Wednesday, 16 October 2024

 Belinda WILSON (Narre Warren North) (09:53): I rise to pay tribute to my friend the late Noel Pullen, who we laid to rest last month. Noel loved three things: the Essendon Football Club, his Brighton Union Cricket Club and the Australian Labor Party. Noel was a member of the Legislative Council for the district of Higinbotham from 2002 until 2006. It was a blue-ribbon seat held exclusively by Liberals and conservative MPs until Noel Pullen came along and won it in 2002.

Noel was the absolute epitome of a true believer, and he represented the absolute best of what politics can be. He cared deeply about his community and helping people. He valued loyalty and integrity above all else. His political career ended prematurely because he refused to join a faction despite plenty of offers, but he remained a loyal and tireless servant of the Labor Party from the day he joined in 1966 as a 22-year-old right until the end at the age of 79. He used to say he did not care if you were left or you were right, as long you were a good person and you knew what you stood for.

I had the absolute pleasure of having Noel in my electorate office for the last 18 months. Noel would take on any constituent case with passion and vigour, no matter how difficult or hopeless it seemed. Noel had a heart of gold. He was kind, he was generous and he was always smiling. Anyone who knew him found it impossible not to love him. He was top of the class. His friends, his family, his colleagues and his comrades will all miss his generous spirit, his advice, his friendship and his kind soul. He was a true gentleman. Vale, Noel Pullen.