Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Minister for Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise in the 90-second statements to pass on my condolences to the family of Allen Bolaffi, particularly his family members: his son, Reuben; his daughters, Amie and Kate; his wife, Viv; and his mother, Yvette. Allen Bolaffi went into hospital on Sunday morning at 8 am suffering from a suspected infection after returning from an overseas trip. At the age of 57, he was dead by the end of the day. It is an extraordinary story in the modern environment, with all the things we know about health and research, that a person of 57 could die so quickly from the septic shock that set in from this infection.

Allen Bolaffi was a great stalwart of the Adelaide business community, but particularly the Jewish community. He was the founder and 20-year chairman of the Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce in South Australia. To put that in some perspective, I first spoke at the Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce in 1994, and 14 people were present. Following a budget during the Howard-Costello government, the South Australian chapter of the AICC organised a post-budget lunch for Peter Costello—and 1,200 people attended. Allen Bolaffi made an enormous difference to South Australia, to the Jewish community in South Australia, as chairman of the Adelaide Jewish Museum and to his synagogue, and he will be greatly missed by the people of South Australia, people of my electorate. As a personal friend of mine, I will miss him very greatly.