Former Victorian state Liberal MP Inga Peulich has shockingly died at the age of 67.
Mrs Peulich was known for her Catholic conservative views including being a staunch opponent of Melbourne‘s controversial supervised injecting room for illegal drugs and the Safe Schools education program that teaches LGBTIQ+ sexuality.
She quit politics after losing her South Eastern Metropolitan region upper house seat in the 2018 election.
Prior to that she spent a decade in the lower house after being elected to the seat of Bentleigh as part of Jeff Kennett’s first government in 1992.
The former teacher served as Parliamentary Secretary for Education under the Baillieu/Napthine government, which was in office from 2010 to 2014.
In opposition she served as Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Wastewatch, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Education and Communities , Shadow Minister for Multicultural Affairs and Shadow Minister for Scrutiny of Government.
Former longtime Victorian state Liberal MP Inga Peulich has died at the age of 67
The news of her passing came as a shock to current MPs and former colleagues.
Victorian Opposition Leader John Pesutto said expressed his sympathies for Mrs Peulich’s family including husband Savo, son Paul, and mother Nena.
‘Inga Peulich was a fierce advocate for Victoria’s multicultural communities, Melbourne’s south-east and the Liberal Party,’ he said.
‘With a commitment to community, Inga’s life, achievements, career and advocacy fulfilled those dreams by continuing to pave the way for many migrants to our great state.’
MsPeulich emigrated to Australia from Bosnia in 1967 and told Parliament during her 1993 maiden speech her parents had ‘suitcases, a couple of small children and very little else”.
Gary Rowe who was an MP in the Kennett government told The Age in 2013 he had made enduring friendship after the two sat next to each other in parliament.
Ms was known for her conservative views and was a staunch opponent of Melbourne ‘s supervised injecting room and the Safe Schools education program that fostered diversity for LGBTIQ+ students
Victorian Opposition Leader John Pesutto paid tribute to Ms Peulich’s passion for multiculturalism
”Inga loves politics and loves her community. She is passionate, extremely so, about her family,” Rowe said.
Even from the government benches she was an outspoken critic of Jeff Kennett’s attempts at drug-law reform, a passionate opponent of abortion decriminalisation and euthanasia.
She also opposed broadening access to IVF to single women and same-sex couples, and campaigned against social housing projects and sided with the church against anti-discriminations laws.
‘When I was 10 years of age my family came to this land of opportunity to escape a life that was crippled by socialism,’ she said in her maiden speech.
”My parents left the former Yugoslavia because they absolutely abhorred a system in which the legitimate needs of the individual were subservient to the state.’
