Syd Einfeld

Sydney David "Syd" Einfeld AO (17 June 1909 – 16 June 1995) was an Australian politician and Jewish community leader. Einfeld is the man credited with changing Australia’s immigration policy to provide a refuge for Holocaust survivors. As a result, Australia accepted more refugees per capita than any other country in the world and more Jewish refugees than anywhere except Israel.^[1]

Early life

He was born in Sydney in 1909, three weeks after his parents arrived in Australia – hence his name Sydney. He was the son of Rabbi Marcus Einfeld, of London, England, and his wife Deborah Gabel. He married Billie (Rosa) Appelboom on 2 June 1934 and had one son, Marcus and a daughter, Robyn. He was educated at Fort Street Boys' High School before becoming a manager of a merchandising company. In 1948, Einfeld was elected to the Board of the Australian Jewish Welfare Society. In 1952 he was elected president of the Australian Jewish Welfare and Relief Societies. He held the position for 25 years. He was also president of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry between 1953–54, 1957–58, and 1961–62.^[2]

Political life

In 1961, he was elected to the Australian House of Representatives as the Labor member for Phillip, defeating Liberal MP William Aston. He was defeated by Aston in 1963. In 1965 he was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for the seat of Bondi. In 1966 he became Deputy Leader of the Opposition; in 1971 he transferred from Bondi to the seat of Waverley. He was New South Wales Minister for Consumer Affairs in the Wran Government from 1976 to 1984, when he retired from politics. Einfeld died in 1995.^[3] A major bypass road in Bondi Junction is named after Einfeld.

For many years until the time of his death, Syd Einfeld also served as the patron of the local Rugby League club, the Sydney Roosters, then known as the Eastern Suburbs District Rugby League Football Club. He is the father of Marcus Einfeld, a former justice of the Federal Court of Australia and the Supreme Courts of New South Wales, Western Australia and the Australian Capital Territory and the first Australian superior court judge to be jailed.^[4]

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