Juliana ADDISON (Wendouree) (10:02): John Barry Mildren OAM, 20 October 1932 to 25 April 2024, served as the federal Labor member for Ballarat from 1980 to 1990 with distinction. Significantly, when John won the seat of Ballarat for Labor in 1980 it was the first time since the ALP split of 1955, ending 25 continuous years of conservative Liberal representation.

John’s election victories paved the way for many other successful state and federal Labor campaigns in the decades that followed. He literally wrote the blueprint for what Labor needed to do to win Ballarat. I am indebted to John and the committed Labor Pary members, including the former Premier Steve Bracks, for the work they did to build trust in the Labor Party during that time.

John was a wise and good man who was intelligent, compassionate and humble. He was committed to social justice and spoke to me often about the importance of members of Parliament always serving their community, words that I will never forget and will always live by.

After leaving public office John continued to serve numerous organisations, most notably Pinarc Disability Support. John was awarded life membership for his tireless advocacy work to support people with disabilities and their families. John also made great contributions to Alzheimer’s Australia, the Cornish Association of Victoria and the field naturalists.

John was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia in the 2018 Australia Day honours for his service to the Parliament of Victoria and the community of Ballarat. Vale, John Mildren.

You can take a look at more of my speeches to Parliament here.