Women in power

Great news to see that the chief executive of Westpac has been named among the most 20 powerful women in the world. In fact, according to the new Forbes report on the world’s most powerful women, Kelly has more power than Michelle Obama (hard to believe) and Hillary Clinton (even harder to believe).

In fact, Obama and Hillary Clinton did not even make the top 20, Britain’s Queen of England came in at 42, followed by Oprah in 41 place. Which makes Gail Kelly’s position at number 18 impressive.

Power, according to Forbes, is determined by three factors: career accomplishments, economic clout and public profile.

Coming in at number one is Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany, credited for leading Germany out of the recession. Merkel, 55, has headed the list for four years running and toymaker Mattel has introduced a black trouser suit Angela Merkel Barbie this year. Now that’s power. This was followed by Shelia Bair, chairwoman of Federal Deposit Insurance, who is gaining more prominence as the US recession refuses to end, and Indra Nooyi, chief executive of PepsiCo.

But after reading through the list, (and noting how many women on it were from the US – too many), I was disappointed that all Australia had was one woman on the list. Just one! But then when I tried to think who else should be included, I got stuck.

Apart from Julia Gillard, who should have been included, I had trouble thinking of another single female in Australia who should stand alongside many of the powerful women on this list controlling trillions of dollars, the destiny of nations and the livelihood of millions.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments below.

Here are Forbes  top 10 most powerful women:

• 1. Angela Merkel, the chancellor. Germany
• 2. Sheila Bair, chairwoman, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. US.
• 3. Indra Nooyi, chief executive of PepsiCo. US.
• 4. Cynthia Carroll, chief executive of Anglo American. UK.
• 5. Ho Ching, chief executive of Temasek Holdings. Singapore
• 6. Irene Rosenfeld, chief executive of Kraft Foods. US.
• 7. Ellen Kullman, chief executive of DuPont. US.
• 8. Angela Braly, chief executive of WellPoint. US.
• 9. Anne Lauvergeon, chief executive of Areva. France.
• 10. Lynn Elsenhans, chief executive of Sunoco. US.