Why was Anthony Albanese named among the 100 most influential people of 2023?

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been named in Time Magazine's top 100 most influential people.

Anthony Albanese became Prime Minister of Australia in May 2022. Source: Getty / Wendell Teodoro

Key Points

• Anthony Albanese has been named in Time Magazine's list of 100 most influential people of 2023.
• He was among world leaders, actors, musicians, athletes and others recognised.
• Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was given the task of writing about the Australian PM for the publication.

Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been listed alongside Lionel Messi, Beyoncé, and Doja Cat as one of the most influential people of 2023.

Time Magazine’s annual list of artists, innovators, titans, leaders, icons and pioneers is compiled by the publication’s editors and has just been released for this year.

In a piece written for the magazine by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Mr Albanese is described as “a symbol of hope and inspiration".

Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau wrote about Australia Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for Time Magazine's list of the most influential people of 2023 (pictured here during a bilateral meeting after the Nato Leaders’ Summit in Spain in 2022). Source: AAP / Lukas Coch

The glowing write-up refers to Australia’s upcoming on the Indigenous Voice to Parliament, heaping praise on the PM for “amplifying the voices” of Australia’s Indigenous people.

It refers to Mr Albanese’s childhood growing up in public housing, his belief in “ambitious climate action” and his commitment to democracy.

Mr Trudeau described how in an "increasingly uncertain” world where politicians sometimes “sow fear and division” Mr Albanese chooses the “path of hope and opportunity.”

In his victory speech when Labor was voted into government in May 2022, Mr Albanese had said he wanted to bring Australians together.

Among the other 19 people to be listed under the leaders category with the PM are Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelensky, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, detained Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich and US President Joe Biden.

King Charles was on the list as an icon, comedian Ali Wong was named under the artist category, Elon Musk as a titan, Natasha Lyonne as an innovator, and Bella Hadid as a pioneer.

Mr Albanese is the third Australian Prime Minister to make the Time Magazine list.

In 2008, then PM Kevin Rudd was named on the list, with his entry written by Australian actor Cate Blanchett.

Former PM John Howard made the list in 1999.