Community pays tribute to Michael Danby
MEMBERS of the Jewish community have paid tribute to Melbourne Ports MP Michael Danby for his years of work in the electorate.
NAOMI LEVIN
MELBOURNE Ports MP Michael Danby showed his pulling power, gathering the entire Jewish community — from Adass rabbis to Progressive parents, from Melbourne and Sydney — under the same roof.
More than 400 people attended a function at the St Kilda Town Hall on February 15 to pay tribute to Danby’s work in the electorate for more than 11 years.
Joining them was Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard, plus a gaggle of senior government figures including Home Affairs Minister Brendan O’Connor, Communications Minister Stephen Conroy, Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities and Children’s Services Bill Shorten and NSW Supreme Court Justice Stephen Rothman.
They paid tribute to the MP’s efforts in securing millions of dollars worth of government funding for Jewish school safety.
Shorten introduced the Deputy PM, who also serves as Education Minister, beginning his speech with a well-pronounced “shalom chaverim”.
Gillard was received with a standing ovation and spoke passionately in support of a strong education system.
“There is nothing more important we can do as a community than make sure every child goes to a great school,” she said.
She praised Jewish schools, saying if the government could “bottle” what they have, Australian schools would be stronger and fairer.
It was a cause taken up by Danby in his speech. “I hope, rather than just basking in the glory of myself, this is a process for all Australian schools to emulate: the success of Jewish schools.”
Justice Rothman explained the genesis of Danby’s work lobbying for funding for security for Jewish schools.
It began in 2000, when the Olympics in Sydney and the raging Second Intifada saw unprecedented security needs at NSW Jewish schools. At the time, the community was spending $4 million every year keeping a few thousand students safe.
It took years, but Danby’s persistent lobbying paid off, and by 2007 it was an ALP election promise to spend $20 million of taxpayer money securing schools. That promise was kept and already more than $5 million has been dished out to Jewish schools with more to come.
The co-chair of the Australian Council of Jewish Schools extolled some of Danby’s other contributions: his work, motivated by his family’s background, to stop both sides of politics using the term “illegal immigrant” and his strong Jewish identity — “his badge of honour”.
The event was organised by Victoria’s Jewish school community, and included a tribute to the late Australian Council of Jewish Schools co-chair, Ian Rockman.
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