John Madigan (Victoria, Democratic Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Vikki Riley was a tireless campaigner for those in most need. She campaigned for refugees and oppressed people of other nations. Vikki was a woman of many talents. She worked as a journalist for the ABC Victoria and the Kabul Press. She was an artist and used her love of painting to organise art workshops to help asylum seekers as they waited for their cases to be processed. Only last month, she organised a successful detainee art exhibition at the Northern Territory Supreme Court. She continued to assist refugees after they were released from detention, helping them to find accommodation and jobs.

Vikki was adopted by Aboriginal parents in Kallista, Victoria. Her adopted parents retained her surname after the adoption. Her partner, Jimmy Hatton, said this situation made her unique. She loved her partner and her son deeply, but she spent enormous time away from her loved ones to help those most in need.