Queensland Premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, led a condolence motion in Parliament on Wednesday to pay tribute to former Labor MP, Demetrios ‘Jim’ Fouras.
Jim Fouras passed away from a heart attack in November 2021 at the age of 83.
READ MORE: Big crowds expected to farewell former politician Jim Fouras.
As part of her motion, Ms Palaszczuk detailed the story of how Mr Fouras was born in Greece in 1938 but migrated to the Gold Coast in 1948 with his family.
Mr Fouras joined the Labor party in the 1960s before winning the seat of South Brisbane in 1977 to become the first Greek-born member of an Australian parliament, Ms Palaszczuk said.
After winning two subsequent elections he worked at the Australian Human Rights Commission before returning to politics to win the seat of Ashgrove in 1989.
He tasted victory at five more elections and served as speaker of the house between 1990 and 1996 before retiring in 2006.
Mr Fouras was made a member of the Order of Australia for service to the Queensland Parliament in 2014, and was made a life member of the Australian Labor Party.
“Jim was an energetic and passionate person, as these awards recognised, and his family can be absolutely proud of his life,” Ms Palaszczuk said.
Queensland Opposition Leader, David Crisafulli, said few could have imagined at the time of Mr Fouras’ birth in a small village in rural Greece “that he would rise to the position of Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland.”
“He forged himself a reputation as a defender of the house and its members, and as one who sought to uphold the supremacy of the parliament itself,” Mr Crisafulli concluded.
Source: Canberra Times.
