Bruce
McWilliam
The commercial
director and chief
le al brain at
Seven Network
and – more
importantly –
Malcolm Turnbull’s
best friend.
A frequent source
of sa e advice for
the PM and a ver
hand person to
have working
behind the scenes
as somewhat
of a ‘fixer’.Duncan Lewis
Spies ‘r’ us – and Lewis
holds a powerful court by
being Director General of
ASIO. Shhh, move along!Sam Dastyari
His fall was almost comical in the end – certainly hard
to comprehend such blunderings for such a smart man.
Still, ‘Little Sam’ remains incredibly well connected
and inluential in Labor circles – for he knows secrets
and where the bodies are buried. Now working as an
associate director for Essential Media and as a political
dirt dropper on Kyle and Jackie O – so, you know,
clearly not a man to cross.Sally
McManus
She’s the ACTU
Secretary after all –
the first women to hold
the position and a career
unionist. Don’t let the
quiet voice fool you –
she’s on a populist and
loud mission to right a
political and economic
system she deems to
be failing Australians.
Not convinced? Dutton
labelled her a “lunatic”
for her left-leaning
sensibilities. Think on that
for a second or two.
The Crossbench
The make-up of the Senate crossbench was recently described by one Canberran sitter of the
red house as “batshit crazy”. And, of course, that’s spot on – this is a ludicrous game of adult
musical chairs dominated by independents and micro parties as well as some odd Tasmanians
(hello Jacqui Lambie). But then, this is also the wedge of power in this country – with a few
holding more than they should and don’t they know it. Pauline Hanson may have come in for
a recent battering but she knows what she has and how to spin it her way. Darryn Hinch has
muscles too – most recently lexed by debating the government’s proposed tax cuts. And then
there’s Tim Storer – an accidental senator, sure, but one it would seem with more smarts and,
certainly at the time of writing, more power (you can blame those tax cuts again) than many
of his colleagues – even if he won’t be about much longer.
Josh
Frydenberg
His influence is entangled in
his stewardship of energy
and environment – and
hardworking attempts to
bring parties together and
move ahead (commendable
regardless of where you
stand on actual policy).
Unafraid to call out Abbott
and his backers as well as
stand toe-to-toe with Alan
Jones over the science
of climate change – yep,
a Lib who believes it is
a manmade issue in
need of redress.Frank Lowy
Soccer, Westield,
development, money,
politics. Not always
in that order, though
the billionaire
makes himself
heard when he
wants to be.AUGUST 2018 GQ.COM.AU 131