Julian Leeser (Berowra, Liberal Party, Shadow Attorney-General) Share this | Hansard source

It's an honour to follow Minister King in her contribution and the member for McPherson, who not only worked with Luch as a parliamentarian but as an attendant as well. There have been so many beautiful speeches made in this debate, and I agree with the minister that Luch is the sort of person that we would have had a series of speeches for had he lived to retire; he'd have had a particular retirement farewell speech. Luch is one of those people that is so vital to the character of an institution like this.

One of the things that he didn't do towards the end, because I think the parliament had dispensed with it, was this. In the first two terms that I was here in my 10 years of service, Luch would greet you at the airport on a Sunday evening. Like a barista knowing your coffee order, he would remember what time your car was going to pick you up and where it was going to pick you up the next morning. He brought a great smile, and, after a flight that could sometimes be unpleasant, he was a wonderful person greeting you and bringing the good humour that he brought to all of the work that he did.

My office is opposite Zoe McKenzie's, the member for Flinders's, and in her office window she had a beautiful picture of her and Luch, when the parliament resumed in January for those important sittings to deal with the aftermath of Bondi, and I said, 'That's a beautiful picture of you and Luch in your office window.' And then she told me that Luch had passed, and, like so many, we just couldn't believe it—that somebody who's been so vital to this place, who's been so important for the good humour of this place, had. Some days in politics you have days where the highs are very high, and other days you have days where the lows are very low, and Luch was always there to inspire, to welcome, to greet—to just remind you, with his good humour and good nature, of the importance of the service role that you're giving here.

To those of us in partisan politics, it's often hard to imagine what it must take—an idea that the member for McPherson knows well—to be engaged in an impartial position in this House. So many of us join our political parties because we feel so passionately about our democracy and about issues to do with our democracy, or we stand for parliament—as you do, Deputy Speaker Sharkie—as a crossbencher, because you have a set of values that you want to impart onto the parliament. But our attendants don't do that, and the staff that work in the parliament don't do that; they are here as servants of our democracy, and they take a dispassionate view.

And Luch was such a great ambassador for the parliament. He was such a great ambassador for the idea of service. I will never forget, when I was on the back bench, sometimes you'd only just need to wave at Luch and he knew exactly what you wanted, whether it was a water or the big lectern or the small lectern, and there were other days where perhaps the only thing you did, in terms of walking into the House, was walk in just to get your name marked off and see him. But his service, his decency, his remarkable connection with people right across the parliament and right across the building is something that is very much worthy of celebration.

To his family, who will have been shocked at his untimely passing, as we all are: I hope they take comfort from the fact that so many people from across the parliament who've served here for many years are paying tribute to this wonderful man who really touched so many people's lives. I wish I'd had the opportunity to say to Luch how much he mattered to me, as he mattered to so many of the colleagues here. To his family and to all those who knew him: may his memory be a blessing.

See this speech in context