Mark Leibler

Last updated

Mark Leibler AC is an Australian lawyer, businessman, and political activist. [1] [2] [3]

Contents

Leibler is the sole senior partner of Arnold Bloch Leibler, an Australian law firm founded by Arnold Bloch in 1953, where he became a partner in 1969. Leibler is a political activist, especially on the issues of indigenous rights and support of Israel.

He is a member of Australia's prominent Leibler family, the younger brother of Isi Leibler and son of Abraham Leibler. [4]

Early life

Mark was born to Abraham Leibler, a Jewish jeweller from Antwerp, and Rachel Leibler. His family became prominent in Australian business circles after his father established a jewellery business in Melbourne that was the first source of his family's wealth.

His older brother Isi established what became Australia's largest travel agency in 1963. [Note 1]

Mark became a name partner at Arnold Bloch Leibler in 1969.[ citation needed ]

Political activism

Leibler is politically active and prominent in Australian political circles. He is associated with various political causes, and particularly with campaigns associated with the rights of Indigenous Australians, as well as being a supporter of Israel. [5] He is a member of Melbourne's Jewish community. [6] [7] [8] [9]

Australia's former prime minister Julia Gillard said of Leibler "you would never die wondering what he thought", that he has always displayed a "care and concern about me as a human being", and that she saw him as "both a product of and a shaper of this community". [10]

Leibler has spoken of his friendships with Bill Hayden, as well as his relationships with former prime ministers Paul Keating, John Howard and Julia Gillard. [10]

Indigenous rights

Leibler was involved in the setting up of Australia's Reconciliation Action Plan program and the development of the Uluru statement from the heart, having co-chaired the Referendum Council that led to the release of the Uluru Statement from the Heart. The Statement proposed an Indigenous voice to parliament which was unsuccessfully put to a referendum in October 2023. [11] [12] [13] His law firm has a strong association with law affecting Indigenous Australians, particularly native title. It has practised in the area for 30 years, with a long-standing pro-bono practice. [14] [15] [16] Leibler also co-chaired Reconciliation Australian and the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander Australians. [17]

Israel politics

Leibler's political views have been described as Zionist and, since 1996, has been national chairman of AIJAC. [18] He has publicly encouraged members of the Australian Jewish community to settle in Israel, [19] and has spoken in opposition to descriptions of Israeli settlement land as 'occupied', preferring the term 'disputed'. [20] He has publicly criticised the Australian Labor Party's stance toward Israeli settlements and the diplomatic status of Palestine, [21] notably conflicting in public with Australia's then foreign minister Bob Carr in 2014. [22]

Alongside his chairmanship of AIJAC, Leibler is Life Chairman of the United Israel Appeal of Australia and Governor of the Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce. He is also a Patron of the Victorian Chapter of the Australian Friends of Tel Aviv University.[ citation needed ]

Leibler served for 10 years as President of the Zionist Federation of Australia and for six years as President of the United Israel Appeal of Australia. Leibler is a past Chair of the World Board of Trustees of Keren Hayesod – United Israel Appeal, serves on the executive of the Jewish Agency for Israel, and holds office as a Governor of Tel Aviv University.[ citation needed ]

Awards and recognition

Leibler was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in the 1987 Australia Day Honours. [23] He was promoted to Companion (AC) in the 2005 Australia Day Honours. [23] In 2014 the University of Melbourne awarded him the degree of Doctor of Laws honoris causa.

Personal

Leibler has four children, the youngest of whom is Jeremy Leibler. [24]

Notes

  1. ↑ 'Jetset Tours', later sold to Air New Zealand

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zionism</span> Movement supporting a Jewish homeland

Zionism is a nationalist movement that emerged in the 19th century to enable the establishment of a homeland for the Jewish people in Palestine, a region roughly corresponding to the Land of Israel in Jewish tradition. Following the establishment of Israel, Zionism became an ideology that supports "the development and protection of the State of Israel".

Constitutional Conventions in Australia are significant meetings that have debated the Australian Constitution. The first two gatherings debated Federation and what form of Constitution to adopt, while the following conventions debated amendments to the document.

The Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC), represents the interests of the Australian Jewish community to government, politicians, media and other community groups and organisations through research, commentary and analysis. The organisation is directed by Colin Rubenstein, who was previously a political science lecturer at Monash University. AIJAC has office locations in Melbourne and Sydney. AIJAC is formally associated with the American Jewish Committee.

Michael Gawenda is an Australian journalist and was editor of The Age from 1997 to 2004. He was appointing inaugural Director of the Centre for Advanced Journalism at the University of Melbourne, launched in 2008.The centre's mission is to improve the practice of journalism through dialogue between journalists and the general community to stimulate public debate on important issues facing journalism.

The Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, or Claims Conference, represents the world's Jews in negotiating for compensation and restitution for victims of Nazi persecution and their heirs. According to Section 2(1)(3) of the Property Law of Germany, the Claims Conference is a legal successor with respect to the claims not filed on time by Jewish persons. This fact was reasserted in decisions of some lawsuits which attempted to redefine the Claims Conference as a "trustee" of these assets. These lawsuits were dismissed. The Claims Conference administers compensation funds, recovers unclaimed Jewish property, and allocates funds to institutions that provide social welfare services to Holocaust survivors and preserve the memory and lessons of the Holocaust. Julius Berman has led the organization as chairman of the board, and currently president, as of 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ameinu</span> American progressive Jewish organization

Ameinu is an American Jewish Zionist organization. Established in 2004 as the successor to the Labor Zionist Alliance, it is the continuation of Labor Zionist activity in the United States that began with the founding of Poale Zion, which came together in the period 1906.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sotsyalistishe Kinder Farband</span>

The Sotsyalistishe Kinder Farband or SKIF was founded in Eastern Europe as the youth organisation of the Jewish Labour Bund, a Jewish Socialist political party. S.K.I.F has three core ideological principles: Chavershaft, Doikayt, and Yiddishkeit. The plural form of a SKIF member is SKIFistn and the leaders who run SKIF are the Helfer, aged in their late teens to early twenties.

Israeli Australians refers to Australian citizens or permanent residents who are fully or partially of Israeli descent. The population colloquially refer to themselves as Ausraelis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Isi Leibler</span> Jewish activist (1934–2021)

Isi Leibler was a Belgian-born Australian-Israeli international Jewish activist.

The Zionist Federation of Australia (ZFA) is an umbrella organisation in Australia of the Zionist movement. It was established in Melbourne, Victoria in 1927 by prominent personalities, including Sir John Monash and Rabbi Israel Brodie, with Monash becoming its first president. On 11 November 2018, the biennial conference of ZFA elected Jeremy Leibler as its president, succeeding Danny Lamm who did not stand after serving for four years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Duncan Webb</span> New Zealand politician

Duncan Alexander Webb is a New Zealand lawyer and politician. He was elected as a Member the New Zealand House of Representatives for Christchurch Central, representing the Labour Party, in the 2017 general election.

The Uluru Statement from the Heart is a 2017 petition to the people of Australia, written and endorsed by the Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders selected as delegates to the First Nations National Constitutional Convention. The document calls for substantive constitutional change and structural reform through the creation of two new institutions; a constitutionally protected First Nations Voice and a Makarrata Commission, to oversee agreement-making and truth-telling between governments and First Nations. Such reforms should be implemented, it is argued, both in recognition of the continuing sovereignty of Indigenous peoples and to address structural "powerlessness" that has led to severe disparities between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. These reforms can be summarised as Voice, Treaty and Truth.

This is a list of historical events and publications of Australian literature during 2020.

Constitutional recognition of Indigenous Australians refers to various proposals for changes to the Australian Constitution to recognise Indigenous Australians in the document. Various proposals have been suggested to symbolically recognise the special place Indigenous Australians have as the first peoples of Australia, along with substantial changes, such as prohibitions on racial discrimination, the protection of languages and the addition of new institutions. In 2017, the Uluru Statement from the Heart was released by Indigenous leaders, which called for the establishment of an Indigenous Voice to Parliament as their preferred form of recognition. When submitted to a national referendum in 2023 by the Albanese government, the proposal was heavily defeated.

All Things Equal is a social enterprise cafe based in Melbourne, Australia.

Arnold Bloch Leibler is an Australian law firm headquartered in Melbourne, Australia.

Jeremy David Leibler is a Partner at Arnold Bloch Leibler and a member of the Australian Takeovers Panel. He has been President of the Zionist Federation of Australia, an elected representative roof body of the Australian Jewish Community since 2018. In 2023, Leibler was named by the Australian Financial Review as one of Australia's top 25 private capital dealmakers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jewish Labour Bund (Australia)</span> Jewish socialist organization

The Jewish Labour Bund, more commonly known as the Jewish Labour Bund Melbourne, the Australian Bund, or simply the Bund, is the Australian wing of the Bundist movement. It was a member of the historical International Jewish Labor Bund, and is the largest and most active Bundist organisation left in the world. It was founded in 1928 Jewish Polish immigrants, and expanded rapidly after the Second World War with the mass arrival of Holocaust survivors to Australia. The Bund is currently registered only in the state of Victoria, where it is legally known as the Jewish Labour Bund, Inc., and is based primarily in the city of Melbourne.

Thomas Mayo is an Indigenous Australian Australian human rights advocate and author. He is a signatory and advocate of the Indigenous Voice to Parliament, and a trade union organiser.

Leon Zwier is an Australian lawyer. He has been a partner of Arnold Bloch Leibler since 1991 and is head of the firm's dispute resolution litigation and restructuring & insolvency practices. Zwier is commonly referred to as Mr Fix-It due to his successes in resolving complex, nuanced, and delicate legal issues.

References

  1. ↑ Gawenda, Michael (11 September 2020). The Power Broker: Mark Leibler - An Australian Jewish Life. Monash University Publishing.
  2. ↑ Mendes, Philip (2020-09-11). "The many sides of Mark Leibler". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2023-06-27.
  3. ↑ "How Mark Leibler exercises his power and influence". Australian Financial Review. 2020-07-17. Retrieved 2023-06-27.
  4. ↑ "ISI LEIBLER". Australian Financial Review. 1990-04-06. Retrieved 2023-06-27.
  5. ↑ "Leading lawyer attacks Bar's Burnside defence". The Australian.
  6. ↑ "The evolution of Leibler's law". Australian Financial Review. 2020-07-19. Retrieved 2023-06-27.
  7. ↑ Leibler, Mark. "Leibler, his 'lobby' and their legacy". The Australian. Retrieved 2023-06-28.
  8. ↑ Mendes, Philip (2020-09-11). "The many sides of Mark Leibler". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2023-06-27.
  9. ↑ Gawenda, Michael (11 September 2020). The Power Broker: Mark Leibler - An Australian Jewish Life. Monash University Publishing.
  10. 1 2 Kohn, Peter. "Mark Leibler: The powerbroker and gatekeeper". www.australianjewishnews.com. Retrieved 2023-06-27.
  11. ↑ Leibler, Mark. "A Voice for the First Australians". www.australianjewishnews.com. Retrieved 2023-06-27.
  12. ↑ "Voice backers told: 'Ignore distractions, stay positive'". The Australian. Retrieved 2023-06-28.
  13. ↑ Feyder, Jess (2022-10-16). "Lawyers 'ideally placed' to ensure public understands Voice to Parliament". www.lawyersweekly.com.au. Retrieved 2023-06-27.
  14. ↑ Lawyer, The New (2013-03-06). "ABL takes on pro bono for Indigenous elder". www.lawyersweekly.com.au. Retrieved 2023-06-27.
  15. ↑ "Australian Pro Bono Centre | Q&A with Peter Seidel, Arnold Bloch Leibler" . Retrieved 2023-06-27.
  16. ↑ "Native Title & Public Interest Law". Arnold Bloch Leibler. Retrieved 2023-06-27.
  17. ↑ Leibler, Mark. "A Voice for the First Australians". www.australianjewishnews.com. Retrieved 2023-06-27.
  18. ↑ Fleischer, Tzvi (2022-12-22). "AIJAC congratulates Binyamin Netanyahu on formation of new Israeli government". AIJAC. Retrieved 2023-06-27.
  19. ↑ "How Mark Leibler exercises his power and influence". Australian Financial Review. 2020-07-17. Retrieved 2023-06-27.
  20. ↑ Leibler, Mark (2014-06-23). "Australia right to stay out of Middle East's semantic games". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2023-06-27.
  21. ↑ Digital, Ascet (2012-12-04). "Foreign Minister's focus on Israeli settlements "misplaced" and "counter-productive"". AIJAC. Retrieved 2023-06-27.
  22. ↑ "Australian Jewish Leaders Slam Allegations of Zionist Lobbying". Haaretz. Retrieved 2023-06-27.
  23. 1 2 "Mr Mark Matthew LEIBLER". Australian Honours Search Facility. 2005-01-26. Retrieved 2023-06-27.
  24. ↑ "Warts-and-all portrait of an Australian powerbroker". Plus 61J. Retrieved July 19, 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.