FishHead’s second annual list of our region’s most influential individuals is here. But who made it onto the list and who disappeared?

Wellington’s TOP 50 People 2013

30052007 Staff photo. Associate editor Bernadette Courtney. PICTURE: CRAIG SIMCOX © DOMINION POST30/05/2007189137Craig SimcoxWellingtonCopyright to The Dominion Post. This photograph may not be reproduced, copied or published in any printed or digital form without permission.Head ShouldersJOURNALISMNEWSPAPERS

Shelagh Murray, Brian Roche, CEO of NZ Post Group, Maree Roche. FishHead Magazine shoot: Distinguished Alumni Awards dinner. Wednesday July 31, 2013. Wellington Town Hall Foyer. Photo by Mark Tantrum | www.marktantrum.com

PR guru Glenda Hughes in her Wellington office 14 08 08

FishHead Magazine shoot: Photograph an interview with Celia Wade-Brown and John Morrison ahead of the council elections. Tuesday August 6, 2013. 4:45-5:30pm @ Nikau Cafe, Wellington. Photo by Mark Tantrum | www.marktantrum.com

CEO Kevin Lavery portrait

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Director Peter Jackson poses for a portrait in San Diego, Thursday, July 23, 2009. (AP Photo/Chris Park)

Scots College Banquet Hall Parliament Dinner. Tuesday 19 June, 2012. 6:00pm -8:30pm. Photo by Mark Tantrum | www.marktantrum.com

Rod Drury chief executive of Xero in Canberra on Monday 15 march 2010. Photo by Andrew Meares / Fairfax for BRW SPECIAL 2222

Director of Downtown Community Ministry, Stephanie McIntyre.

Wel­come to the second annu­al Fish­Head Wellington’s Top 50 People list – anoth­er half-cen­tury of sig­ni­fic­ant Wel­ling­ton people. It is an exer­cise that once again cel­eb­rates the city’s most power­ful, dynam­ic and cre­at­ive figures.

Like any selec­tion, it has an arbit­rary ele­ment, and its rank­ings are not inten­ded to be con­sidered entirely ser­i­ously – and no doubt they will leave some read­ers splut­ter­ing into their flat whites. Last year’s list cer­tainly pro­voked argu­ment (not to men­tion subtle, and not-so-subtle, pleas for inclu­sion this time round).

But fos­ter­ing a light-hearted debate about who, and what, mat­ters in our region is pre­cisely the point. To that end, we’ve assembled anoth­er diverse list that reflects the many con­tri­bu­tions that have made Wel­ling­ton such a great city – and prove that there’s life (and abil­ity) in the old girl yet.

As in last year’s list, our main cri­terion for inclu­sion in was, quite simply, influ­ence. Who gets things done in Wel­ling­ton? Who is work­ing – either in front of or behind the scenes – to cre­ate change, and reshape the city for the bet­ter? Who has the know­ledge, the net­works and the energy to make things hap­pen? Hav­ing influ­ence in dif­fer­ent spheres was also a key factor for inclusion.

Since last year’s list was com­piled, some people have fallen from grace (and favour), while oth­ers have burst onto the scene. The list is primar­ily made up of those who have made a dif­fer­ence in the last year, but also those who have been influ­en­tial more gen­er­ally – or look set to be so in future.

The list focuses on indi­vidu­als, not com­pan­ies or fam­il­ies (with one excep­tion). We have lis­ted fig­ures from across the wider region, though cent­ral Wel­ling­to­ni­ans pre­dom­in­ate. Nation­al fig­ures who hap­pen to reside in Wel­ling­ton were excluded, as were those who may not have wiel­ded their influ­ence in the best pos­sible way.

We hope we’ve got it about right. But if you think some fig­ures on the list are over­rated, or that worthy names have been over­looked, let us know.

1. Peter Jackson (=)

Director Peter Jackson poses for a portrait in San Diego, Thursday, July 23, 2009. (AP Photo/Chris Park)

A mul­tiple-Oscar-win­ning film-maker, Jack­son has done much to build up the Wel­ling­ton film industry. He has turned phil­an­throp­ist (his cash saved BATS Theatre’s premises) and con­tin­ues to drive the growth of Wellywood.

2. Bernadette Courtney (UP)

30052007  Staff photo. Associate editor Bernadette Courtney. PICTURE: CRAIG SIMCOX © DOMINION POST30/05/2007189137Craig SimcoxWellingtonCopyright to The Dominion Post.  This photograph may not be reproduced, copied or published in any printed or digital form without permission.Head ShouldersJOURNALISMNEWSPAPERS

As edit­or of the Domin­ion Post, she remains the dom­in­ant media play­er in the cap­it­al. This year – espe­cially since John Key’s “dying Wel­ling­ton” crack – the paper has turned its sights on the cap­it­al and what it needs to thrive.

3. Celia Wade-Brown (=)

Celia-Wade-Brown

Wellington’s may­or still struggles for con­trol over her coun­cil, and lost the region­al battle on light rail. But she remains the head of the region’s largest coun­cil, and is work­ing behind the scenes for a smart, green city. Wheth­er that con­tin­ues rests, of course, on the cur­rent elections.

3. John Morrison (=)

FishHead Magazine shoot: Photograph an interview with Celia Wade-Brown and John Morrison ahead of the council elections. Tuesday August 6, 2013. 4:45-5:30pm @ Nikau Cafe, Wellington. Photo by Mark Tantrum | www.marktantrum.com

The former Test crick­eter has always been influ­en­tial in sports mat­ters, but this year has leapt into the spot­light by stand­ing for may­or, as well as bring­ing major events to Wel­ling­ton – and jobs. But with the may­or­alty race an all-or-noth­ing tilt, he could be off the list as quickly as he arrived.

5. Gareth Morgan (UP)

GARETH MORGAN-19

Fund man­ager, investor, phil­an­throp­ist, author and com­ment­at­or, Mor­gan was involved in the charge to res­cue the Wel­ling­ton Phoenix. Since then his anti-cat cru­sade and pro-wild­life ‘Halo effect’ drive have only raised his profile.

 6. Fran Wilde (DOWN)

Fran Wilde

The no-non­sense head of the Great­er Wel­ling­ton Region­al Coun­cil is still driv­ing hard for a super­city, and will almost cer­tainly have a ref­er­en­dum to con­test next year. But her abras­ive style has lost her a few friends.

7. Grant Robertson (UP)

Grant Robertson

With the Labour lead­er­ship in the bal­ance as this went to press, the high-pro­file Wel­ling­ton Cent­ral MP’s future was uncer­tain. But a win for Robertson – and poten­tial prime min­is­ter­ship – would cer­tainly help restore the part of Wellington’s for­tunes that relies on the pub­lic sector.

 8. Kevin Lavery (NEW)

CEO Kevin Lavery portrait

He’s only been Wel­ling­ton City Council’s CEO for a short time, but has stamped his mark, espe­cially with a pre-elec­tion report that called for more bor­row­ing but quick­er decisions. A strong pres­ence, he seems set to become more ‘part of the story’ than most CEOs.

9. Chris Parkin (=)

Chris Parkin1

Now best known for own­ing the Museum Hotel, he is also a former three-term Wel­ling­ton coun­cil­lor with strong polit­ic­al net­works. He sits on numer­ous arts and cul­ture boards, includ­ing the St James Theatre Char­it­able Trust and the Te Papa board. He is also a major pat­ron of artists and arts organisations.

10. Tim Brown (UP)

Tim Brown

An exec­ut­ive at infra­struc­ture firm Infrat­il, Brown also heads up the Cre­at­ive Cap­it­al Arts Trust, which runs the Fringe Fest­iv­al. As a dir­ect­or of Wel­ling­ton Air­port, he’s also driv­ing the plans for a run­way extension.

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  1. John Shewan (business) (DOWN)

Former PwC chair­man and super­city advocate

  1. John Milford (business) (UP)

Pres­id­ent of the Wel­ling­ton Employ­ers’ Cham­ber of Com­merce, and Kirks man­aging director

  1. Richard Taylor (arts) (DOWN)

Head of Weta Workshop

  1. Rod Drury (business) (UP)

Founder of world-beat­ing com­pany Xero, and influ­en­tial entrepreneur

  1. Charles Finny (business) (UP)

Top lob­by­ist with Saun­ders Unsworth, former seni­or dip­lo­mat and ex-head of the Cham­ber of Commerce

  1. Ian McKinnon (politics) (DOWN)

Former deputy may­or, and Vic­tor­ia Uni­ver­sity chancellor

  1. Mark McGuinness (business) (UP)

Man­aging dir­ect­or of developers Wil­lis Bond, respons­ible for sev­er­al key build­ing projects

  1. Chris Finlayson (politics) (DOWN)

Min­is­ter for the Arts, and enthu­si­ast­ic cul­ture vulture

  1. Mark Dunajtschik (business) (UP)

Prop­erty developer embroiled in argu­ments over earth­quakes and the Har­courts building

  1. Bob Jones (business) (UP)

Busi­ness tycoon, prop­erty own­er and media personality

  1. Sean Plunket (media) (UP)

Colum­nist, speak­er and Radi­oLIVE talk show host

  1. Rob Morrison (business) (NEW)

Chair­man of Mor­ris­on & Co, which con­trols Infrat­il, and headed the Phoenix res­cue bid

  1. Joseph Romanos (media) (UP)

Edit­or of The Wel­ling­to­ni­an

  1. Martin Bosley (food) (UP)

Eponym­ous res­taur­ant own­er and food world mover and shaker 

  1. Steve Logan (food) (NEW)

Now in sole charge of Logan Brown, and a TV host to boot 

 

  1. Pat Walsh (academia) (=)

Vice-chan­cel­lor of Vic­tor­ia Uni­ver­sity, and Cham­ber of Com­merce board member

  1. Steve Maharey (academia) (UP)

Mas­sey Uni­ver­sity vice-chan­cel­lor, Cham­ber of Com­merce board mem­ber, and ex-gov­ern­ment minister

  1. Nick Leggett (politics) (NEW)

Young may­or of Pori­rua, push­ing the super­city idea, and tipped for big things

  1. Annette King (politics) (UP)

Long-time Ron­go­tai MP and Labour front-bencher

  1. Liz Mellish (other) (NEW)

Chair of the Wel­ling­ton Tenths Trust

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  1. Peter Cullen (business) (UP)

Lead­ing indus­tri­al law­yer, colum­nist and Cham­ber of Com­merce board member

  1. Matiu Rei (other) (NEW)

Ngāti Toa exec­ut­ive dir­ect­or and chief nego­ti­at­or 

  1. Patsy Reddy (business) (NEW)

Law­yer, Film Com­mis­sion chair and arts trust­ee par excellence

  1. Mike O’Donnell (business) (NEW)

Head of oper­a­tions for Trade Me Group and chair­man of Pos­it­ively Wel­ling­ton Tourism

  1. Stephanie McIntyre (civil society) (DOWN)

Dir­ect­or of the Down­town Com­munity Min­istry, and lead­ing voice on home­less­ness and poverty

 

  1. Ian Athfield (arts) (UP)

Archi­tec­tur­al legend and urb­an design advocate

  1. Ruth Pretty (food) (UP)

Cater­ing queen and major Kapiti businesswoman

  1. Bob Francis (politics) (NEW)

Former Mas­ter­ton may­or, Wair­ar­apa Dis­trict Health Board chair and region­al influencer

  1. Bill Foley (business) (NEW)

Amer­ic­an bil­lion­aire and wine empire builder

  1. Wira Gardiner (other) (DOWN)

Former chair­man of the Te Papa board, and part­ner of Edu­ca­tion Min­is­ter Hekia Parata

  1. James Cameron (arts) (NEW)

Oscar-win­ning dir­ect­or and Wair­ar­apa landowner

  1. Peter Hughes (politics) (=)

Former Min­istry of Social Devel­op­ment boss, now head of the Min­istry of Education

  1. Margaret Mayman (civil society) (NEW)

Depart­ing vicar of St Andrews and Liv­ing Wage and mar­riage equal­ity proponent

  1. Kim Wicksteed (business) N/A

Tour­ism board mem­ber, com­pany dir­ect­or and fath­er of ‘Abso­lutely Pos­it­ively Wel­ling­ton’ campaign

  1. Glenda Hughes (civil society) (DOWN)

PR expert with strong Nation­al Party links, and trust­ee of Kid­sCan and oth­er charities

  1. Neville Brown (politics) (NEW)

Head of earth­quake resi­li­ence at Wel­ling­ton City Council

  1. Julie and Graham Moore (business) (NEW)

Founders of food empire Moore Wilson’s

  1. Geoffrey Palmer (politics) (DOWN)

Former prime min­is­ter and head of super­city invest­ig­a­tion panel

  1. Theresa Gattung (business) (NEW)

Former Tele­com boss, now SPCA chair and philanthropist

  1. Brian Roche (business) (NEW)

Head of New Zea­l­and Post Group and influ­en­tial in major sport­ing events

  1. Geoff Marsland (NEW)

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How we did it

The list was com­piled with the help of two mem­bers of the Fish­Head advis­ory board – who, this year, have been excluded from the list in order to avoid any (admit­tedly out­rageous) accus­a­tions of bias. These are Inter­na­tion­al Fest­iv­al of the Arts chair Kerry Pren­der­gast, who is also the head of the Envir­on­ment­al Pro­tec­tion Agency and a former Wel­ling­ton City may­or, and prop­erty ‘farm­er’ Ian Cas­sels, the head of lead­ing developers The Wel­ling­ton Com­pany and a prom­in­ent com­ment­at­or on Wel­ling­ton affairs. After extens­ive research (includ­ing feed­back from 2012’s list) presen­ted dur­ing heated debate in an even hot­ter room, an ini­tial list of 100 people was chopped, changed, and then dis­tilled fur­ther to leave a draft doc­u­ment con­tain­ing many of the indi­vidu­als presen­ted above.

This list was then refined and form­ally ranked by Fish­Head edit­or Richard Ain­dow and seni­or fea­tures writer Max Rash­brooke. One again, com­plaints, threat­en­ing let­ters and bribes for high­er pla­cings next time should be dir­ec­ted to this duo.

 

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