In one of his first public outings as chief executive of Solomon Lew’s retail giant Premier Investments, Richard Murray gave the Australia Israel Chamber of Commerce in Melbourne on Wednesday a tongue-in-cheek glimpse into his recruitment.

“When Sol asked me to join his business, he said we would inevitably work well together because we agree on a number of things: family is important to us, we love retail, we love Carlton [Football Club] and we support the Liberal Party,” Murray said during the vote of thanks that followed Treasurer Josh Frydenberg’s address.