Brendan O'Connor (Gorton, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Employment and Industry) Share this | Hansard source

That was a very good effort. I rise to mourn the passing of Graham Lacey. Graham was a true believer, a trade unionist, and always on the side of the battler, the underdog. He was a grassroots activist and a very effective Richmond City councillor. He was a lifelong member of the Australian Labor Party and was always in the political fray. He was notably active in the anti-apartheid movement and the Vietnam moratoriums in Victoria. It was there he befriended our mutual friends, Paul Slape and Ian Jones from the Municipal Employees Union. He will be much missed. As I say, he was a true believer and he always fought for the underdog. He felt injustice very keenly and that's what motivated him in his public life, and that's what, I guess, led him to his political views on such matters. He is survived by his partner, Nelly Zola, his children, Donna and Shane, and grandchildren, Dylan and Tara. He'll be sorely missed. May he rest in peace.

Also, I acknowledge the passing of Graham Stewart Worrall, who passed away in February this year, but, as the pandemic has affected many things, it has affected my opportunity to place on the record my condolences to his family and friends, and I want to do so now. He passed away in February, as I say. He was a brilliant academic, an excellent and inspiring lecturer and teacher at Monash University. I had the good fortune of being a student of his back in the eighties. I wasn't always attentive to my studies. I wasn't always present at all of my lectures and tutorials, but I have to say that, when it came to Graham Worrell, I did attend and managed to listen to the remarkable exposes. His descriptions and analysis of the French Revolution were remarkable. In fact, there are many beneficiaries who were attendees and students of his. He brought history to life. For that reason, he'll be remembered, certainly as an academic, a lecturer, but I think, most of all, as a teacher. Some academics spend a lot of time publishing works and dealing with such matters, and he had that capacity, but, most importantly, he was focused and dedicated to his students and to his teachings. It is for that he will be mostly remembered. I want to pay tribute to him, and I extend my condolences to his wife, Barbara, his children and grandchildren, and his many friends.

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