WA’s most influential people of 2021 16-13: Change-making leadership with power and passion

There have been many names making headlines this year but who stood out from the crowd? From captains of industry to a recovering footy hero, here is our second instalment of the West Australians who have had the most influence in the past 12 months. 16 Simon Trott, Rio Tinto iron ore boss He’s the kid who, by the age of 13, was already an apprentice mechanic, shearer, cook, and sheep musterer. Now Simon Trott is one of the country’s leading problem-solvers. And when it comes to problems, Trott inherited a number of them when he was installed as Rio Tinto’s new iron ore boss this year. He arrived back in town in March and is now tackling one of the world’s biggest corporate relationship rehabilitation programs between the Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura people and Rio Tinto, after the destruction of Juukan Gorge, a 46,000-year-old rock shelter. “Reflecting on the past few years, we had stopped looking outwards, we weren’t listening enough,” Trott told The West Australian’s Leadership Matters business breakfast this year. “Our thinking had become too small, too focused on our own short-term needs. By turning inwards, we neglected the connections we spent decades building. Connections with the communities in which we live. Connections with the society that gives us licence to operate. Connections that form the foundation of our business. “As we re-focus outwards, we are applying the lessons from Juukan Gorge.” As well as external reparations, Trott is also focused on the recommendations that will follow a parliamentary inquiry into sexual assault, harassment and other disrespectful behaviour occurring in the mining sector, adding: “Making the changes we need to ensure people in our business are both physically safe and psychologically safe. “I am committed to building a business that feels great to work in, where people care for each other, look after each other, and work for each other. That’s the place I want to work in.” 15 Enza Raco, justice campaigner When it comes to the strength of love, Enza Raco is a towering pillar of resilience. Mrs Raco is the widow of Paramount nightclub manager Giuseppe ‘Peppe’ Raco. The 40-year-old father who was killed in a sickening one-punch attack as he waited for a kebab in Northbridge in 2020. It was 4am and a melee had broken out in the street. As he backed away from the fight, he was punched in the head from behind by a heavily drunk 26-year-old stranger. He never regained consciousness and his family, including his wife, had to make the decision to turn off his life support. Mrs Raco was five-months pregnant with the couple’s second child at the time of his death. During the trial, which ended in the accused pleading guilty to manslaughter, Mrs Raco read her own victim impact statement to the court and spoke about being discharged from hospital after the “bittersweet” birth of her second daughter and taking her to the Fremantle Cemetery to meet her father. Mrs Raco has since initiated Justice for Peppe, a campaign calling for tougher penalties for “coward punches”. Mrs Raco’s killer was sentenced to seven-and-a-half years’ prison. With parole he could be free in five. Mrs Raco and her family are pushing for a new law to be introduced in WA. “The Coward’s Collar” would mean a mandatory 10-year jail sentence for a coward punch that causes permanent disability or death, and a further five-year ban from visiting an entertainment precinct or major public event. Her motive for starting the campaign was simple. “I just don’t want another family to go through this,” she said. 14 Ben Cousins, reformed footy star Recovering drug addict. Football God. “The Prince of Perth”. Ben Cousins has experienced the biggest ups and downs of life, all while dealing with an unrelenting spotlight of public interest. For years his supporters, fans and family have ached for the Brownlow medallist and AFL premiership star to get on, and stay on, the road to redemption. After a spate of time being in and out of jail, 2021 saw him out, back on the track and reunited with his beloved kids. He made his public re-emergence looking sharp on the red carpet at the Brownlow Medal ceremony hosted in Perth. Next year Cousins will captain his first football game since stepping down as West Coast skipper on the eve of the 2006 season as he headlines an ex-AFL All Stars match that will raise awareness for mental health. He will lead the Crusaders in Footy for Life’s day of football festivities supporting Lifeline and Happiness Co Foundation. Cousins last captained the Eagles in the soul-shattering 2005 grand final loss to Sydney. The 43-year-old returned to the footy field in 2021 for the first time in more than a decade, donning the guernsey for Queens Park in the Perth Metro Football League. It’s not just footy where he is thriving. Cousins is back working and was awarded the ‘employee of the month’ at a Perth construction company, where he plies his new trade as a full-time scaffolder. He has also begun volunteering with at-risk youth through the Kalt Collective. The organisation’s founder, Susan Backshell, told The West Australian this year that Cousins has also undergone formal training with the Department of Communities to pick up certificates in youth work, mental health first aid and protective behaviours. 13 Meg O’Neill, Woodside CEO If there were corporate Oscars, Meg O’Neill would be this year’s winner of Best Actor. Because during her tenure as acting CEO of Woodside for a few months she was key to helping broker two mega-deals that will give the company the size and diversity to cope with the global transition to clean energy and seemingly guarantee another 30 years of LNG exports from WA. While the announcement went down like a lead balloon among the climate-change class, O’Neill, who was officially appointed to the top job in August, is steadfast in her ambition for Woodside. During her first week taking the reins from outgoing boss Peter Coleman she was involved in the $40 billion merger with BHP. And then add to that the recent sell-down of the Pluto LNG expansion and the go-ahead for that $16.5 billion Scarborough gas field in remote waters off the State’s North West. A bold move by a bold leader, with O’Neill saying the project would deliver “significant long-term benefits locally and nationally, including thousands of jobs, taxation revenue and the supply of gas to export and domestic markets for decades to come”.