The Real Influencers

Meet your new heroes: the politicians, professors and medical professionals keeping us safe

Today we want to talk about leaders… who just happen to be women. It can be reductive and simplistic to conflate every discussion about females in power with gender, but throughout the global COVID-19 pandemic one recurring trend has been impossible to ignore: female leaders excelling. According to analysis by The Telegraph UK, of the world’s 10 best-performing countries in terms of testing and mortality rates, four are led by women (Estonia, Iceland, New Zealand, and Taiwan). That’s despite females accounting for less than seven per cent of world leaders.

Australia makes the top 10, too, fronted by a male prime minister, but with a plucky and powerful crop of women contributing to every decision along the way. Here, we celebrate our state premiers, medical experts and frontline doctors – let’s hear it for the girls!

QLD PREMIER

Annastacia PALASZCZUK

After coronavirus first hit Australian shores in January, Queensland’s Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk didn’t sleep properly for five weeks. Kept awake at night by the enormous pressure to protect her state and constituents – not to mention the soaring global death tally – Palaszczuk made it her mission to flatten the curve, preventing an estimated 30,000 deaths with her tough restrictions.