Ms Catherine King (Ballarat, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the recent death, on Anzac Day, of John Mildren OAM, who served his community as the member for Ballarat from 1980 to 1990. John's passing last month marked the end of an era in our home town. John didn't enter politics for fame or power; he did it to make a difference in his own community. First and foremost, John believed that being the member for Ballarat was about service to our local community, and it was something he was always at pains to stress to me. Being elected after a career as an academic and lecturer—in fact, he taught one of my brothers—John never forgot the power that good politics and good policy have to change the lives of working people for the better.

The last time I met with John was to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Medicare, a lasting reform of a government of which he was a part. John spoke about how he would meet with women in the electorate office that I'm now in who were in tears because they didn't qualify for the government funded scheme for people with lower incomes and couldn't afford private health insurance, so they were in that missing middle—those two million Australians who would've gone bankrupt in the event of a health issue. He said that they were in floods of tears trying to get access to care for their babies. Before Medicare, people had nowhere to turn. After its introduction, it made a huge difference, and that is very much part of John's legacy, which I'm proud to say we continue to build on today.

Personally, John was a mentor to me over many years. His example of how to represent a regional community like Ballarat is one that I will forever cherish. Today, Victoria's great regional cities are represented by Labor members, but that is only because of the contributions of people like John. Before John, Labor was in the political wilderness for a long period of time in my hometown. He was elected after 25 years of Liberal representation. His service and example reconnected our party with regional Victoria, a legacy that lives on to this day.

Following politics, John took just as much interest in his community as he ever did before. Drawing on his own life experience, John played an important role as chairman of Pinarc Disability Support, supporting members of our community living with disabilities, and was also actively involved with Dementia Australia. Whether it was in politics or in his career, John took every opportunity he could to change the world for the better. In his later years, John could still be found holding court at L'Espresso, solving the problems of the world and talking about politics. His sharp mind remained with him absolutely to the last, and I know just how happy and moved he would have been at the funeral taking place at St Patrick's Cathedral in Ballarat on May Day, once more connecting two of the great pillars of his life.

My thoughts are with John's children, his grandchildren, his great-grandchildren and all who loved him. We in the Labor Party say: vale, John Mildren. Thank you so much for your service.