Saluting 50 who enrich Townsville

THERE’S been a lot of chatter around town this week about the Townsville

Bulletin’s 50 Most Influential list. Each day this week, online, we have published a countdown of those who made the cut and today in the Eye we’ve published the full list and revealed the top 10.

This list will always be contentious and despite defining “influential” as clearly as we could, it will always be subjective. The Bulletin is particularly proud of the format we used to determine the list this year.

Firstly, we called for nominations. Then we enlisted a panel of judges to rank those nominations and that’s created the list you can read today.

It’s meant a number of additions to the list and a number of people moving up and down the rankings.

More than 90 people were nominated and doubtless there are many more worthy folks who deserved a nod but didn’t get one.

The order, while intriguing, shouldn’t overshadow the fact that the 50 people have been nominated from a city with a population of about 180,000 as people who make a real difference to Townsville.

That is indeed a huge honour and not something that should be taken lightly.

If it weren’t for the people featured in this list – and the countless others who dedicate their time for the betterment of our community – then Townsville would be a very different and much worse place.

So importantly, while you debate the merits of those people listed today do two things:

Be grateful we have people in our community willing to dedicate their time and emotions into this city.

And, secondly, when we call for nominations next year, be sure to nominate anyone you think has missed out.

From the Bulletin to all these individuals, we thank you.