Malcolm Turnbull, a multimillionaire who reportedly has Jewish roots, was sworn in as Australia’s new prime minister.

Turnbull became the country’s new leader on Tuesday, defeating Tony Abbott in a Labor Party leadership ballot on Monday. The pro-Israel Abbott resigned after the vote.

Turnbull spoke about his Jewish roots in a 2013 interview with the Australian Jewish News that had excerpts reprinted this week in the newspaper.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

“My mother always used to say that her mother’s family was Jewish,” he said.

He also said, “I grew up in the eastern suburbs, and as we all observe there were a lot of Jews in the eastern suburbs, and I have always been very comfortable.

“There is no doubt that the strong traditions of family and the whole heimishe atmosphere of the Jewish community, which I’m sure some people don’t like, for me – as someone who is a good friend, but not part of it – I find very admirable.”

Turnbull has called for increased ties with Israel.

“We need to collaborate more with Israel, particularly on matters of science and technology. The more we can do with Israel, the better,” he said last month at the Zionist Federation of Australia’s 2015 plenary.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

2X match on all Passover gifts!

$90 → $180 $180 → $360

$360 → $720

Other amount