Ahead of the launch of Michael Gawenda’s biography, The Powerbroker, AFR Weekend profiled senior partner Mark Leibler, describing him as an “eminent lawyer with many friends in high places”.
“He has a history of close, first name, relationships with just about every Australian prime minister dating back to Malcolm Fraser, every Israeli prime minister from Menachem Begin on, not to mention foreign ministers in both countries, sundry Australian taxation commissioners, and powerful business figures such as Frank Lowy, John Gandel and Solomon Lew.”
Touching on significant aspects of Mark’s life and varied achievements, journalist Andrew Clark draws extensively on the biography but also goes beyond it, asking Mark about some “real time” issues.
On the “very complex situation” confronting Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, including the PM’s present policy around annexation of the West Bank, Mark says: “I believe in the existence of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state. You cannot have a state whereby indefinitely it is going to be ruling over people who don’t have citizenship rights. Annexing large parts of the West Bank – that’s not something I would approve of. If you annex the major settlements surrounding Jerusalem – that’s another matter."
On the Uluru Statement from the Heart and its calls for a process of agreement-making between governments and First Nations, he says: “What is wrong with asking for a treaty? That’s how you move forward.”
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