Thursday, 15 August 2024

Jude Perera

Mathew HILAKARI (Point Cook) (10:02): Jude Perera took his place in history as the first South Asian and Sri Lankan-born member of a lower house in any parliament in Australia. He won the marginal seat of Cranbourne from the Liberals in 2002, and Cranbourne has remained Labor ever since but was always worked as a marginal seat. Many activists became staff members working in Jude’s office. Jude shared that with Lee Tarlamis on Sladen Street, and that included me and my partner Cassie. Jude did not jealously hold on to staff but allowed them to grow and go, and they have subsequently served across governments and the union movement in Victoria and Australia – something to be proud of.

Jude Perera’s fundraisers were the stuff of legend. I still measure every fundraiser against Jude Perera’s curry nights. Your template, Jude, has not been matched. If you were a Labor activist in the south-east or if you were a Monash Labor student during those years and you did not attend Jude Perera’s curry night, were you ever actually involved?

Jude never forgot where he came from or the values that led him to Labor, from talking about the caste system in his first speech to talking about a better democracy the last time I saw him. Jude was proud of his contribution in this place, supporting abortion law reform, voluntary assisted dying, legalising access to medicinal cannabis and medically supervised injecting rooms. In his final speech Jude talked about the challenges of the rollout of artificial intelligence and automation in employment. He was always thinking about what was over the horizon. Ira, family, thank you for sharing Jude for all those years and making the sacrifices for Jude. Vale, Jude Perera.