Andrew Nikolic (Bass, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last Friday I attended a Mass of Christian Burial for one of my constituents, Jan Siejka, at the Church of Apostles in Launceston. Jan was born in Poland and his formative years were challenging, to say the least. In February 1940, aged about 10, he was forced into labour by the Nazis. Somehow he survived and after the war he met and married his wife, Mary. The couple lived in a displaced persons camp at Hohenfels in Germany.

Their great fortune in life was migration to Australia, in 1949, and Jan took up work as a cane cutter in North Queensland. In 1950, he and Mary settled in the small Tasmanian town of Perth and in 1952 he established Continental Builders with a 1,000 pound loan. Jan Siejka was behind notable building projects like the Launceston Magistrates Court, the Carmelite Monastery and a number of hospitals and schools.

He sat on the Tasmanian Advisory Council on Multicultural and Ethnic Affairs, the Master Builders Association and, federally, on a number of advisory committees. Jan and Mary were generous donors to so many worthy causes in our community. Jan was awarded the City of Launceston Citizen of the Year in 1994 and an OAM for services to the Polish community and building industry in 1995.

Jan Siejka will be remembered not just by his family but also by our community. May he rest in peace and I extend my sincere condolences to his family.