Wednesday, 9 March 2022

Ms TIERNEY (Western Victoria—Minister for Training and Skills, Minister for Higher Education)

Incorporated pursuant to order of Council of 7 September 2021:

Last week I attended the funeral of Jack Diamond, and today I rise to pay tribute to Jack, who was a champion of public education and made an enormous public contribution to improving the lives of others through education.

He served as the Box Hill TAFE chairperson from 2015 until late last year.

His passion for education started long ago.

Before moving into the finance sector, Jack was a secondary school teacher for a decade. He understood how important education is to changing lives and transforming communities.

It was Jack’s role at Box Hill where I had the pleasure of working with him. Along with the Box Hill TAFE leadership team, Jack led a transformation of the TAFE.

I know that he was particularly proud of reopening the Lilydale campus and breathing life back into that community. You just need to visit the campus to see the transformation that has been made, particularly with the new sustainable plumbing centre that opened last year.

There was never a challenge too difficult for Jack. He was absolutely determined to deliver better education and training opportunities for all Victorians.

Jack’s leadership has meant that Box Hill TAFE is in a strong position, and I am grateful for his contribution to making our TAFE network stronger.

Jack will be missed by all of us, but particularly his wife Maria, his children Sarah, Jacqueline and Sam and their partners, and his grandchildren Enrique, Sabine, Wesley and Jack.

May he rest in peace.