Tony Pasin (Barker, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today I rise to pay tribute to one of the Coorong's kind-hearted community leaders, who tragically passed away earlier this year. Former mayor and regional trailblazer Roger Strother was a true gentleman who guided his community through one of the toughest of times—the millennium drought. Mr Strother was first elected to the former District Council of Meningie in 1993 before the council was amalgamated and he served as an elected member on the Coorong District Council. Between 2006 and 2008 he was elected as deputy mayor, before serving as mayor between 2008 and 2014. During this time, Roger worked with more than 30 community organisations across the Coorong and wider Murray-Mallee region. I had the pleasure of working with Mayor Strother when I first entered this place in 2013. Roger was an honest, approachable and hard-working man who always had the best interests of his community foremost in his considerations. He will be remembered by all those who had dealings with him as a man of integrity and as one who served the community with great skill during an extremely trying period, never losing faith or his passion for the region or its future. My condolences go to his wife, Mary, and to his family. Vale, Roger Strother.