Victorian MP Jane Garrett to be given state funeral after cancer death
Victorian Labor MP Jane Garrett will be farewelled with a state funeral, after she died from breast cancer at the age of 49.
The former emergency services minister was diagnosed with the disease in 2016 and announced late last year she would not stand for re-election.
The mother-of-three died on Saturday.
Her family said she was a “fierce advocate for women and those most disadvantaged,”
“We will remember Jane always for her contagious love of life and people; her intense compassion and the drive, which made her a very fierce advocate for women and those most disadvantaged,” they said.
“Her intellect, wit and generosity are irreplaceable.”
Fellow politicians and political staff have also paid tribute.
“Jane was one of a kind. She lit up the room. Every room she went into,” Government spokesperson Ben Carroll said.
Premier Daniel Andrews spoke of Jane’s “significant contribution to Victoria”.
“I cannot imagine the grief her family, particularly her three children, must be feeling at this incredibly difficult time, my thoughts are with them,” he said.
“Jane was a passionate advocate for the rights of working people and spent her career fighting for safer, secure jobs.
Her commitment to education, equality and social justice for all was clear.”
Garrett entered parliament in 2010 and was promoted to Emergency Services Minister four years later.
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She resigned from cabinet in 2016 amid the fallout from a bitter dispute with the firefighters union.
That same year she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
Garrett moved to the upper house two years later.
Last year, she announced she would leave parliament at November’s state election.
She had three children, Molly, aged 19, 15-year-old Sasha, and Max, 10.
Details of the state funeral will be released in coming days.
