Michael Danby (Melbourne Ports, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak about a dear family friend, a towering figure in the Jewish community and business in Melbourne, Mr Israel Ben Chayle Herzog AO. He is a man renowned for his modesty and charity. He is extremely ill at the moment, and his family are reciting psalms for him and for his recovery. I recite chapter 130 of the Tehillim psalms:

A song of ascents. From the depths I have called You, O Lord.

O Lord, hearken to my voice; may Your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications.

O God, if You keep [a record of] iniquities, O Lord, who will stand?

For forgiveness is with You, in order that You be feared.

I hoped, O Lord; yea, my soul hoped, and I wait for His word.

My soul is to the Lord among those who await the morning …

Israel, hope to the Lord, for kindness is with the Lord and much redemption is with Him.

And He will redeem Israel from all iniquities.

I also want to speak about my dear friend Ann Zablud whose 90^th birthday coincided with the 90^th anniversary of WIZO Victoria, and she celebrated her birthday on the weekend at a major lunch in her honour. I am used to being surrounded by strong women—including my late mother Margaret, my aunt Cipa and my wife Amanda—but Anne is a particular mentor, and I praise her along with her late husband Bob. They came from the legendary Brest-Litovsk in Poland to arrive in Australia on Black Friday 1939. One of their great beliefs was in a gentleman called Jabotinsky who wrote a famous book called A Land on Fire, and they arrived in Australia at Geelong with—to their amazement—the whole country afire. It was particularly appropriate, given the fact that they were coming from a continent that was literally burning to the ground, that they were coming to Australia, which appeared to be burning to the ground.

Bob and Ann’s broad understanding of the European traditions of Jewish community organisations meant that when they came to Australia on the cusp of the war they immediately engaged with significant existing community organisations, ensuring that the post-war wave of refugees—mothers, fathers and grandparents of many us who met on the weekend—found organisations that understood them, their traditions and their needs. Fortunately, these organisations were able to immediately engage the vast numbers of war-ravaged refugees. This is the unrecognized and incredible legacy of Ann and Bob Zablud.

On the weekend, Mark Leibler, another of our very important leaders in Melbourne, said that Ann and Bob did not just put their hands up for the job but also had ‘a great vision’. He went on to say that they knew that leadership was not just ‘about time and energy’ but also ‘about being prepared, when necessary, to take tough decisions’.

Ann later had a very important role in the UN women’s conference at Copenhagen and many important international conferences, and I pay tribute to her great contribution—(Time expired)