Last Sunday, I had the privilege of moderating a fascinating discussion with former Treasurer, Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party and MP for Kooyong, Josh Frydenberg, at an event that The King David School cohosted with Temple Beth Israel to launch Josh’s memoir A Grateful Son.

I began the discussion by asking Josh how he settled on the title and he explained that A Grateful Son reflects his gratitude to his incredible parents, Erica and Harry, for the nurturing, intellectually open and non-judgmental tone that they set in his household and how much this contributed to his grounding and success. He also reflected that he was a proud and grateful product of his Jewish community and that the opportunities for education, connection and grounding shaped his strong identity. Finally, he chose the title because he is a grateful son of Australia - he expressed how thankful he was for the freedoms and opportunities that characterised his upbringing. He noted that Australia has become a more hostile place for many in the Jewish community since October 7 2023. He is motivated by a desire to stand up and proactively address this so that future Australians can experience the same sense of gratitude.

I asked Josh to reflect on the despicable episode where Erica’s background as a refugee after being rendered stateless by Nazi occupied Hungary was weaponised by opponents to try to have his status as a Parliamentarian undermined by suggesting that he had somehow inherited Hungarian citizenship. He explained that it was a very upsetting period but told of how grateful he was for the support of so many from both sides of politics who stood up to reject the inappropriateness of the claims. Ultimately they were tested in court and it was found that there was no basis to the allegation that Erica, whose citizenship had been revoked by the Nazis, had reclaimed her Hungarian citizenship. Additionally the court awarded costs to Josh, and his opponents then tried to weaponise this to inflict additional damage by placarding voting booths with pamphlets suggesting he was cruel for trying to bankrupt a pensioner.

I noted that in his book Josh stated: “Over the years I’d been called someone who likes being liked. What’s the alternative? Liking to be hated? Hating to be liked? If you’re excited by hate then you’ve lost touch with the proper purpose of politics which is making people’s lives better.” I reflected that in light of the ghastly attack on independent MP Helen Haines we have seen how the toxic nature of political discourse has real-world effects. Yet, I was struck in his memoir by the many occasions where, in this highly partisan and combative world, Josh managed to foster positive and respectful relationships with those who he disagreed with both within his party and on the other side. I asked why he took this approach in his leadership and why we do not see more of it.

Josh explained that “politics is an art not a science” and he felt that the most successful outcomes occur when one can meet with others, hear their views and, where possible, reach consensus. He said that he believes that most politicians are advocating for a better world and while they often disagree how, he can only gain from maintaining respectful dialogue.

One of the wisest pieces of advice in Josh’s book comes from his daughter, Jemma, who said, “you never lose Dad, you either win or learn.” At another point he stated that “failure is a teacher, it shouldn’t be a stain.” I asked Josh what lessons he has learned about fallibility from his political career?

In his answer, Josh embodied Jemma’s advice. He explained how he had learnt and grown from each moment giving colour through some vital examples. I pointed out that in his retelling he utilised the plural pronoun “we” whenever he spoke of victory but utilised the personal pronoun “I” whenever he spoke of defeat. I think this speaks volumes about his sense of integrity.

I asked Josh about his powerful speech at Bondi in the wake of the massacre, his work on the documentary Never Again and the establishment of the Dor Foundation to fight antisemitism. I asked what actions the government should take to address this scourge.

Josh’s response was forceful. He said that he wished he did not need to intervene in this space but he felt that there was no choice due to the ineffectiveness of the Government’s response. He laid out a plan which was based on proactive and not reactive policies. He said that legislation to prevent hate preachers and ban protests near places of worship should be implemented. Josh also believes that immigration needs to be carefully monitored to avoid importing of those whose values run antithetical to Australia’s. He said that preventative education should be reviewed to ensure that there is alignment with values. He reflected that universities need to ensure that they do not become sites which foment hatred. He cited a conversation he had with a university Vice Chancellor who had stated to him, “Josh, I don’t know how to address this, I am just a microbiologist”. Josh was incredulous and stated, “No! You are responsible for the safety of over 40,000 students and staff!”

Finally Josh stated that the erroneous undermining of Jews’ connection to Israel had become the new antisemitism and that for the situation to improve, our leaders need to come out strongly in defence of our right to express this aspect of our identity.

The conversation was far more wide-ranging than I have space for in this column and included his brief tennis career, his reverence for and the huge life influence that the late Sir Zelman Cowen had on him, his reflection on working with various Prime Ministers and his repeated decision to prioritise loyalty over political advancement.

I am so grateful to Temple Beth Israel for their partnership in supporting this event and of course to Josh Frydenberg for the generosity with which he shared his time and ideas with our audience.