our list, while the Post failed to include him at all in its top 50.

Given his influence over hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts for the Crystalbrook Collection projects, Mr Taylor is the man everyone wanted to know and meet during 2017.

 

 

 

Read Original Article: Tropic Now