Contents Foreword Preface Part THE FIRST LIFE The Story So Far Early days To Budapest To Palestine Early days in Australia Westfield is born The separation A passion for football Setback and restoration Part A SECOND LIFE Personal Matters The machinery of family 10 A private matter 11 A breakthrough 12 ‘What gift should I give?’ 13 Frank’s ideas factory 14 Closing a circle 15 Reputational risk 16 Touching the past 17 Burying a father 18 A dark year 19 A pragmatic decision 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 Football Matters A telephone call Dismantling the old, building the new Joining the Asian family Hear the thunder The prize beyond reach Fighting on all fronts ‘This is not the last word ’ Mea culpa The A League Success and succession 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 Westfield Matters The core As a dream materialises An American surge Star chamber Radical change The ashtray Olympic gold Changing tactics After the GFC On the brink Major split Payoff Epilogue — Everything Matters Postscript Acknowledgements Index Photos Section About the Author Credits Copyright Foreword I should tell you straight up that I am an admirer of Frank Lowy’s and, even if I were not, I would still be fascinated by him When I had to move house in what people call my “advanced years”, but did not want to lose the extensive library I had built up, Frank Lowy generously funded the relocation of the library to the Sydney Mechanics’ School of Arts in Pitt Street The ambience of the original was recreated and it now serves as a public library Such examples of Lowy’s generosity are so common that there would not be room in this book for all of them But I am not writing this because of that previous benefaction That is not why I enjoyed A Second Life or why I admire the gifts of narration and research Jill Margo brings to it I read it so enthusiastically in part because Lowy seems to me to be an escapee from some phenomenal novel Unlike Lear, he is no mad old king Unlike the Buddenbrooks of Thomas Mann’s famous novel, his adaptability and acumen mean that his fortunes, and those of his family, abound rather than decline He has more appetite for life than any single man can hope to satisfy, and he is not finished trying to so yet In his case, as Margo says, drive has not dissipated to create a philosophic old man in an easy chair But he does assess himself, which makes him very interesting He is not a man of bluntforce, callow ambitions There are moments when he looks back gratefully on his long years with Shirley, on his family un-fractured by conflict, and on his significance in the community of Australians There are also moments when he assesses himself and others more critically Lowy is a refugee who has shaken life’s tree No branch has been safe Such achievements, of course, are not accomplished without some grief But Lowy has been throughout his life extraordinarily gifted at absorbing punishment without being deterred from what can justly be called a spectacular course Interestingly, Australians as a whole have found it fairly easy to be sympathetic to Lowy; even those who are not tend to be fascinated by him From the time he first arrived in Australia and took a job as an ambitious delivery truck driver, he has had a capacity to engage with us As this book demonstrates, Lowy is self-reflective in a way Australians are not used to seeing in their oligarchs He has achieved what most rich people cannot in Australia: the regard of the punters With a few notable exceptions, in Australia wealth tends to go to people without a tradition or onus of endowment, and without a tradition of inner self-assessment and self-judgment I commend Jill Margo’s book to you as one which deals with the complexity, the enigma, the muscular vision and wisdom of Frank Lowy I enjoyed it May you as well! Tom Keneally Preface My previous biography of Frank Lowy, entitled Pushing the Limits, was published in 2000 This second biography begins where that one ended Then, he was approaching his seventieth birthday and was widely expected to retire As this book shows, he never did Frank Lowy is an intensely private man For the first book he resisted his natural inclination and allowed me to see something of what lay behind his public face Since nothing bad came of that, for this book he allowed me to see more I have tried to respect his trust while telling the story of his mature years as fully as I can For those who never read the earlier biography, I have summarised it in the initial fifty pages of this book and called it ‘The First Life’ Having now written more than a quarter of a million words on Frank Lowy, I have nothing more to say except to thank him, most sincerely, for the uncountable hours he spent talking to me Jill Margo PART The First Life The story so far Early days When Hugo Lowy carried his newly born son to the synagogue in October 1930, there was joy in his heart The Great Depression had drained hope from the world and people were struggling, but in his arms was a perfectly healthy boy He was the future and as the small congregation of men gathered around for the boy’s traditional covenant with God and for his naming, so Hugo blessed his son As both the boy’s grandfathers had died before he was born he received their Hebrew names, Pinchas and Jonah; later in life he would be known simply as Frank The Lowy family lived in a little house where their four children shared beds and where water was drawn from a pump in the yard As the late last child, Frank was well loved and spoiled in the limited ways available at the time His brother John remembered him as an appealing child, adored by all: “He was the apple of everyone’s eye – he was a sensation then and never stopped being a sensation.” His sister Edith, however, remembered him less indulgently as a pushy child with a shocking temper, quick to throw a tantrum if it would gain him ground and, more often than not, used to getting his own way The family belonged to a closeknit community of some two hundred in Filakovo, a small town in southern Czechoslovakia, now Slovakia Jews had settled there in the early nineteenth century and were largely accepted by the local folk While they took part in the town’s commercial life and their children went to the local school, they were anchored to their small wooden synagogue where every Sabbath they would meet to pray and talk The Jewish community saw to its own needs and felt secure School would finish early every Friday for young Frank and he would run home to watch as his mother Ilona prepared for the Sabbath, knowing that just after lunch the front door would open and his father would appear, a suitcase in one hand and a business bag in the other Work as a commercial traveller took Hugo away from his family all week and they keenly anticipated his return Later, towards evening, Hugo would walk to the synagogue with his sons for the Sabbath service In those days many poor Jewish men who were jobless and dependent on charity would move from town to town, hoping for a few coins to send home On Fridays they would go to the nearest synagogue, praying they would be invited to a Sabbath meal The Lowys would always take in one or two of these itinerants After the service they would walk home with other families It was a peaceful group of men and children that gradually dwindled as people went into their houses Through the window of his own home Frank would see the light of the candles and once inside would find his mother and sister with the table prepared for the most important meal of the week Anticipating the meal and a weekend of rest, Hugo would be in good spirits He would pick up a child, usually Frank as he was the youngest, and walk around the room chanting the traditional welcome to the Sabbath There was a celebratory feeling in the house That there were strangers at the table didn’t matter The family was together again and like every Friday night Frank had ever known, they would draw up around the table to sing and pray before eating Frank’s family were part Hungarian, part Slovak Hugo was born Hungarian and having served in the Austro-Hungarian army was considerably more worldly than Ilona, who came from the small Slovakian mountain village of Bystra Hugo and Ilona were both from large families so there were many cousins Closest to Frank was his first cousin Eva Haupt, who regularly came to the Lowys’ for sleepover visits Frank and Eva would transform their chores into play and go hand in hand on errands When he did errands alone Frank would use the family bicycle, but, being so small, he would have to ride under the crossbar By Edith’s account Hugo adored Frank and affectionately called him ‘Tata’ While charming and socially successful, Hugo Lowy did not have great business acumen and was forced more than once to turn to Ilona’s family or his older brother Leopold for help Leopold was the ‘rich uncle’ in town and although Hugo’s children never had a ride in any of his three cars, they visited his grand house once a year Before Frank’s birth Hugo had opened a drapery shop that failed When he had contemplated declaring himself bankrupt, his father Jonah refused to consider it “Pull yourself together,” he instructed “No Lowy will ever go bankrupt!” Hugo had eventually paid all his creditors and kept going, but had lost everything, including their home Jonah’s words would resonate through Frank’s childhood By the time Frank was born Hugo was working for Leopold as a commercial traveller taking orders for kitchenware To supplement his income Ilona opened a small grocery shop that sold sugar, bread, flour and other staples, boosted by a limited liquor licence The family lived behind the shop and the children were always in and out, serving customers or helping themselves to sweets from large glass jars Typically, the family would be having lunch when they would hear the bells tied to the door that signalled someone was entering Frank would jump up, attend to the customer and grab a mouthful of lollies on his way back to the table Although the shop did reasonable trade, financial strains on the family were not helped by Hugo’s passion for cards Too often he played with people who were better off, and frequently he lost After school every afternoon the Lowy boys had to attend religious instruction They had to go on Sundays too; for a devout family this was mandatory The boys were instructed in German and at home they spoke Hungarian or Slovakian while at synagogue they prayed in Hebrew Their days were so full that there was little time to stray Occasionally, however, if Frank was extremely fortunate, Hugo would take him to a soccer match Hugo was a soccer enthusiast and had to some fast talking to extract young Frank from his Sunday classes Their town’s soccer team was famous for its prowess in the district and watching a game was a treat beyond words Holding hands, father and son would walk through paddocks to the makeshift field with its rickety stand During the week, when Frank and his friends had a few moments, they would make a rag ball from their socks and relive the game Life in Europe, as elsewhere in the 1930s, was grim The Depression had left a legacy of low morale and a fear of the future that fostered fervent nationalism While anti-Semitism was entrenched in Germany and Poland, Czechoslovakia had remained fairly benign towards its minorities, including the Jews But by the time Frank was at school the outlook for Jewish families was growing more uncertain Fear spread through European Jewry when hundreds of synagogues, Jewish shops and homes were destroyed in November 1938 during the infamous Kristallnacht or ‘Night of Broken Glass’ in Germany and Austria The division of Czechoslovakia that same year had dark consequences for the Lowys, who found themselves living in Hungary while much of their extended family was across the border in Slovakia Long summer holidays with their cousins became a thing of the past Jews were deprived of opportunities to work and could no longer own businesses or property Ilona was forced to take a Gentile partner in her grocery shop Jews could no longer keep their heads down, mind their own affairs and get on with life In a small town they were easily identified Frank and his friends were harassed on the way to and from school “You knew you were a Jew and that people didn’t like you It was humiliating,” Frank recalled But though he was afraid, he would never show it Hugo lost his job and the family house was at risk of being repossessed Young Frank listened closely to the discussion He shared the family’s distress about the house and then its overwhelming relief when Ilona’s family came to the rescue once again The memory of that unquestioning family support remained with him “That image of family unity is imprinted in my mind My mother’s family provided support to each other not just with money, but in all ways, emotionally, morally, whatever They were continually in contact, writing to each other, weekly and sometimes more often, and any problem for one was a problem for them all.” In 1942 the Lowys received terrifying news As part of a general roundup of Jews in Slovakia, members of Ilona’s family were being taken away After a correspondence describing fearful deportations, in April Ilona opened a heartbreaking letter from her brother Géza Grunfeld He was in despair about the plight of the children: “I would very much like to ask you if you could take our dear children to be with you Although I know you are not in an easy situation, one only pities the little ones, we can manage somehow We could arrange to get them to [word deleted by censors] and you could come and meet them there, if we are still here at that time.” Without a moment’s delay Hugo and Ilona despatched an envoy to collect the children It was too late Four families, each with three or four children, had been deported and almost no information was available Distraught, Ilona spent much of her time crying and praying Sadness pervaded the house, with each child feeling the immense loss and becoming increasingly aware of the precariousness of their own existence Fear was spreading through their already nervous community Surrounded by threatening events, they felt the world closing in on their small town and their possibilities for escape diminishing The Nazis were on the rampage in Europe, Poland had fallen and Jews were being deported from nearby Slovakia How long would the Filakovo Jews be safe? On the Day of Atonement the community crowded into the synagogue Pious and deeply fearful, they had come to plead for ultimate deliverance It is customary on this High Holiday for Jews to ask God to pardon their sins and not forsake them Now the synagogue resonated with their impassioned pleas During part of the service men cover their heads with prayer shawls and turn inwards Elevenyear-old Frank was standing next to his father when Hugo drew him in under his shawl and held him tight Close against his father, through the white shawl Frank could hear the rabbi begin chanting, “Who shall live and who shall die who shall perish by fire and who by water ” Frank felt his father trembling The chant was about their own situation and by the end of it Hugo was beside himself, sobbing and squeezing his son’s hand What would become of them? After that, Hugo decided his family was too exposed in the countryside It was time to move to bustling Budapest, where they could disappear into the crowd With Prime Minister Tony Abbott at a party to celebrate both Shirley’s eightieth birthday and the Lowys’ sixtieth wedding anniversary, Sydney, March 2014 (David Mane) Steven, Frank, Peter and David Lowy outside Westfield’s old headquarters in William Street, Sydney, before the sign came down in 2011 (Westfield/Dean Moncho) The board of Westfield in 2013 prior to the restructure the following year that saw the company split into two: an Australasian company and an international company Standing (left to right): Mark Johnson, Steven Johns, Roy Furman, Professor Judith Sloan, Peter Lowy, Frank Lowy, Steven Lowy, John McFarlane, Peter Allen, The Rt Hon Lord Goldsmith, Professor Fred Hilmer Seated (left to right): Brian Schwartz, Ilana Atlas (Westfield/Stephen Ward) Cutting the ribbon at the opening of Westfield London with the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, October 2008 (Westfield) Frank and his adviser Mark Ryan in the chairman’s office, Sydney, 2015 (Westfield/Peter Morris) Michael Gutman, Elliott Rusanow and Simon Tuxen at Westfield headquarters, Sydney, 2015 (Westfield/Emily Baker) With Mark Viduka, captain of the Socceroos, after Australia qualified for the 2006 FIFA World Cup for the first time in thirty-two years Sydney Olympic Park, November 2005 (Football Federation of Australia/Carlos Furtado) With Sepp Blatter, president of FIFA, at Sydney Olympic Park June 2013 (Getty Images/Robert Cianflone) Frank Lowy and David Gallop, CEO of the Football Federation of Australia, signing Ange Postecoglou as the Socceroos’ new coach, Sydney, October 2013 (Getty Images/Matt King) An exuberant Frank Lowy as Australia scores the winning goal, defeating South Korea to take the Asian Cup, Sydney, 2015 Left to right: Khalid Hamad Hamoud Al Busaidi, chairman and president of the Oman Football Association, Sheikh Salman Bin Ibrahim AlKhalifa, president of the AFC, Frank Lowy, Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove and Lady Cosgrove (HamzaYassin Photography) At Sydney Olympic Park in June 2013, congratulating Socceroos captain Lucas Neill on beating Iraq to qualify for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil Tim Cahill (hugging Archie Thompson), Rob Cornthwaite and Michael Zullo look on (Getty Images/Mark Kolbe) Falling off the stage after the A-League Grand Final in Melbourne, May 2015 Frank Lowy was about to award the trophy to Melbourne Victory FC when he slipped (Top: Getty Images/Robert Prezioso Bottom: AAP/Tracy Nearmy) After a few minutes on the ground, attended by paramedics, Frank Lowy climbed back onto the podium and awarded the trophy to Mark Milligan, captain of Melbourne Victory The grass had stained his hair (Getty Images/Quinn Rooney) About the Author JILL MARGO AM is one of Australia’s most respected journalists Her work has won some twenty awards, including two Walkley Awards She writes for the Australian Financial Review and has published bestsellers in the fields of biography and health In 2006, she was awarded the Order of Australia for her pioneering work in journalism and for her contribution to cancer awareness Credits Cover design by HarperCollins Design Studio Cover image by Nick Cubbin Copyright HarperCollinsPublishers First published in Australia in 2015 by HarperCollinsPublishers Australia Pty Limited ABN 36 009 913 517 harpercollins.com.au Copyright © Jill Margo 2015 The right of Jill Margo to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright Amendment (Moral Rights) Act 2000 This work is copyright Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced, copied, scanned, stored in a retrieval system, recorded, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher HarperCollinsPublishers Level 13, 201 Elizabeth Street, Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia Unit D1, 63 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, Auckland 0632, New Zealand A 53, Sector 57, Noida, UP, India 77-85 Fulham Palace Road, London W6 8JB, United Kingdom Bloor Street East - 20th Floor, Toronto, Ontario M4W 1A8, Canada 195 Broadway, New York, NY 10007, USA Margo, Jill, 1954- author Frank Lowy: a second life / Jill Margo ISBN: 978 7322 8778 (hardback) ISBN: 978 7304 9735 (ebook) Includes index Lowy, Frank P., 1930Lowy Institute for International Policy Directors of corporations – Australia – Biography Successful people – Australia – Biography Success in business Immigrants – Australia – Biography 338.092 Hebrew phylacteries, boxes containing prayers which are bound by leather thongs to the head and arm during morning prayer on weekdays A large fringed prayer shawl See detailed account in the ‘Personal Matters’ section See detailed account in the ‘Personal Matters’ section ... Preface Part THE FIRST LIFE The Story So Far Early days To Budapest To Palestine Early days in Australia Westfield is born The separation A passion for football Setback and restoration Part A SECOND. .. were part Hungarian, part Slovak Hugo was born Hungarian and having served in the Austro-Hungarian army was considerably more worldly than Ilona, who came from the small Slovakian mountain village... than migrate to Israel, they sailed for Australia Frank and John felt torn Should they stay and build the young state or go to their family and heal the separation? Early days in Australia On a