Julie Suares
Martha HAYLETT (Ripon) (10:06): On 12 May we lost an amazing woman who gave so much to the Elmhurst and Ararat communities and to the entire labour movement. Dr Julie Suares grew up in Melbourne and received an academic scholarship to attend Methodist Ladies’ College in Kew, where she was a prefect. She was a proficient runner and horserider and represented her local pony club at the Melbourne show back in 1964. She began poring over the newspapers from age 9 and continued for the next 70 years. She moved to Nowhere Creek in Ripon and then to Elmhurst in the 1990s, where she was secretary of the Ararat ALP branch for over 20 years alongside her beloved sister Lyn Hughes as president. Julie was an integral part of the former member for Ripon’s electorate office for 12 years, where she helped thousands of locals in need in Stawell, Ararat and beyond. Later in life, in her late 60s, Julie started studying history at Deakin University. She won the prestigious Philip Brown research award in 2010 and completed her PhD thesis on the Right Honourable Ben Chifley, whom she later wrote a book about titled JB Chifley: An Ardent Internationalist in 2019.
Julie was a true believer. She dedicated countless hours to the Labor Party, including through the country Labor executive, where she fought for rural and regional Victorians. She was a loving sister, friend, aunt, great-aunt, historian, author, cook, Collingwood tragic and tai chi lover. She will be missed by so many. Vale, Julie.