Thursday, 15 August 2024

 Samantha RATNAM (Northern Metropolitan) (09:53): I too on behalf of my Greens colleagues would like to offer our condolences for the losses this chamber is reflecting on today, firstly for Jude Perera, who contributed to this Parliament for many years from 2002 to 2018 – a long period of service both in this Parliament but, I think more importantly, to the broader community. He was one of the first people, if not the first person, of Sri Lankan heritage to be elected to a parliament anywhere in Australia, I believe. I know his presence was felt very deeply in the broader Sri Lankan diasporan community and especially in the south-east. He worked very tirelessly to grow support for his party across the region, and there were not many conversations within the broader diasporan community that you would encounter without the name Jude Perera mentioned. While when I began in this place in 2017, our family orbits had not quite overlapped, it was inevitable that they would, and the last time that I got to meet Jude was actually at a family function – the engagement of my cousin. Finally our family orbits had indeed overlapped, as is true of the Sri Lankan diasporan community. So it was a very fitting, in some ways, finale to our interaction in this place. Our deep condolences go to his family, his friends, his children and his colleagues especially in this place, who will miss him very deeply.