Julian Leeser (Berowra, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Indigenous Australians) | Hansard source

I want to acknowledge the passing of a great Australian, Isaac Wakil AO, aged 104. Isaac's story is the great Australian story of a person born overseas, fleeing persecution, making his fortune and giving back in spades to the country he loved.

Isaac Wakil was born in Baghdad in 1922. He was a survivor of the 1941 Farhud pogrom against Iraqi Jews. He came to Australia in 1949 and became a successful entrepreneur in the clothing industry. It was while working in fashion that he met his beloved wife, Susan, who he married in 1953. He was besotted by and absolutely devoted to her. They were married for 65 years until Susan's death in 2018. After her death, her life became the inspiration for the good works and opportunities he created for others.

In business, they were extremely successful. Susan and Isaac worked hard, invested wisely in property and became lifelong supporters of the arts, particularly Opera Australia and the Art Gallery of New South Wales. In the seventies and eighties, they were one of Sydney's glamour couples. I first met Susan and Isaac in 2017. They'd taken an interest in my career, and they were generous hosts and bons vivants. It was 10 o'clock in the morning, but Isaac said: 'Julian, you've come over. We must have champagne!'

As Susan's health declined, they retreated from society. A decade ago, they began liquidating their property holdings and established one of the most significant charitable foundations in Australia's history. Through the Susan and Isaac Wakil Foundation they touched tens of thousands of lives, supporting patients, students, artists, Aboriginal people and young people experiencing opera for the first time. When I sat on the council of the National Library, I approached Isaac about supporting the digitisation of performing arts materials, including Opera Australia productions that the Wakils had originally supported. He gave $1 million to make these materials accessible to all Australians. They made a $24 million gift to the Art Gallery of New South Wales, the largest monetary gift in the gallery's history. They gave $35 million to the University of Sydney to establish a purpose-built health sciences facility that now bears Susan's name. As Isaac said when the gift was announced:

Australia is a great country and it's a good feeling to give something back.

As a proud member of the Jewish community, Isaac was very disappointed by the antisemitism that was allowed to run rife at Sydney university, and he made his feelings known to Vice-Chancellor Mark Scott and called on him to take stronger action. Susan and Isaac supported the incredible work of the Sydney Jewish Museum's education programs and the New South Wales Jewish Board of Deputies. He was also a great supporter of the Liberal Party and especially supported and admired the leadership of Scott Morrison. Both Susan and Isaac were appointed officers of the Order of Australia in 2017.

This is a sad time for the Wakil, Khedoori and Lipmann families. It was my privilege to know a wise, generous, kind man who took an interest in the lives of others, a Jewish Australian patriot who wanted to create opportunities for others and whose generosity was inspired by his abiding love for his wife. Isaac is now reunited with his beloved Susan. May his memory be a blessing.

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