Julie Bishop Tops List of the 50 Most Powerful Women in Australia

Julie Bishop, the nation’s first female Foreign Minister, has topped the Australian Women’s Weekly Power List, which includes the country’s female business elite, high-court judges, influential actresses, journalists, politicians and transgender Army officer Lieutenant Colonel Cate McGregor.

According to the AWW Power List, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop is the most powerful woman in Australia, ahead of Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s Chief of Staff Peta Credlin.

After a shaky start, it’s been a good couple of months for Julie Bishop, with the Foreign Minister being voted as the most popular and highest-performing politician in the Federal Coalition Government.

Other notable inclusions in the list include Deputy Opposition Leader Tanya Plibersek (5) and Senate Labor leader Penny Wong (11). More than a year after losing the top job, Julia Gillard’s legacy as the nation’s first female Prime Minister endures with the former PM appearing on the list (25) ahead of outspoken PUP Senator from Tasmania, Jacqui Lambie (26).

After politicians, the female business elite are the most powerful group of women in the country, with the Chair of Telstra Catherine Livingstone (3), CEO of Westpac Gail Kelly (4), CEO of the Business Council Jennifer Westacott (6) and mining magnate Gina Rinehart (7), all appearing in the top ten.

Commenting on the AWW Power List, Australian Women’s Weekly Editor-in-Chief, Helen McCabe, said: “Women tend to have an uneasy relationship with power – not so much the wielding of it, which they do as well as any man, but the owning of it. Our definition of power when compiling this list was not how impressive a woman’s title is or how large her corner office might be, but her ability to get things done.”

The AWW list of the 50 most powerful women in Australia was selected by an independent panel of experts: Lucy Turnbull (former Sydney Mayor), Kate Torney (Director of News, ABC), Ann Peacock (Crown Resorts), Sue Cato (Cato Counsel), Clive Mathieson (Editor, The Australian), Henry Tajer (IPG MediaBrands), Alex Malley (CPA) and Helen McCabe (Editor-in-Chief, Australian Women’s Weekly).

More information about each of the 50 women will be published in the October 2014 issue of the Australian Women’s Weekly which goes on sale on 25th September.

Australian Women’s Weekly Power List 2014

1. Julie Bishop – Foreign Minister and Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party
2. Peta Credlin – Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister Tony Abbott
3. Catherine Livingstone – Chair of Telstra
4. Gail Kelly – CEO of Westpac
5. Tanya Plibersek – Deputy Leader of the Labor Party
6. Jennifer Westacott – CEO of the Business Council of Australia
7. Gina Rinehart – Chair of Hancock Prospecting
8. Jane Halton – Secretary of the Department of Finance
9. Major General Simone Wilkie – Australian Deputy National Commander in the War in Afghanistan
10. Deborra-Lee Furness – Actress, director and producer

11. Penny Wong – Leader of the Labor Party in the Senate
12. Cate Blanchett – Academy Award winning Actress
13. Maile Carnegie – Managing Director, Google Australia
14. Leigh Sales – Journalist, ABC TV
15. Sam Mostyn – Businesswoman
16. Catherine Tanna – Managing Director, EneryAustralia
17. Diane Smith Gander – Businesswoman
18. Marcia Langton – Academic, Indigenous Studies
19. Susan Kiefel AC + Virginia Bell AC – Justices of the High Court of Australia
20. Elizabeth Broderick – Sex Discrimination Commissioner

21. Shemara Wikramanayake – Executive Director, Head of Macquarie Funds Group
22. Naomi Milgrom – Businesswoman
23. Jeanne Pratt – Chair of Visy
24. Belinda Hutchison – Chair of QBE
25. Julia Gillard – Former Prime Minister of Australia
26. Jacqui Lambie – PUP Senator Tasmania
27. Tracy Grimshaw – TV Journalist, Nine Network
28. Alison Watkins – Managing Director of Coca-Cola Amatil
29. Carol Schwartz – Businesswoman and philanthropist
30. Nicole Kidman – Academy Award winning actress

31. Fran Kelly – ABC Radio & TV presenter
32. Kathryn Fagg – Businesswoman and Director of the Reserve Bank
33. Miranda Devine – News Corp Journalist
34. Therese Rein – Businesswoman
35. Sarah Murdoch – Model, actress and TV presenter
36. Gai Waterhouse – Businesswoman and horse trainer
37. Ged Kearney – President of ACTU
38. Louise Adler – CEO of Melbourne University Publishing
39. Prof Gillian Triggs – President of Australian Human Rights Commission

40. Tracey Fellows – CEO of REA
41. Gretel Packer + Ros Packer
42. Raelene Castle – Canterbury Bulldogs CEO + Peggy O’Neal – Richmond CEO
43. Kate McClymont + Caroline Wilson
44. Annabel Crabb – Political journalist
45. Kerry Schott – Businesswoman
46. Catherine Martin – Academy Award winning costume designer
47. Kylie Minogue + Dannii Minogue
48. Lieutenant Colonel Cate McGregor AM – Army Officer
49. Sarah Ferguson – ABC TV journalist
50. Jessica Mauboy – Singer, songwriter and actress