The Powerbroker: Mark Leibler, an Australian Jewish Life

Description

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Author: Michael Gawenda

Number of Pages: 280

From the ashes of the darkest event in human history,Australian Jews built a thriving community, one with proportionally moreHolocaust survivors than anywhere else in the world bar Israel. Mark Leiblergrew up in this community, and in time became a leader of it. This book showshow Leibler rose to a position of immense influence in Australian public lifeby skilfully entwining his roles as a Zionist leader and a tax lawyer to someof the country’s richest people. The book vividly paints a cast of Australiancharacters among them Paul Keating, John Howard, Julia Gillard and NoelPearson – who came to know Leibler and to call him a friend, along with peoplelike Kevin Rudd and Bob Carr, who see Leibler as no friend at all. Finally, thebook charts the surprise turn in Leibler’s life, when a social and politicalconservative became a committed advocate for radical reform on behalf ofAustralia’s Indigenous people. This many-layered book is a portrait of Jewish life inAustralia, of the interaction between private wealth and politics, and of a manwhose energy, formidable work habits and forcefulness that often tips intopugnacity have made him a highly effective player in Australian affairs. ‘He taught me about power – how to get it and how touse it,’ says Noel Pearson. Through one man’s story, this book shows how powerworks in Australia.