Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

Just think about this: condolence motions are usually reserved for royalty, for world leaders, for ministers of the Crown and now Luch. Luch! What a national icon he is in life and in death. Ljupco 'Luch' Jonceski was 59 years young. Like the member for Fisher, I was shocked and saddened when I learnt of his death. I learnt it from Zoe McKenzie's Facebook page, actually. I was just stunned. I think we all were. He had such a wonderful life. He'd packed so much into those 59 years, and I'll say 'short years' because he left us all too soon, all too suddenly.

There are thousands upon thousands of people who come to Parliament House to work every day. It doesn't matter whether the place is sitting or whether it's in recess. I can think of four who are universally loved and, moreover, universally known by all of us, and they are, in no particular order, Brigette Bull, who is the barista at Aussie's Cafe, and then Maria Ljubic and her sister, Anna, the cleaners—those well-known cleaners who always have a cheery smile and sometimes a cuddle and a kiss for the MPs. Aren't they fantastic? What an amazing duo! Then there was Luch, universally loved and respected and known. Now the parliament stops to honour his memory, a right usually only reserved for somebody really important. But, you know, Luch was important, and he was important to each and every one of us because he made our jobs easier; he made our lives better. He was a builder, and we know that he helped build this place. Later on, when his labouring days were over and he became a greencoat, he built relationships. He built relationships across the aisle. We didn't even know that he was doing it, but he did.

The last time I saw Luch, I was dressed up as Elvis Presley. I was. We had our seventies and eighties dress-up theme night, as only the Nationals could do, and Luch spotted me in my powder-blue sequined suit, and he made a beeline for me because he wanted a picture with me. We did the old Elvis thing. I was a little bit tardy in sending him the picture—it took me about 10 minutes—and Luch was straight on the phone: 'I want that picture. I need that picture.'

He was somebody whose smile, no matter how bad a day you were having—on some of your worst days in politics, Luch was there and he was always smiling. He was always wanting to gee you up and make you feel good about yourself and make you feel good about the fact that you were here in the people's house and you were here representing the nation and representing your electorate.

Like the member for Cunningham, I too shared in Luch's want—his need—to know about your electorate and your people. I attended his Monday 12 January service, his funeral, at Queanbeyan's Macedonian Orthodox Church of the Prophet Ilija, and I got there early. I could not believe the throng of people. It's only a little church, but I was astounded by the number of people who turned up at that service. I was one of the lucky ones to be inside the church. I felt a bit guilty, but I was dragged in there by someone who felt that I should be in there. There were a few parliamentarians there, and I must admit I didn't understand the whole service; it was done in the native tongue. But the eulogies were very special. They were done in English as well, and they described a man who was a wonderful human being. We all saw him just as somebody who we thought we owned, but he was more than that. Out in his Macedonian community, he was a sports follower. He was somebody who, as here, had an infectious way about him. But he was a family man as well. He was a husband, he was a father and his family just adored him, as you can understand. But so did the entire community who turned up at that service—a bigger service than probably most of us will get, and deservedly so.

He ran the green-coated attendants with good humour, with professionalism and with aplomb. Nothing was ever too hard for him to do. Nothing was too menial. He would do anything for you. He treated everyone the same, from the prime minister of the day to the newly minted backbencher, and everybody loved him for his trademark smile, his happy disposition and his wisdom. He didn't clean your office like the two sisters, and he didn't make your coffee like Brigette, but what he brought to this place and to each and every member was his love, his care, his support and his friendship. He was a stalwart. Hundreds upon hundreds of MPs have benefited from his more than 40 years of experience, his wisdom and him just being Luch.

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, the member for Oxley, described Luch as his 'main man'. When Luch passed away, I contacted the Speaker. He said, 'Every time Luch saw me, each time we walked the mace or he opened the door, he always said, "Let's do this, Mr Speaker."' It was a little thing, but, as the Speaker said, it made him laugh. Milton Dick said, 'I saw how kind he was to every new member. What a hero.' Too true, Mr Speaker. He was such a generous soul. We mourn his loss.

The place, as the member for Fisher said, will not be the same without him. It would be nice to think that we could do something for him—maybe name the attendants room in his honour—that would honour his memory. I did go into the attendants room just before question time on the first day back here, on Tuesday, for the parliamentary year—apart from the extraordinary January sittings we had—and I offered my condolences to the attendants, and I do so again now, because I know how each and every one of you would be feeling because he was a special person. It's like losing the mentor who you've known, loved and respected.

I say, again, what an extraordinary human being—the fact that the Parliament of Australia can stop, can grind to a halt, and we can all as one rise in our places, offer him the respect he deserved and then give speeches for his passing. Who else would get that but Luch? He'd be looking down on us now and he'd be almost annoyed at the fuss. He'd be humbled by it, but, in his own special way, I think he'd quite enjoy the fact that he was being honoured in this way, because he was gregarious and he was a great people person. May he rest in peace. We love you, we honour you, and we miss you dearly. Vale, Luch.

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