Julian Martin Leeser (born 25 May 1976) is an Australian politician who served as Shadow Attorney-General and Shadow Minister for Indigenous Australians. He is a member of the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

and has represented the

Division of Berowra Division or divider may refer to: Mathematics *Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication *Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division Military *Division (military), a formation typically consisting ...

since the 2016 federal election.

Early life

Leeser was born in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

. His father John, an accountant, was the son of Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany, while his mother Sylvia is a fifth-generation Australian whose father was a survivor of the

Burma Railway The Burma Railway, also known as the Siam–Burma Railway, Thai–Burma Railway and similar names, or as the Death Railway, is a railway between Ban Pong, Thailand and Thanbyuzayat, Burma (now called Myanmar). It was built from 1940 to 1943 ...

. Leeser holds the degrees of

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

(

Hons. Honours degree has various meanings in the context of different degrees and education systems. Most commonly it refers to a variant of the Undergraduate education, undergraduate bachelor's degree containing a larger volume of material or a high ...

) and

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

from the

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensive ...

. He sat on

Woollahra Council Woollahra Municipal Council (or Woollahra Council) is a local government area in the eastern suburbs of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Woollahra is bounded by Sydney Harbour in the north, Waverley Council in the east, Rand ...

for Bellevue Hill Ward from 1995 to 1999 as an independent. Aged 19 at the time, he was estimated to be the youngest local councillor elected in NSW history. In 1999 he served as a member of Prime Minister

John Howard John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007, holding office as leader of the Liberal Party. His eleven-year tenure as prime minister is the s ...

's ''No'' campaign during the republic referendum. In 2000, he was an associate to Justice

Ian Callinan Ian David Francis Callinan Order of Australia, AC King's Counsel, KC (born 1 September 1937) is a former Justice of the High Court of Australia, the highest court in the Australian court hierarchy. Education Born in Casino, New South Wales, Cal ...

of the

High Court of Australia The High Court of Australia is Australia's apex court. It exercises Original jurisdiction, original and appellate jurisdiction on matters specified within Constitution of Australia, Australia's Constitution. The High Court was established fol ...

. Leeser worked as an adviser for Minister for Workplace Relations

Tony Abbott Anthony John Abbott (; born 4 November 1957) is a former Australian politician who served as the 28th prime minister of Australia from 2013 to 2015. He held office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. Abbott was born in Londo ...

in 2001 and for

Philip Ruddock Philip Maxwell Ruddock (born 12 March 1943 in Canberra) is an Australian politician and the current mayor of Hornsby Shire. Ruddock is a member of the Liberal Party of Australia and currently the state president of the party's New South W ...

between 2004 and 2006. He worked as a solicitor for Mallesons Stephen Jaques between 2002 and 2004. In 2006 he joined the

Menzies Research Centre The Menzies Research Centre Ltd is an Australian public policy think tank. It was founded in 1994 and is named in honour of Sir Robert Menzies, the founder of the Liberal Party of Australia and Australia's longest-serving Prime Minister. It is th ...

as executive director, before becoming Director of Government Policy & Strategy at the

Australian Catholic University Australian Catholic University (ACU) is a public university in Australia. It has seven Australian campuses and also maintains a campus in Rome. History Australian Catholic University was opened on 1 January 1991 following the amalgamatio ...

in July 2012. Leeser has written several articles defending the legacy of Prime Minister

William McMahon Sir William McMahon (23 February 190831 March 1988) was an Australian politician who served as the 20th Prime Minister of Australia, in office from 1971 to 1972 as leader of the Liberal Party. He was a government minister for over 21 years, t ...

, as well as an obituary of McMahon's wife

Sonia Sonia, Sonja or Sonya, a name of Greek origin meaning wisdom, may refer to: People * Sonia (name), a feminine given name (lists people named, Sonia, Sonja and Sonya) :* Sonia (actress), Indian film actress in Malayalam and Tamil films :* Sonia ...

for ''

The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition, ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964.Bruns, Axel. "3.1. The active audience: Transforming journalism from gatekeeping to gatew ...

''. He authored McMahon's entry in the ''

Australian Dictionary of Biography The ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'' (ADB or AuDB) is a national co-operative enterprise founded and maintained by the Australian National University (ANU) to produce authoritative biographical articles on eminent people in Australia's ...

'', and as of 2016 was working on a full-length biography.

Parliament

Leeser joined the Liberal Party in 1992 and served as vice-president of the

Liberal Party of Australia (New South Wales Division) The Liberal Party of Australia (New South Wales Division), commonly known as the New South Wales Liberals, is the state division of the Liberal Party of Australia in New South Wales. The party currently governs in New South Wales in coalition wi ...

from 2015 to 2016. He was elected to parliament at the 2016 federal election, succeeding the retiring

in the

. In his maiden speech he spoke of the impact of his father's suicide when he was 20 years old. After the 2019 election Leeser became chair of the Joint Standing Committee on Migration and the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Indigenous Affairs. After the 2022 election, Leeser was elevated to Peter Dutton's shadow ministry as the Shadow Attorney-General and Shadow Minister for Indigenous Australians. He has been identified as a member of either the moderate or centre-right faction of the Liberal Party. On 11 April 2023, Leeser resigned from the opposition cabinet after the Liberal Party resolved to oppose the Voice to parliament referendum.

Personal life

Leeser is married to Joanna Davidson and has two children; James, born in 2018 and Ruth, born in 2022. He lives with his family in Thornleigh. Leeser is the first Jewish Liberal member of the House of Representatives from New South Wales and a member of the Emanuel Synagogue in Woollahra.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leeser, Julian Living people Academic staff of the Australian Catholic University Municipality of Woollahra New South Wales local councillors Australian monarchists Australian solicitors Jewish Australian politicians Lawyers from Sydney Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Berowra People from the North Shore, Sydney Politicians from Sydney University of New South Wales alumni University of New South Wales Law School alumni 1976 births 21st-century Australian politicians People educated at Cranbrook School, Sydney