An extract of Michael Gawenda’s biography of senior partner Mark Leibler in the Weekend Australian focuses on Mark’s impact across varied aspects of Australian life. Describing him as “one of Australia’s most influential tax lawyers”, Gawenda says that while Mark is not well known to most Australians, his influence far exceeds his public profile.
“Over 40 or more years of public life, Leibler has developed and sustained close relationships — he calls them friendships — with senior Australian politicians, from Bill Hayden when he was foreign minister in the Hawke government to prime ministers John Howard, Paul Keating and Julia Gillard. Keating calls Leibler a friend. Gillard says that in her most difficult days as prime minister, she felt from him “a care and concern about me as a human being”. Indigenous leader Noel Pearson considers Leibler to be not just a mentor who taught him about the workings of power, but a father figure.”
Gawenda also covers the views of people who aren’t fans, explaining that “anyone who has lived such a public life, and has been involved in so many different and seemingly unconnected areas, is bound to have critics and even enemies. Leibler has both.”
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