Julian Martin Leeser (born 25 May 1976) is an Australian politician. 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. For example, while the political systems ...

and has represented the

Division of Berowra The Division of Berowra () is an Divisions of the Australian House of Representatives, Australian electoral division in the state of New South Wales. The seat covers the northern parts of the Greater Sydney area with the local government areas ...

since the 2016 federal election. He was a shadow minister under

Peter Dutton Peter Craig Dutton (born 18 November 1970) is an Australian former politician who served as the Leader of the Opposition (Australia), Leader of the Opposition and the Leader of the Liberal Party of Australia, leader of the Liberal Party from 2 ...

from 2022 to 2023.

Early life

Leeser was born in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

. 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 attended

Cranbrook School, Sydney Cranbrook School is an Independent school, independent Anglican Church of Australia, Anglican day school, day and boarding school, boarding school, with multiple campuses in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), eastern suburbs New South Wales, Aus ...

. He holds the degrees of

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

( Hons.) and

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

from the

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW) is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was established in 1949. The university comprises seven faculties, through which it offers bachelor's, master's and docto ...

. 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, Ra ...

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. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. His eleven-year tenure as prime min ...

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

Ian Callinan Ian David Francis Callinan (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, Callinan was raised in Brisbane, Queenslan ...

of the

High Court of Australia The High Court of Australia is the apex court of the Australian legal system. It exercises original and appellate jurisdiction on matters specified in the Constitution of Australia and supplementary legislation. The High Court was establi ...

Career

Leeser worked as an adviser for

Minister for Workplace Relations The Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations is an Australian Government cabinet position which is currently held by Amanda Rishworth following her swearing-in on 13 May 2025 as a result of Anthony Albanese's Labor government being re-ele ...

Tony Abbott Anthony John Abbott (; born 4 November 1957) is an Australian former 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 and was the member of parli ...

in 2001 and for

Philip Ruddock Philip Maxwell Ruddock (born 12 March 1943 in Canberra) is an Australian politician and former Mayor of Hornsby Shire Council. He is a Vice Chair of the Global Panel Foundation Australasia. Ruddock was previously a Liberal member of the H ...

between 2004 and 2006. He worked as a solicitor for

Mallesons Stephen Jaques King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) is the largest international commercial law firm based in the Asia-Pacific. It has 26 offices and over 3,000 legal professionals across Australia, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and the United States. Prior to KW ...

between 2002 and 2004. In 2006 he joined the

Menzies Research Centre The Menzies Research Centre (MRC) is an Australian centre-right public policy think tank aligned with the Liberal Party of Australia, Liberal Party. History The Menzies Research Centre was founded in 1994 and is named in honour of Sir Rob ...

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 amalgamation ...

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

William McMahon Sir William McMahon (23 February 190831 March 1988), also known as Billy McMahon, was an Australian politician who served as the 20th prime minister of Australia from 1971 to 1972. He held office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia ...

, 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 :* Soni ...

for ''

The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet daily newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964. As the only Australian daily newspaper distributed nationally, its readership of b ...

''. 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 from 2015 to 2016. In April 2016 he won Liberal

preselection Preselection is the process by which a candidate is selected, usually by a political party, to contest an election for political office. It is also referred to as candidate selection. It is a fundamental function of political parties. The presel ...

for the

safe seat A safe seat is an electoral district which is regarded as fully secure, for either a certain political party, or the incumbent representative personally or a combination of both. With such seats, there is very little chance of a seat changing h ...

of Berowra. He was elected to parliament at the 2016 federal election, succeeding the retiring

in Berowra. 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 resigned from shadow cabinet in April 2023 after the Liberal Party resolved to support the "No" vote at the

2023 Australian Indigenous Voice referendum The 2023 Australian Indigenous Voice referendum was a Referendums in Australia, constitutional referendum held on 14October 2023 in which the proposed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice was rejected. Voters were asked to approve an Co ...

Political views

J Leeser Parliamentary function CBR 16 May 2024

Leeser has been identified as a member of the Liberal Party's moderate faction. Leeser supports Australian recognition of

West Jerusalem West Jerusalem or Western Jerusalem (, ; , ) refers to the section of Jerusalem that was controlled by Israel at the end of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. As the city was divided by the Green Line (Israel's erstwhile border, established by ...

as capital of Israel, as implemented by the

Morrison government The Morrison government was the Australian Government, federal executive government of Australia, led by Prime Minister of Australia, Prime Minister Scott Morrison of the Liberal Party of Australia, between 2018 and 2022. The Morrison governmen ...

in 2018. In October 2022, he described the

Albanese government The Albanese government is the current federal executive government of Australia, led by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of the Labor Party. The Albanese government was sworn in on 23 May 2022 by the Governor-General of Australia, David Hurl ...

's decision to reverse the Morrison government's stance as "shambolic". The following month, he and deputy Liberal leader

Sussan Ley Sussan Penelope Ley (pron. , "Susan Lee"; ; born 14 December 1961) is an Australian politician who is the current Leader of the Opposition (Australia), Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Liberal Party of Australia, leader of the Liberal ...

travelled to Israel to "reaffirm the Coalition's commitment to West Jerusalem as the nation's capital", in a trip organised by the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council. Following the

2023 Hamas attack on Israel On October 7, 2023, Hamas and several other Palestinian militant groups launched coordinated armed incursions from the Gaza Strip into the Gaza envelope of southern Israel, the first invasion of Israeli territory since the 1948 Arab–Israeli ...

and resulting

Gaza war The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel fought since 7 October 2023. A part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Israeli–Palestinian and Gaza–Israel conflict, Gaza–Israel conflicts dating ...

, Leeser called on Australia to suspend its diplomatic relations with Iran, which he said had been "deeply involved" in the attack and was a "criminal regime". He subsequently announced that he would wear a ''

kippah A (plural: ''kippot''), , or is a brimless Jewish cap, skullcap, usually made of cloth, traditionally worn by Jewish men to fulfill the customary requirement that the Head covering, head be covered. It is the most common type of head-coverin ...

'' in federal parliament for one week as a statement against increased anti-semitism in Australia. In November 2023, in response to

protests in Australia A protest (also called a demonstration, remonstration, or remonstrance) is a public act of objection, disapproval or dissent against political advantage. Protests can be thought of as acts of cooperation in which numerous people cooperate ...

against the

, Leeser called for the New South Wales state government to ban vehicle convoys from carrying Palestinian flags, stating that drivers who participate in pro-Palestinian vehicle convoys should have their licences cancelled and their vehicles impounded. In January 2025, following a rise in antisemitic incidents in Australia, Leeser called for mandatory jail sentences for people convicted of vandalising Jewish sites, stating that "people need to know that if you graffiti a synagogue or a Jewish communal property, you will go to jail".

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 1976 births Academic staff of the Australian Catholic University Australian monarchists Australian MPs 2016–2019 Australian MPs 2019–2022 Australian MPs 2022–2025 Australian MPs 2025–2028 Australian solicitors Jewish Australian politicians Lawyers from Sydney 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 Berowra Municipality of Woollahra New South Wales local councillors People educated at Cranbrook School, Sydney People from the North Shore, Sydney Politicians from Sydney University of New South Wales alumni University of New South Wales Law School alumni