Syd Einfeld

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Australian politician (1909–1995)

title: "Syd Einfeld" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["australian-labor-party-members-of-the-parliament-of-australia", "jewish-australian-politicians", "members-of-the-australian-house-of-representatives-for-phillip", "members-of-the-australian-house-of-representatives", "members-of-the-new-south-wales-legislative-assembly", "1909-births", "1995-deaths", "politicians-from-newcastle,-new-south-wales", "australian-labor-party-members-of-the-parliament-of-new-south-wales", "officers-of-the-order-of-australia", "australian-mps-1961–1963", "ministers-for-better-regulation-and-fair-trading"] description: "Australian politician (1909–1995)" topic_path: "geography/australia" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syd_Einfeld" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Australian politician (1909–1995) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox officeholder"]

Field	Value
name	Syd Einfeld
honorific-suffix
image	SydEinfeld1963.jpg
constituency_MP	Waverley
parliament	New South Wales
successor	Ernie Page
predecessor	District established
term_start	13 February 1971
term_end	19 September 1981
constituency_MP2	Bondi
parliament2	New South Wales
predecessor2	Abe Landa
successor2	District abolished
term_start2	6 November 1965
term_end2	13 February 1971
constituency_MP3	Phillip
parliament3	Australian
predecessor3	William Aston
successor3	William Aston
term_start3	9 December 1961
term_end3	30 November 1963
birth_date
birth_place	Kings Cross, New South Wales, Australia
death_date
death_place	Woollahra, New South Wales, Australia
nationality	Australian
party	Labor
children	Marcus Einfeld
occupation	Company manager
::

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 (1874–1937) who came to Australia in 1909 (becoming the chazan and the Second Minister of the Great Synagogue) by way of London, England, which he had immigrated to from Jarosław in Galicia, with his wife Deborah (Gabel) Einfeld (d. 1957).

Einfeld attended Bourke Street Public School and Paddington Public School before completing his secondary education at Fort Street Boys High School. After leaving school he worked as a salesman and became manager of a merchandising company. He was active in various Jewish community groups from a young age, including as an inaugural member of the New South Wales Jewish Board of Deputies in 1945.

Political life

Einfeld is the man credited with changing Australia's immigration policy after World War II 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. 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 and 1954, 1957–58, and 1961–62.

In 1961, he was elected to the Australian House of Representatives as the Labor member for Phillip, defeating Liberal MP William Aston.

In 1965 he was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for the seat of Bondi at a by-election. 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. In 1982 he was made an Officer of the Order of Australia.

Personal life

Einfeld died in 1995, at 85 years of age.

He married Billie (Rosabelle) Appelboom on 2 June 1934 in the Great Synagogue, whereupon they lived in Newcastle, New South Wales, and had one son, Marcus, and a daughter, Robyn. His son Marcus Einfeld was a judge of the Federal Court of Australia from 1986 to 2001.

References

"Sydney David Einfeld, Politician and Community Leader (1907-1985)". Archive of Australian Judaica.
(1995-06-19). "Australian Parliamentarian, Jewish Leader Dies at 85".
Apple, Raymond. (2008). "The Great Synagogue: A History of Sydney's Big Shule". UNSW Press.
(1984). "Debrett's Handbook of Australia and New Zealand". Debrett's Peerage.
Smith, Rodney. (2019). "Einfeld, Sydney David (Syd) (1909–1995)". Australian Dictionary of Biography.
Carr, Adam. "1961 legislative election: House of Representatives, New South Wales". Psephos, Australian Election Archive.
(1965). "1965 Bondi by-election".
{{cite NSW election. (1971)
{{Cite NSW Parliament
{{Cite It's an Honour. (26 January 1982)
A major bypass road in [[Bondi Junction]] is named [[Syd Einfeld Drive]].[https://books.google.com/books?id=21WEiJvmTI4C&dq=einfeld+bondi+junction&pg=PA1 ''A Tragedy In Two Acts: Marcus Einfeld And Teresa Brennan'' - Fiona Harari]
Harari, Fiona. (2011-09-01). "A Tragedy In Two Acts: Marcus Einfeld And Teresa Brennan". Melbourne Univ. Publishing.
(14 June 1934). "Weddings: Einfeld Appelboom". [[Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate]].
"Sydney David Einfeld, Politician and Community Leader (1907-1985)". [[University of Sydney]].
(2009-03-20). "Einfeld jailed". [[ninemsn]].
{{cite AustLII. NSWCCA. 87. 2010. (5 May 2010.)

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