Israel Regains Staunch Ally as Opposition Wins Australia Election

Following election of Liberal Party leader Tony Abbott, all three Jewish lawmakers in federal parliament are expected to return, with Joshua Frydenberg becoming the first Liberal Jewish member of government since the early 1990s.

Dan Goldberg
Haaretz
September 9, 2013

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Israel once again has a staunch ally in Australia following the election of Liberal Party leader Tony Abbott as prime minister.

The Labor government was swept from its six-year term in office on Saturday as the conservative Liberal Party won a convincing, and expected, victory.

Abbott – a surf life-saver, volunteer fire-fighter and one-time trainee Catholic priest – is expected to lead a government of more 90 seats against Labor’s expected 55 seats in the new parliament.

Several of the 150 seats in the House of Representatives are yet to be confirmed.

The news will be welcomed by officials in Jerusalem, who have experienced turbulent diplomatic relations under Kevin Rudd, including the expulsion of an Israeli agent from its embassy in Canberra following the 2010 Dubai passports affair.

Rudd stood down from the party leadership on conceding defeat.’

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