Page 4213 - Week 12 - Tuesday, 24 October 2017
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purpose-built wheelchair, but Steve had and he got on with bringing good people together to see that she was provided for. Scarlett died in recent years. I really admire Steve for how he has always been able to find out those needs of special young people and use his position and his networks to give them what they need.
As someone who also bears the benefits and the drawbacks of European blood—as we refer to ourselves, the wogs—I can really appreciate Steve’s fortitude and his willingness for a fight, for better or for worse, and his inability to give it a rest. In my cultural heritage it is seen as a positive. We tend to believe we only fight with someone if we care about them or the outcome more than we do about people liking us. In a way, though Steve is very good at creating discomfort for a cause, it is something that comes from deep in our cultural background, which is very different to the culture we have entered here in Australia. This means that sometimes we are misunderstood and at times, frankly, difficult to work with, but it is not for no reason and it is a quality that I think is good to give some context to.
Steve is a rolled-gold networker. I have often seen the effects he is able to have, particularly on the migrant men of his generation, who have all lived the common struggle of new Australians. And he can fundraise like no other. Honestly, I have never known another candidate to wheel suitcases of fundraising outcomes into the party office. It is enough to make a candidate envious.
I am sure that, after three campaigns to be elected here, standing in not two but three seats and representing the people of his home city so strongly over this time, his family can only be very, very proud and that his parents who made the hopeful but frightening choice to come here all those years ago would have been pleased with their decision and would be very proud of what he has achieved in this place.
The Bible, at Proverbs 13:22, says:
A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children …
The outcome of Steve’s work here will give strength and identity to his family for generations to come. His fight for the underprivileged and those in need here has brought comfort and knowledge of their values as human beings and the story of their families for generations to come. I salute you, Steve.
MS LEE (Kurrajong) (11.20), by leave: We say goodbye from the Assembly to a man of heart, a man of passion, a man of family. We say goodbye from the Assembly to our colleague and our friend. As a fellow member for Kurrajong I know there are many in our great electorate that will miss dearly Steve’s smile, radio star voice and football anecdotes. Steve is a man of heart.
My first memory of Steve takes me back to before the 2012 ACT election, when he and I were considering running for preselection to be candidates for the electorate of Molonglo. With a kiss on both cheeks and a cheery “Annyeonghaseyo”—Korean for hello—I remember him saying to me, “Koreans and Hungarians share the same ancestry, so I am big brother,” and so he was. Even though Steve had been a member since the previous term, he was new to Molonglo, having only recently moved to
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