Tanya Plibersek (Sydney, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Housing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Madam Deputy Speaker, on indulgence, I wish to make a one-minute statement.

Ms Anna Burke (Chisholm, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The minister may proceed.

Tanya Plibersek (Sydney, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Housing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to send my condolences to the family of former Senator Misha Lajovic, who was born in Ljubljana, Slovenia, on 23 July 1921 and died recently, on 5 June 2008. He came to Australia at the age of 30 and worked for two years as a labourer and then as an accountant. He was in the parliament from 1975 to 1985, the first Australian of Slovenian extraction to be a member of the federal parliament. He was passionate about his Senate committee work and saw Australia as a land of opportunity. He is survived by a very loving extended family, and my regards go particularly to his son, Thomas.

His death occurred in the same year as the passing of the former President of Slovenia, Janez Drnovsek, who was born in Celje in Slovenia on 17 May 1950 and died in 2008 aged 57. He is survived by a son and a daughter, and his sister Helena Drnovsek Zorko was the charge d’affaires from Slovenia to Australia and a great friend of the Australian community. President Drnovsek was well loved in Slovenia and played a key role in the post-communist and post-independence era. He formed the Liberal Democrats in 1992 and became Prime Minister. He led Slovenia to the European Union in 2004 and into NATO membership. He focused on the fight for the poor and the weak and was critical of the EU from within for subsidising some while others suffered. He battled cancer for many years and was well loved by the Slovenian people.