Members of parliament have added their tributes to former Kennedy candidate Noeline Ikin who died last week and who will be buried today (Tuesday). Member for Leichhardt Warren Entsch called her a very special woman who fought for regional Australia.
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“Noeline typified the values that regional communities hold dear: honesty, integrity, determination, a willingness to get her hands dirty and absolutely zero tolerance for bureaucracy,” Mr Entsch said.
“As the LNP candidate for Kennedy in the 2013 election Noeline comprehensively won the primary vote against the sitting member, only to miss out due to Labor directing its preferences to Mr Katter.”
Mr Entsch said she was raring to do battle again in 2016 until struck down by a brain tumour. “In typical Noeline style, she was a fighter to the end. Her brother, Warren, said that one of her last sentences in her semiconscious state was 'Bloody government!',” he said. Meanwhile Senator Barry O’Sullivan called her an unlikely political giant killer.
“During the (2013) election, there was a debate in the media over whether to call her the 'Katter killer' or the 'little battler',” he said.
“Noeline, being the person she was—who valued kindness over raw strength—said she always preferred 'little battler.' “