Featured
AFR Magazine 2020 in pictures
The photographs and illustrations that brought to life our glossy pages throughout the year.
The 10 most powerful people in Australia in 2020
A man whose work ethic confounds his rivals, a banker who is power coaching the rest of the industry and a politician overlooked by the rest of his party until the pandemic hit. Meet 2020's most powerful.
- Tom McIlroy
Premiers, doctors and bankers back in charge but PM still on top
Bushfires of terrifying ferocity, followed by a global pandemic caused by a pathogen visible only with an electron microscope, have shown us real power.
- Phillip Coorey
The list to be on: 20 years of the AFR Magazine Power issue
From prime ministerial coups to back-room manoeuvrings, our annual Power issue identifies the Australians shaping the nation.
- Matthew Drummond
Australia’s 10 most covertly powerful people in 2020
Australians with the leverage to exert their influence behind the scenes.
- Tom McIlroy
October 2020
How Scott Morrison learnt to filter out the noise
As a young MP, Scott Morrison was combative. But as Prime Minister – and facing an invisible enemy – he’s found a new modus operandi.
- Pamela Williams
- Opinion
- The AFR View
Power challenge now is to lead a stronger recovery
In pandemic times, the 20th anniversary of The Australian Financial Review Magazine's Power issue asks whether overt and covert networks of Australian power can harness the virus disaster to drive the changes needed for the country to emerge stronger.
- The AFR View
The 10 most culturally powerful people in Australia in 2020
What did Australia’s cultural power luminaries have in common this year? They rose to the challenge of a crisis, then set about making a difference.
- Brook Turner
New kids on the block join 2020’s property power players
For sheer innovation alone, Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar's plan for a $1 billion office tower wins them a placing as commercial real estate developers.
- Nick Lenaghan
September 2020
How corporate Australia clawed back its power in 2020
When the crisis hit, one leader grasped its significance – and the opportunity it provided – more quickly than anyone.
- James Thomson
- Exclusive
- Federal budget
Josh Frydenberg has no regrets about unorthodox budget
For the Treasurer, when it comes to preparing this year's budget, flexibility is the new policy black.
- Jennifer Hewett
The 10 most powerful people in Australian business in 2020
As the business sector’s most prominent member of Team Australia, CBA chief executive Matt Comyn tops this year’s list of corporate heavy-hitters.
- James Thomson
Will Josh Frydenberg be outmatched by the recession?
Australia's Treasurer wants to one day lead the country. But first the “glass-half-full guy” needs to lead the nation out of recession.
- Jennifer Hewett
Australia’s five most powerful consultants in 2020
Major firms – including the big four – had been posting strong year-on-year growth amid rising demand. Then the pandemic hit, hard and fast.
- Edmund Tadros
The top five power brokers in law for 2020
The sexual harassment scandal involving one of the most powerful men in the law has been a #metoo moment for the legal profession. Here are the people shaping the new landscape.
- Michael Pelly
Atlassian bosses top the list of Australia’s tech titans
Few sectors have had the chance to prove their power as much as the technology industry during the chaos of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Paul Smith
Cochlear sets the tone for power banking play
It was mid-March, stockmarkets were in meltdown and Cochlear had a problem. What happens next underscores a wild ride for dealmakers.
- Sarah Thompson, Anthony Macdonald and Tim Boyd
Biden insiders reveal how he can win
As its date with destiny nears, a divided nation faces a dramatic choice. Can the man who’s seemingly stepped up from a lost era lead America into a new one? US correspondent Jacob Greber finds out.
- Jacob Greber
Australia’s top five deal makers in 2020
As COVID-19 hit earnings, boards sought to shore up their balance sheets and sparked an equity raising spree. How those tickets were landed was a game of power.
- Sarah Thompson and Anthony Macdonald
The five most powerful people in education
Reform of vocational education and realism among universities are the key to power in education.
- Robert Bolton
Business must be physically part of universities: Terry
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the middle of Boston is a good example. You can't tell when one begins and the other ends.
- Robert Bolton
February 2020
Can Alan Joyce fly Qantas into aviation history?
Airlines need to be match fit to survive, let alone thrive, says the Qantas CEO – and he applies the same discipline to himself.
- Jemima Whyte and Fiona Carruthers
October 2019
How we created this year's Power issue of AFR Magazine
Go behind the scenes on AFR Magazine's most logistically challenging issue.
- Matthew Drummond
- Opinion
- The AFR View
Scott Morrison must turn power into prosperity
The PM has a grip on his job that eluded his predecessors. But there is a hollowness in policymaking that needs to be filled.
- The AFR View
Australia's 10 most covertly powerful people
Meet the big players who manipulate the levers of influence from behind the scenes.
- Tom McIlroy
