Mr LEE (2:30 PM) —Greg, the member for Melbourne and I had offices in the corridor which also includes the opposition party room. It is a pretty quiet and dark place at the moment, as you can imagine: his office is locked, the lights are out and his name has been taken down from the door. It is very different from my memories of Greg. He was a frequent visitor to my office. He would brighten the place up, he always loved a chat, and he would have any excuse to use the copier in our office just to come over and have a talk. He was clearly clever and bright, and he always had an interesting point of view. He was probably more in touch than most of us on either side of the House because of those many Saturday morning mobile offices that he used to hold regularly in his electorate.

This morning my office and I were remembering Greg's great love of his family. We were talking in particular about him planning a trip and about his enjoyment of putting the plan together to take his wife and kids on a visit to the mountains near Canberra. I first had the chance to meet Greg and Maria at a political dinner in the lead-up to the 1996 election. We on the Labor side knew that that was going to be a very tough election for all of us. The odds were always against Greg defeating a sitting Liberal member of parliament. We all knew that Annette Ellis would reclaim Canberra for the ALP, and we were hopeful for Alan Griffin in Bruce; but, in many ways, Greg was never expected to win the seat of Isaacs. He surprised all of us with the great campaign he ran and the great victory he had on election night in 1996, due in no small part to the hard work of both him and Maria. He was certainly a very hardworking local member, as others have mentioned.

Given the incidence of mental illness in the wider community, it is probably no surprise that a member of this House has suffered from this illness, and from depression in particular. It can happen to any of us. We will never fully appreciate the struggle that he had in dealing with his own problems while working hard to solve his constituents' problems. As we try to understand, perhaps we can learn from a quote from Dante, which my mate Steven Hutchins used in other circumstances recently. Dante said this: `In the middle of the journey of our life I found myself in a dark wood, for the straight way was lost.' Greg's death challenges us to work even harder to try to help the many members of our community still lost in those dark woods. My colleague the member for Werriwa has mentioned, and others have also commented on the fact, that one day Greg's kids will read the condolence speeches made here today and that on that day they will understand how much Greg contributed, how much he was loved and how much he will be missed. All of us extend our deep sympathies to his family and friends. We hope and pray that Greg now rests in peace.