‘A proud Australian, a proud Jew’

Josh Frydenberg says his Judaism runs deep as a cultural imprint but never dominated his politics — until October 7 changed what he felt obliged to do with his voice.

“I felt I needed to use my voice and my position in society to advocate for what is right, and that’s why I made the [Never Again: The Fight against Antisemitism] documentary. That’s why I made the speech at Bondi. That’s why I’ve worked with others to establish the Dor Foundation,” the former treasurer told The AJN at the launch of his memoir A Grateful Son in Sydney on Tuesday.

Published by HarperCollins, A Grateful Son traces Frydenberg’s upbringing shaped by his immigrant grandparents, his early tennis ambitions, his studies at Oxford and Harvard, and his time as a political staffer. It covers his election to Kooyong, his ministries under three Prime Ministers, the pandemic, losing his seat in 2022, and his advocacy against antisemitism.

What Australia has seen in the past three years, he said, was a sea change.

“A seismic shift in people’s attitudes towards Israel and the Jews, and there are really worrying signs of where this can go in Australia if left unchecked,” he said. “It’s un-Australian, and we need to get all the good people to find their voice.”

The book, written with Gideon Haigh, records a low point Frydenberg describes in starker terms than he has before: the Federal Court challenge to his eligibility to sit in parliament under Section 44, brought by a Kooyong voter arguing that his mother Erica had retained Hungarian citizenship.

She had in fact left on a single-use emigrant travel document with no right of return. The court found unanimously in March 2020 that Frydenberg was not, and had never been, a Hungarian citizen.

“I found those actions very offensive. The nicest way to put it would be to say it was insensitive, but I thought it was actually more malicious than that,” he told The AJN.

“There were good people on both sides of the political divide who spoke out on my side, and those outside the parliament, like Noel Pearson.

“For me, that was a low point, but we fought it, we won, and as Nietzsche says, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”

Asked about the Jewish community’s support across his career, Frydenberg said it was central to his identity.

“I’m a proud Australian. I’m a proud Jew. One of my heroes in life is Sir John Monash,” he said, adding that he would continue to argue for a strong bilateral relationship with Israel and for moral clarity.

“What has happened in this country has been a disgrace, and what we need from all our community, and particularly from our leaders, political and civic, is a zero tolerance attitude to push this hate to the sidelines of society, where it belongs.”

He also named Sir Zelman Cowen as a mentor who epitomised integrity and brilliance.

Addressing the room, Frydenberg said he had written the book for three reasons, the first being his children.

“I want them to know our family story,” he said. His mother came to Australia as a stateless person, “having been taken from the clutches of death to survive, while 550,000 other Jews in Hungary died”. His father’s family arrived from Poland in the 1930s, and his great-uncles enlisted in the Australian Defence Force.

“I want my kids to know the promise of Australia, because it’s about reciprocity. When you come here with the warm embrace of this amazing country, you give back.”

The second reason was to give Australians a behind-the-scenes account of major decisions, including the failed National Energy Guarantee, taking on Google and Facebook, and the Morrison Government’s COVID response.

The third, he said, was a warning. With two-thirds of Australians telling pollsters the country is heading in the wrong direction, Frydenberg said he wanted to ring the alarm bells for a course correction, pointing to a weakening economy, a fragmenting society and a Liberal primary vote less than half what it was in 2019.

He returned to antisemitism to close. “This is Australia’s problem, and this is Australia’s fight,” he said.

“When antisemitism moves from the shameful fringe to the public square, it’s no longer about the Jews. It’s actually about everyone else. It’s a sign that society is crumbling before our very eyes.”

Frydenberg said he had not decided whether to seek a return to parliament.

Launching the book, former Prime Minister John Howard called it a wonderful chronicle of a man with much to be grateful for.

“I thank Josh for writing this book. I thank him for his contribution to Australia, not just because of the leadership he’s shown as a proud and committed Australian Jew, but as somebody who believes in the fundamentals of our nation,” he said.