Aaron Violi (Casey, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Funeral directors hold a special place in our community. They help people in some of their worst times, commemorating and celebrating a life and guiding families through an unimaginable tragedy, particularly the death of a child. Robbie Heritage played a large part in our community. On Saturday, I, with thousands of others, paid tribute to Robbie and celebrated his life at his funeral parlour. Robbie Heritage and the Heritage family—through Heritage & Heritage—are a huge part of our community. The Warby highway was a traffic jam, and I thank the local CFA for directing traffic. The last time we saw traffic that bad for a funeral in our community was for the late, great Don Bigham and his contribution.

Robbie's life was a life well lived; he was a local icon. He was born in Healesville in 1940 and spent his whole life in our community. He built a business, lost it all, went again and continued to give back to the community, even in his final days. So many people, including me, have been touched by Robbie's presence at funerals, sitting in the back and making sure everything went well. Vale, Robbie Heritage. My condolences to his wife, Elaine; his son, Gavan; his daughters, Sandra and Janet; and his grandchildren, Lockie, Jackie, Jaime, Brad, Charlotte and Kate. Rest in peace, Robbie.