Josh Frydenberg
Josh Frydenberg | |
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Treasurer of Australia | |
Assumed office 24 August 2018 | |
Prime Minister | Scott Morrison |
Preceded by | Scott Morrison |
Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party | |
Assumed office 24 August 2018 | |
Leader | Scott Morrison |
Preceded by | Julie Bishop |
Minister for the Environment and Energy | |
In office 19 July 2016 – 27 August 2018 | |
Prime Minister | Malcolm Turnbull Scott Morrison |
Preceded by | Greg Hunt |
Succeeded by | Melissa Price (Environment) & Angus Taylor (Energy) |
Minister for Resources and Northern Australia | |
In office 21 September 2015 – 19 July 2016 | |
Prime Minister | Malcolm Turnbull |
Preceded by | Gary Gray |
Succeeded by | Matthew Canavan |
Assistant Treasurer of Australia | |
In office 23 December 2014 – 21 September 2015 | |
Prime Minister | Tony Abbott Malcolm Turnbull |
Preceded by | Arthur Sinodinos |
Succeeded by | Kelly O'Dwyer |
Member of the Australian Parliament for Kooyong | |
Assumed office 21 August 2010 | |
Preceded by | Petro Georgiou |
Personal details | |
Born | Joshua Anthony Frydenberg 17 July 1971 Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |
Political party | Liberal Party of Australia |
Spouse | Amie Saunders |
Children | 2 |
Alma mater | |
Profession | Politician policy adviser investment banker |
Website | Official website |
Joshua Anthony Frydenberg (born 17 July 1971) is an Australian politician who has been Treasurer of Australia and Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party since 24 August 2018. He has been a member of the Australian House of Representatives for the seat of Kooyong since August 2010.
Frydenberg served in various roles in the Abbott and Turnbull Governments from 2013 to 2018, including as Minister for Resources and Northern Australia, and as Minister for the Environment and Energy. On 24 August 2018, he was elected Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party following a leadership spill, which saw Scott Morrison elected as Leader. Morrison subsequently appointed Frydenberg Treasurer of Australia.
Early life and education
Frydenberg was born in Melbourne and educated at Bialik and Mount Scopus Colleges. His mother, Erika Strausz, is a psychologist and University of Melbourne professor and his father Harry is a general surgeon. His mother was a Hungarian Jew born in 1943 who arrived in Australia in 1950 as a stateless child from a refugee camp after escaping from The Holocaust.[2] His father is also Jewish, and emigrated to Australia from Poland.
Frydenberg was a keen tennis player. He attempted, unsuccessfully, to drop out of high school to pursue a career in tennis. After graduating from high school, he took a gap year to play tennis full-time in Australia and Europe. Frydenberg played against Mark Philippoussis and Pat Rafter, and represented Australia at two World University Games. He and his father were present at the 1997 Maccabiah bridge collapse.[3][4]
Frydenberg studied and earned honours degrees in both law and economics at Monash University before working at Mallesons Stephen Jaques, a large Australian commercial law firm. He subsequently attended the University College, Oxford to study for Master of International Relations degree in 1998 on a Commonwealth scholarship. Frydenberg has also attained a Master of Public Administration from John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.[5]
Career
In 1999, Frydenberg worked as an assistant adviser to Attorney-General Daryl Williams before becoming an adviser to Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer, a post he held until 2003. From 2003 to 2005 he was a policy adviser to Prime Minister John Howard, specialising in domestic security issues, border protection, justice and industrial relations. In 2005 he took up a position as a Director of Global Banking with Deutsche Bank in the company's Melbourne office.[6]
2006 political candidacy
In 2006, Frydenberg announced that he was seeking Liberal preselection for Kooyong, a comfortably safe Liberal seat in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne. The seat's incumbent member, Petro Georgiou, had held the seat since 1994. Kooyong is regarded as a Liberal 'leadership seat'. The three men, who held it before Georgiou, all went on to lead the Liberal Party or their predecessors--Andrew Peacock (leader of the Liberal Party 1983–85 and 1989–90), Sir Robert Menzies (founder of the Liberal Party and Prime Minister 1939–41 and 1949–66), and Sir John Latham (leader of the Nationalist Party, a direct ancestor of the Liberals, 1929–31).
In the days leading to the preselection convention, Queensland frontbenchers Ian Macfarlane, Peter Dutton and Santo Santoro backed Frydenberg's credentials, for which they were criticised by former Victorian Premier Jeff Kennett.[7]
The preselection was held at Trinity Grammar School on 23 April 2006.[8] Georgiou received 62 of the 85 delegates' votes, with Frydenberg receiving 22 votes and a third candidate, Alastair Armstrong, receiving one vote. After Frydenberg's defeat, federal Treasurer and deputy Liberal leader Peter Costello, who represented the nearby seat of Division of Higgins, encouraged him to run for pre-selection in Chisholm, a marginal electorate neighbouring Kooyong, held by Anna Burke of the ALP. It had previously been held by one of Frydenberg's mentors, Michael Wooldridge. Frydenberg declined the offer, saying, "This is where I am from, this is where I feel most comfortable and this is where I think there is real work to be done."[9] After Georgiou had announced his intention to retire at the next election, Frydenberg won preselection to contest the seat of Kooyong after beating industrial lawyer John Pesutto at the Melbourne Convention Centre on 20 June 2009.[10] Frydenberg's candidacy was supported by references from former Prime Minister John Howard and former Opposition Leader Andrew Peacock.[11]
Parliamentary career
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/16/Josh_Frydenberg.jpg)
Georgiou retired ahead of the 2010 federal election. With the support of former Liberal state president Michael Kroger, Frydenberg won Liberal preselection,[12] and went on to the seat with 52.56% of the primary vote and 57.55% of the two-party-preferred vote.[13]
In his maiden speech, he recounted the story of his Jewish grandparents' and great aunt's migration to Australia from Nazi controlled Europe and lauded the contribution of migrants to communities within his electorate. He enunciated his belief in small government, called for stronger ties with Asia while also maintaining a solid alliance with the US and proposed a target of having two Australian universities within the world's top ten by 2030.[14]
Abbott Government 2013-2015
At the 2013 federal election, Frydenberg was re-elected with the largest swing to the Liberal Party in the seat since 1975. He was sworn in as a Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister on 18 September 2013, with particular responsibility for the government's deregulation agenda. On 23 December 2014, Frydenberg was sworn in as Assistant Treasurer in a ministerial reshuffle and replaced Arthur Sinodinos, who resigned due to delays in an ICAC inquiry.[15][16]
Turnbull Government 2015-2018
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7f/Josh_Frydenberg_April_2018_02.jpg/220px-Josh_Frydenberg_April_2018_02.jpg)
Following the September 2015 Liberal leadership ballot where Malcolm Turnbull became the Prime Minister, Frydenberg was appointed the Minister for Resources, Energy and Northern Australia in the First Turnbull Ministry. In February 2016, the Nationals Matt Canavan took over responsibility for Northern Australia in the rearranged ministry.
In 2015, he declared that he had switched positions regarding same-sex marriage and publicly supported same sex marriage.[17]
With the re-election of the Turnbull Government in 2016, Frydenberg became the Minister for the Environment and Energy in the Second Turnbull Ministry.[18]
It has been reported that Frydenberg may be in breach of Section 44 of the Constitution of Australia as his mother and her family came to Australia as refugees from Hungary, and his mother may be automatically considered a Hungarian citizen. Frydenberg has noted that they said they were stateless when coming to Australia and so are not eligible for Hungarian citizenship.His mother stated Hungarian citizenship in her arrival form, so not stateless.[19]
Following the leadership spill in 2018, Frydenberg is serving as the Deputy Leader of Liberal Party of Australia and Treasurer of Australia.
During the August 2018 Deputy Liberal Party leadership spill Josh Frydenberg won a majority in the first round with 46 votes, while Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment Steven Ciobo received 20 and Minister for Health Greg Hunt received 16.[20]
Morrison Government 2018-
In the August 2018 Liberal Party leadership spill where Scott Morrison was elected Leader and thus Prime Minister, Frydenberg was elected as Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party. During Morrison's press conference, he announced that Frydenberg would become Treasurer, the portfolio previously held by Morrison.[21]
References
- ^ Owens, Jared (23 March 2014). "Josh Frydenberg risks row with Jewish leaders on race act reform". The Australian. Retrieved 24 December 2014.
- ^ Iggulden, Tom; Belot, Henry (3 November 2017). "Josh Frydenberg denies Hungarian-born mother implicates him in dual citizenship saga". ABC News. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
- ^ Whinnett, Ellen (18 April 2014). "Can rising Liberal star Josh Frydenberg go all the way to the top?". The Herald Sun.
- ^ Maley, Jacqueline (20 October 2017). "Can wannabe tennis pro turned politician Josh Frydenberg ace Australia's energy crisis?". The Sydney Morning Herald.
- ^ Mann, Simon (25 March 2006). "The battle for Kooyong". The Age. Melbourne.
- ^ Maiden, Samantha (3 March 2006). "Costello backs rebel Georgiou". The Australian.
- ^ "'Musketeers' told to keep out of Georgiou preselection". ABC News. Australia. 2006. Retrieved 22 April 2006.
- ^ "Liberals in a preselection spin". The Age. 21 April 2006. Retrieved 22 April 2006.
- ^ "Georgiou wins preselection battle". The Age. AAP. 23 April 2006. Retrieved 23 April 2006.
- ^ "Frydenberg wins Kooyong". Herald Sun. 2009. Retrieved 20 June 2009.
- ^ "Powerful Kooyong Allies". The Age. 21 April 2009. Retrieved 2 October 2013.
- ^ William Bowe (11 May 2014). "Seats of the week: Kooyong and Higgins". The Poll Bludger.
- ^ "House of Representatives: VIC Division: Kooyong". Australia votes, 2010. Australian Electoral Commission. Retrieved 18 March 2011.
- ^ Johnson, Stephen (25 October 2010). "MP tells of aunt who escaped Holocaust". The Sydney Morning Herald. AAP. Retrieved 18 March 2011.
- ^ Taylor, Lenore (21 December 2014). "Tony Abbott cabinet reshuffle moves Scott Morrison out of immigration". Guardian Australia. Retrieved 21 December 2014.
- ^ "Tony Abbott's revamped Ministry sworn in at Government House". news.com.au. News Corp Australia. 23 December 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2014.
- ^ "Abbott Government rising star Josh Frydenberg reveals switch on gay marriage position". The Sydney Morning Herald. 25 March 2015.
- ^ Anderson, Stephanie (20 July 2016). "Election 2016: Malcolm Turnbull unveils ministry with Christopher Pyne, Greg Hunt on the move". ABC News. Retrieved 22 July 2016.
- ^ "Josh Frydenberg denies suggestions he could be Hungarian dual citizen". The Guardian. 2 November 2017. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
- ^ David Crowe (24 August 2018). "The vote for deputy leader:
Josh Frydenberg: 46 votes
Steve Ciobo: 20 votes
Greg Hunt: 16 votes
There were 3 abstentions". Fairfax Media. Twitter. - ^ Lucy Sweeney; Henry Belot (24 August 2018). "Scott Morrison beats Peter Dutton in Liberal spill to succeed Malcolm Turnbull; Julie Bishop loses deputy position". ABC News. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
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External links
- Official website
- Search or browse Hansard for Josh Frydenberg at OpenAustralia.org
- 1971 births
- Alumni of University College, Oxford
- Australian investment bankers
- Australian public servants
- Australian people of Polish-Jewish descent
- Australian people of Hungarian-Jewish descent
- Businesspeople from Melbourne
- Government ministers of Australia
- Jewish Australian politicians
- John F. Kennedy School of Government alumni
- Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia
- Living people
- Members of the Australian House of Representatives
- Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Kooyong
- Members of the Cabinet of Australia
- Monash Law School alumni
- Morrison Government
- Politicians from Melbourne
- Abbott Government
- Turnbull Government
- 21st-century Australian politicians