Along with King Charles III, Olena Zelenska, the First Lady of Ukraine, and model Bella Hadid, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been named one of Time magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people of 2023.
The only other Australian leaders on the list are Mr. Albanese and former prime ministers Kevin Rudd and John Howard; Julia Gillard was shortlisted in 2013.
The annual list, which debuted in 1999, gathers pioneers, humanitarians, artists, and entertainers who made a difference in the globe, whether positively or negatively.
From a broader pool of nominees selected by prior list participants and the US news magazine’s foreign writing team, Time’s editors select the top 100.
Career politician Mr. Albanese guided the Labour Party to victory in the federal election of May 2022, becoming the 31st prime minister of Australia.
Since then, he has worked to bring the Indigenous Voice to Parliament and to guide the nation through the coronavirus outbreak during turbulent economic times.
US Vice President Joe Biden, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and Cindy McCain, the late US Senator John McCain’s wife, were among the other politicians to reach the 2023 list.
The Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who was detained and accused of spying in Russia earlier this month, was also included on the list.
“A sign of inspiration and hope”
Each entry on the Time 100 list is prefaced by a modern author; Justin Trudeau, prime minister of Canada, wrote a laudatory obituary for Mr. Albanese, referring to him as “a symbol of hope and inspiration”:
The son of a former Canadian prime minister, Mr. Trudeau, also wrote about Mr. Albanese’s poor beginnings.
Oscar-winning actor Cate Blanchett praised Mr. Rudd for his apology to the Stolen Generation and for ratifying the Kyoto Protocol climate change treaty when he joined the fifth annual Time 100 list in 2008.
Mr. Rudd was also on the shortlist a year later.
On the other hand, Mr. Howard was included in the Time 100 list for 2005, and the late newspaper editor Frank Devine compared the US president Harry S. Truman with the then-PM.
