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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2021-05-05 Daily Xml
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Motions

Milisits, Mr Vilmos

Adjourned debate on motion of Hon. F. Pangallo:

That this house—

1. Acknowledges the passing of Vilmos Milisits OAM;

2. Acknowledges his outstanding contribution to South Australia and Australian businesses;

3. Acknowledges the international success of his bakery business, Vili’s;

4. Recognises his generosity and support for many individuals, charities, clubs and businesses; and

5. Conveys its sincerest condolences to his wife, Rosemary, their children and their extended families.

(Continued from 31 March 2021.)

The Hon. F. PANGALLO (16:01): I rise to speak on the motion in my name, acknowledging the passing of the much celebrated and respected South Australian Vilmos Milisits OAM. The first part of this speech is dedicated to his illustrious life and accomplishments. The second deals with the untold story, how in his time of greatest need the medical establishment and system dealt him the cruellest of blows and failed him.

Vili Milisits was many things to the countless people who came to know and admire him. Above all, he was a great and loyal South Australian who loved this country more than his own place of birth. As he would often declare, he was Hungarian by birth, Australian by choice. Vili was simply an irrepressible and irresistible character, a generous, philanthropic man, larger than life and full of love for the things most important to him.

At the top of the list was his family: Rosemary, his devoted wife and business partner of 53 years; their two children, Simon and Alison; and their grandchildren, Joshua, Laura, Luke, Ethan and Katelyn. His extended family must also include the hundreds of his staff. And, of course, he was extremely proud of his eponymous baking empire at Mile End, which stretches across Australia and the globe into 23 countries.

Vili's is a most remarkable success story, worthy of a book and a movie. The young refugee migrant with gritty determination and an insatiable work ethic began at the very bottom of the business food chain with bold dreams and ambition to rise to the very top and be the very best at what he did.

Vili amassed a long list of impressive awards and achievements in his lifetime. He mentored thousands of economics students, was on numerous state bank advisory boards and was an adviser to the Reserve Bank. He did it all without a formal education, leaving school at 14 to take up a pastry chef apprenticeship out of necessity, to help support his family when his father, Istvan, fell ill. He was a maths wizard, who took great delight in bragging how he could do costings calculations for his family baking business in his head.

Climbing mountains seemed easy for Vili, because of his burning desire and ambition to conquer any obstacle in his way to achieving success. With a firm conviction in his eyes, Vili would say, 'We wanted our kids to have what we didn't have. We have built them a business that will last three or four generations.' He would recount his own personal journey, wrought with the suffering, loss and despair of his large family's displacement after the 1956 Hungarian uprising. They eventually found their way to Adelaide, where 16 of them lived under one small roof.

It is why he easily identified with refugees and their struggles against racial discrimination in making a new life for themselves and in a foreign land with a completely different culture. Vili did not judge them, providing job opportunities at his Mile End headquarters. There are now more than 34 different nationalities on the payroll. For 22 years he was in a refugee employment scheme run by the Salvation Army and the Catholic Church. He helped by employing Vietnamese people who arrived on the second boat in Darwin in 1978 and continued with escapees from Communism and the Balkan war until 1989 and then detainees from Baxter detention centre who were sent from the Adelaide Mosque until 1999.

Through the federal government employment program he provided jobs and friendship, settlement advice, help with obtaining housing and interest-free loans. Five per cent of his workers are special needs people whom, he declared, never took sickies, because for them having a job was heaven sent.

Vili had a disdain for slackers but always had time for those prepared to pull their weight. When sizing someone for a position, Vili could be blunt and to the point, 'Do you want a job, or do you want to work?' In Vili's world, there was a distinct difference. Even though he was the head honcho, Vili was far removed from being the rich, aloof boss. He remained grounded and laboured hard with them, shoulder to shoulder. He explained his work practice and ethic like this:

If you can inspire self-pride and self-satisfaction in what they do, they will appreciate what they have and what they can do. You need to have an affinity with your workers. Put yourself in their position. I have been there. I understand.

Next door to his sprawling family baking business in Manchester Street is the omnipresent reminder of Vili and Rosemary's own humble beginnings: the ramshackle house where they started it all, making homemade pasties by hand half a century ago. They would start at 10 at night and finish at four in the afternoon the next day, with only four or five hours sleep. 'I would fall asleep putting my socks on,' Vili joked.

The house, complete with the old stove, ovens and equipment they used, will never be demolished. It is a nostalgic aide-mémoire of his and Rosemary's tireless toil, a museum of sorts. In a fabulous feature piece by Craig Cook in The Advertiser a couple of years ago, Vili remarked:

Rosemary and I wake at 4.30am every day and we roll out of bed with laughter thinking of all the bullshit that’s happened in our life…But we know we’ve got a lot to be thankful for—life in Australia is good, very good and when something is this good, you stick with it.

Until ailing health started to slow him down in 2019, 90-hour weeks were the norm. He would be at work before sunrise every day, pulling pies, pasties, sausage rolls and cakes out of ovens. The factory produces an incredible 100,000 products daily. Anything that is not sold goes straight to homeless shelters like the Hutt St Centre, such is their magnanimous generosity.

After the baking was done for the day you would often find flour-dusted Vili, dressed in uniform—white pants, navy polo with that distinctive emblem and the hairnet—in his wildly popular Cafe de Vili's, slaving over his fryers, making his specialty for his customers: golden crisp chips, cooked to perfection. The secret, he confided in me, was cooking each batch at three different temperatures.

Vili was innovative, with new styles and flavours for a basic Aussie staple. There are now a lot of pies in the range to choose from, compared with his rivals. His personal favourite was the green peppercorn pie. One of the best tributes for our king of pies came from legendary satirist Barry Humphries who quipped, 'At least there is a decent pie in the sky now.'

Vili was particularly proud that he sourced all the ingredients for his products exclusively from South Australian producers. That kind of loyalty saved the Wintulich's Smallgoods company in Gawler from closure and restored it to profitability. Wintulich's chairman, Matthew Peart, paid credit to Vili's managerial skills and gregarious personality, saying they benefited greatly from their 25-year partnership. 'A partnership and a fellow you can only describe as the real deal,' wrote Mr Peart.

Vili's trademark flaky pasties were the real deal of a meal, too. 'Meat with six veg,' he would chortle. Potato, carrots, turnips, swedes, onions, plus the coup de grâce in his recipe, trombone. Shortly before he passed, Vili confided another of his cooking tips. After he discovered trombone was a magic ingredient, he shored up a deal with an Adelaide Hills grower to buy their entire crop each season to ensure his supply.

It was not always about price for Vili; it was about quality and supporting his home state. There were no compromises, although he was known to drive a hard bargain and staunchly defended the high standard of his products. 'If it hasn't got a V, it ain't me' was one of his clever advertising slogans. A few years ago, when I was reporting with Today Tonight, a furious Vili rang me with a story about how some unscrupulous bakeries and delis in the north-western suburbs were passing off their inferior pies, pasties and cakes as his by selling them in his own marked bags that had been obtained by devious means.

During my investigation, we tested several samples of pies against Vili's. The results were not unexpected, but shocking nonetheless. The knockoffs barely contained meat of any description, but certainly there was none of the claimed beef to be found. 'I hate liars and thieves,' Vili thundered when he saw the lab results. He even employed a tray detective to chase down the distinctive plastic trays from thieving bakeries—something that was costing him $100,000 a year.

He also loved to fight for what was right. 'I always win when I know I'm right,' he grinned and laughed with that distinctive cackle. Two years ago, Coles arrogantly dumped Vili's because he sought to increase his prices by a modest 5 per cent to cover his own cost increases created by the drought. The grocery giant paid the price alright: they suffered a severe customer backlash. They were forced to quickly reverse the decision.

Only a few weeks before he passed away, Vili was telling me how upset he was after being ditched by the South Australian fuel outlets On the Run. He had refused to discount his prices just so they could make a bigger profit on selling his products. Instead, On the Run brought in an inferior budget-priced pie from interstate, along with cut sandwiches, flown in frozen. Vili declared, 'I'd rather shut my doors and go broke.'

His biggest V for victory and 'up you' salute was reserved for SA Health. In 2012, the then chief medical executive, Dr Kevin Buckett, without a shred of evidence, falsely fingered Vili's custard berliners as being responsible for a widespread salmonella outbreak in the community. It struck right at the heart of what Vili stood for. That was SA Health's first and biggest mistake. The second was failing to check that the business was a partnership, not a corporation, so Vili and Rosemary could sue for defamation.

The South Australian government tried to deep-pocket them all the way to the High Court, but Vili prevailed in a seven-year fight to clear their name, winning substantial damages and costs. Despite the win, the futile bureaucratic attempt to destroy his brand and reputation continued to rile him to the end. I quote:

We had major international export licences to protect, and we have invested a lot in systems and expensive equipment to make sure this sort of thing can't happen.

And it did not, he fumed. Further:

They picked on the wrong bloke and thought they could get away with it. All they had to do was say sorry, but they wouldn't and we made them pay the price for their lies.

Vili was a good talker. My intended short visits to his home, particularly over the past year, would often stretch into a couple of hours of lively and entertaining discussions. You could not help but be mesmerised by him and his wit, his take on life, business and his extremely dim view of politics and politicians. Nothing was sacred. Political correctness was just never going to be in Vili's vocabulary. There will never be another like him, and he will be greatly missed.

This now brings me to the most disturbing, disgraceful, upsetting and traumatic developments in the final months of Vili's life that I must now share, and I do so with the full consent of those closest to him. Had Vili not been subjected to an act of sheer medical incompetence and what I and others closest to him could only conclude was tacit age discrimination, he may have still been with us today.

It is a view that would be widely supported by Vili's personal medical team, comprising skilled professionals and carers, including Rosemary, his wife, Pauline Clune, his dedicated and highly experienced nurse and carer, family members and his many friends, who were dismayed and flabbergasted by a series of crushing setbacks and delays which befell Vili. He, too, found it hard to comprehend what was happening to him as he was left languishing and then rejected for life-saving transplant surgery.

Before outlining the devastating and distressing events that betrayed and ultimately failed Vili, I must very strongly emphasise that they totally exclude and do not in any way apply to Sydney's wonderful, caring and accomplished transplant unit at St Vincent's Hospital, headed by chief surgeon Paul Jansz and thoracic specialist Dr Monique Malouf. They were his last hope, and the opportunity only arrived in late March, some seven months almost to the day after Melbourne's Alfred Hospital declined to put him on their transplant list, a decision it made based largely on a now discredited medical assessment with unfounded assumptions.

While the lung transplant itself was a success, Vili succumbed to complications arising from his already frail state. Things may have turned out much differently had Vili been given the chance much earlier, as was hoped. Vili had idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a progressive condition where the lungs were unable to adequately supply oxygen to the body. Left untreated, it is fatal, and the only effective treatment was going to be a lung transplant.

For more than a year, Vili was at home on permanent oxygen. Every day was vital, yet he remained optimistic and in good spirits that his turn would eventually come. Vili had an insatiable lust for life and he was not ready to go—not by a long shot. Vili had undergone an extensive medical assessment process at the Royal Adelaide Hospital in preparation for being listed for a lung transplant to be performed at the Alfred Hospital.

On 4 June last year, things looked bright following an assessment by Dr Helen Whitford, a consultant from the Alfred's respiratory and lung transplant service. In a letter to Professor Mark Holmes, the head of South Australia's lung transplant service at the Royal Adelaide Hospital, Dr Whitford found that overall Vili was an excellent candidate for transplantation. I now seek leave to table that letter.

Leave granted.

The Hon. F. PANGALLO: Apart from a query about possible minor heart surgery, Dr Whitford was otherwise positive about his prospects. 'Otherwise I think we should move ahead very quickly, as he has a limited window of opportunity for transplant,' Dr Whitford wrote in an obvious expression of the urgency. This was early June 2020. The clock is ticking down for Vili Milisits.

Part of the protocol required Vili to also have a neuropsychological assessment. Professor Holmes then referred Vili to Andrew Rothwell, of Rothwell Neuropsychology, who saw Vili at his practice on 29 June 2020. Mr Rothwell's subsequent report was sent directly to Professor Holmes. The contents were so bewildering, they defied belief. I now seek leave to table Mr Rothwell's report.

Leave granted.

The Hon. F. PANGALLO: In summary, here is what Mr Rothwell concluded:

Vili's cognitive and intellectual capacity was so impaired that his IQ was 84;

Vili's memory was so vague that Mr Rothwell doubted Vili was actually capable of still running his business and assumed this was being done by his managers;

the likelihood that Vili had Alzheimer's disease, or being six times likely to have it, and;

the assessment was not invalidated by Vili's existing health problems, and he presumed that Vili's oxygen levels were reasonable.

The report was absurd, insulting, inaccurate and contained unsubstantiated observations and assumptions. Mr Rothwell had not checked Vili's oxygen level over the two-hour test. He simply took a guess or assumed it was okay. In fact, by the time he had arrived for the mentally gruelling test, Vili's oxygen level was so low and he was already quite exhausted. Therefore, you would expect his cognitive responses would have to be affected.

An IQ reading of 84 put Mr Milisits in the category of an imbecile—just think Forrest Gump or Chauncey Gardiner. I and so many others who dealt and met with Vili around this time and afterwards can attest that he was very cogent and still as sharp as a razor. As for possible Alzheimer's or that he was not capable of running his business, this was more ludicrous guesswork by Mr Rothwell. Vili recalled being quite anxious because so much was riding on the tests that he had difficulty with some of the puzzles Mr Rothwell asked him to do. 'Frank, I'm not a puzzles man. I am a dollars and cents man. Give me figures and I will show you what I can do,' he said.

However, that assessment was to be devastating and soul destroying. From being told he was an excellent candidate, Professor Holmes then had to break the sombre news from the Alfred that Vili would not be placed onto its transplant list because it now considered the chance of getting a good transplant outcome was risky and low. 'Rothwell signed my death warrant. Do they want me to go away and accept that I will die?' a dejected Vili told me at the time.

Dr James Asimakopoulos, one of Vili's doctors and a long-time friend, described the report as outrageous—perhaps an understatement. He wrote to me, expressing his disgust at Vili's treatment. I now seek leave to table Dr Asimakopoulos's letter.

Leave granted.

The Hon. F. PANGALLO: Dr John Langrehr, a world-renowned expert on the topic of cognitive test designs, brain functioning and thinking processes, and author of 25 books on the topic, which have been translated into four languages, also expressed doubts about the validity of Mr Rothwell's methodology. He expressed concern that Vili was subjected to cognitive testing under less than ideal testing conditions. Here is part of what he had to say in an email dated 21 August 2020. I quote:

There are many important aspects of cognitive ability that are not measured by a pencil and paper test. The items are limited to correct answer, or lower order thinking which can be given a mark. Management and higher order or multiple answer thinking processes are not considered in testing but they are in real life.

I think it is only fair that Vili be offered a retest to check the reliability of the test results. I am sure that if the tests were given in a relaxed setting at his home or business and that he was privy to the types of questions that would be in the tests his results would be quite different. I also wonder about the culture fairness of the tests knowing Vili's background.

I seek leave to table that email.

Leave granted.

The Hon. F. PANGALLO: A leading psychiatrist whose name I will not disclose also reviewed the Rothwell report and was scathing of his method. He said Mr Rothwell should not have made some of the assumptions that he did, such as Vili not being in a mental state to run his business. Let me quote some of what this psychiatrist said:

I think that is a bit sloppy when so much is at stake. The assessment needs to be comprehensive, particularly given what is at stake.

By that, he means that Mr Rothwell was dealing with a man's fate. Allow me to continue:

I get concerned at times that some doctors make diagnoses without dotting every i and crossing every t, particularly when diagnosing dementia in young people or when dementia may be in its early stages.

The neuropsychologist is making assumptions about whether people are propping him up. He shouldn't guess. He should know!!!!!!!

That ends with seven exclamation marks. Vili was, of course, still very much in charge of his many business interests, taking phone calls, meeting and talking with staff each day and testing new products. He was also personally piecing together a $20 million business expansion deal—not bad for a dimwit. Bill Muirhead, the Agent-General for South Australia in the UK, wrote in an email to Vili's daughter, Alison, on 2 October 2020, and I quote:

I had a long conversation from London this morning with Vili. I must say in my opinion he was very clear and also well aware of the business discussions that we have been having. He knew exactly who I was and also even had his normal sense of humour. I find it incomprehensible and insulting he could have been diagnosed with a low IQ and dementia. In fact, that was very far from the reality. Rosemary was on the call and we discussed his situation regarding a lung transplant. Apart from urging you to appeal this bizarre physiologist's report I would try and have it overturned independently and get him back on the transplant list in Australia. I am not medical but the alternative of flying to America seems the last resort.

I seek leave to table that email from Bill Muirhead.

Leave granted.

The Hon. F. PANGALLO: Vili's management staff also signed sworn statements rejecting Mr Rothwell's assertion they were making decisions for him. I now seek to table 14 of those sworn statements.

Leave granted.

The Hon. F. PANGALLO: There was to be one last almighty effort to get Alfred to review its decision, or get another hospital that does transplants to consider Vili's predicament. PET and MRI scams arranged by Dr Asimakopolous in August showed no abnormalities in his body or brain—nothing to suggest there was an onset of Alzheimer's or dementia, as hypothesised by Mr Rothwell. Mr President, I now seek leave to table those test reports, along with a letter from Vili's respiratory specialist, Dr Andrew Scroop.

Leave granted.

The Hon. F. PANGALLO: In the meantime, Dr Scroop arranged for more tests to be carried out by clinical neuropsychologists Dr Colin Field and Dr Anthony Walsh. They discredited Rothwell's report, finding that Vili performed to expectations and showed no signs of any progressive cognitive or intellectual impairment. In other words, Vili did not display any signs of being an idiot who was losing his marbles. I now seek leave to table the report by Dr Field and Dr Walsh.

Leave granted.

The Hon. F. PANGALLO: Unfortunately for Vili, and despite the new clinical assessments, the Alfred was not going to budge and change its decision. In a letter to Professor Mark Holmes in late October, Professor Gregory Snell, the medical head of the lung transplant service at the Alfred and chair of the lung transplantation advisory committee on the Transplantation Society of Australia and New Zealand, said that the entire team of 43 transplant staff had again decided that a lung transplant was not the appropriate approach for this man. I seek leave to table that letter from Professor Gregory Snell.

Leave granted.

The Hon. F. PANGALLO: Professor Snell did not say what another appropriate approach might be, although they did offer to pass on documentation to another transplant unit elsewhere. However, based on Alfred's firm rejection, what were the chances that another Australian transplant unit would take him?

A sympathetic Professor Holmes did not hold out much hope either for Vili, telling him that the Alfred was the only unit in the country that does transplants on people aged 70, that it was the only hospital in the world that pushed the boundaries by doing transplants on people aged 70. In fact, at least two hospitals in the United States have performed transplants on patients up to the age of 78. But travelling to a COVID-ravaged country was out of the question, even though Vili had plans and was prepared to do it.

Vili was 72. Even though they would never openly admit it, the inference was clear: Vili's age also had to be a driving factor, although Vili's lung specialist, Dr Andrew Scoop, was confident that his patient would be up to the ordeal. With time running short and his lung condition worsening by the day, Vili was not in any frame of mind to fly the while flag, go into palliative care and die. He expressly told me he still had a lot of living to do.

After being rejected by Brisbane's unit, St Vincent's indicated they were prepared to assess him. Then, as he was preparing to fly to Sydney, another cruel setback. A serious blood infection put him into hospital and he needed to recover from that first before he could board a medi-flight, holding up the process even more. Time was running out.

A resolute Vili courageously said that he was prepared to have the transplant surgery, even if it meant he would not survive. I will quote him, 'All I want is the chance to get a lung. If I don't make it, at least I will know they tried.' St Vincent's gave him that chance. Vili and his family were extremely grateful for their quick and decisive action when he arrived and the care and compassion that followed. By all accounts, the lung transplant was successful. Vili battled for three days before his weary body gave out.

It was a double tragedy for the Milisits family. Only 48 hours before his surgery, Vili was informed that his older sister Olga had just died. Nine months had elapsed from the time Vili was flatly rejected by the Alfred Hospital to his surgery at St Vincent's. For someone with a rapidly worsening condition, that is an eternity.

In our chats on the phone and in his home, a disillusioned Vili felt he had been cheated by a discriminating health system. Vili never expected anything from this country because it gave him so much, yet when he was in need he was frustrated. It was soul destroying to see him slowly wither away over those many months, waiting, hoping and praying for a lifeline that should have come much sooner than it did. Here was a potentially—potentially—terminally ill man, vehemently opposed to voluntary assisted dying.

We have seen a huge outpouring of love for Vili. Tributes flowed from around the world. Hundreds attended his moving funeral mass at St Francis Xavier Cathedral. I was fortunate to be there. Loyal workers wept when his casket made the final journey to Mile End and more than 1,000 turned out to his state memorial at the Festival Theatre. His family, of course, is thankful the Premier bestowed that fitting farewell.

As Bill Muirhead said in his email, 'I was very happy to have spoken with Vili. Hopefully I cheered him up a bit. He is one of Australia's great business leaders and we use him as a case study in our South Australian government credentials.' I can tell you that at his lowest ebb, Vili was hanging out to get a call from anyone in the government, from the Premier down, even to lift his spirits, just as so many others in the community had made the effort to support him in his time of need. Well, not one did.

Vili's indomitable spirit and endeavours are immeasurable. I doubt we will ever see anyone like him again. Rosemary keeps a treasured item close to her heart. On the day he left for Sydney, Vili left a card with a huge red heart by her bed. It simply reads, 'Love you forever.' Our sincerest condolences go to Vili's family. I commend the motion to the chamber.

The Hon. S.G. WADE (Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (16:39): I would like to thank the Hon. Frank Pangallo for moving this motion and personally convey my sympathy to the Hon. Frank Pangallo as I know that he is a close personal friend of Mr and Mrs Milisits and provided support to the family as Vili pursued various options to receive a transplant. Mrs Rosemary Milisits personally thanked the Hon. Frank Pangallo in her eulogy at the memorial. Mr Vilmos 'Vili' Milisits passed away in Sydney on Friday 26 March 2021, surrounded by friends and family. I would like to offer my sincere condolences to Vili's wife, Rosemary, and his family for their loss.

Last week, South Australians celebrated the remarkable life of Vili Milisits at his funeral mass, held at St Francis Xavier's Cathedral, and at the state memorial service at the Festival Theatre. Over recent weeks, people from all walks of life have spoken about Vili and what he meant to them. Tributes have been published online and in the media, and a shrine has been established at the much-loved Cafe de Vili's in Mile End. It is clear that Vili had a significant impact on those who knew him and those who loved his products—Vili the husband, Vili the father, Vili the employer, Vili the businessman, Vili the innovator and Vili the friend, host and icon. Vili was inspirational.

Vili had an incredible fighting spirit. He overcame many obstacles as a migrant to this country and as a pioneer in the food industry. Faced with health challenges during a pandemic, he maintained a positive attitude and a determination to live life. Vili and Rosemary were partners in business and partners in life. They grew their business from humble origins to an international success story.

Vili never forgot the second chance he was offered in Australia as a Hungarian refugee, and he paid it forward throughout his life. Vili and Rosemary employed hundreds, if not thousands, of people locally and abroad, but it was their frequent employment of people from disadvantaged backgrounds, new arrivals to this country, young offenders and Indigenous people that they were most proud of.

On Wednesday 22 November 1995, around the time the former Premier of South Australia, the Hon. Dean Brown, had attended a launch of Vili's new halal export facilities, the Hon. Bernice Pfitzner updated this chamber about Vili's new success overseas, saying:

Last week during the Grand Prix weekend the Government, in conjunction with the Australian Malaysian Business Council, promoted a trade delegation to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia…There were approximately 30 South Australian businesses involved, and the three day event was most productive.

As evidence of this, some of the connections made resulted in three to four Malaysian businesses competing for the franchise of Vili's halal pies…

Vili's natural business acumen saw his products sold to many foreign markets. Happy customers have enjoyed a Vili's pie in the far reaches of the globe. Speaking at Vili's state memorial service last week, the Agent-General for South Australia, Bill Muirhead AM, reflected on Vili's success in the United Kingdom. Mr Muirhead went on to describe the popularity of Vili's cocktail pies, noting that His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, enjoyed eating the pies at the renaming ceremony of the City of Adelaide clipper in 2013.

The charitable contributions from Vili's bakery and organisations personally supported by Vili and Rosemary are too numerous to list. South Australians are certainly the richer because of their generous donations to community sport, the arts, the homeless sector and educational programs.

Vili was the winner of the private sector section of the inaugural Governor's Multicultural Awards in 2008. Speaking at the state memorial, His Excellency the Governor of South Australia, the Hon. Hieu Van Le AC, spoke to the contribution Vili made as a fellow refugee. His Excellency said:

As a refugee who came to Australia to build a new life, I always felt a strong kinship with Vili.

I admired him for his entrepreneurial vision, remarkable work ethic, enduring humility and love of family.

He went on to say:

Like so many, Vili and his dear wife Rosemary have always shown a generosity of spirit in wanting to give back to the community. They have done so as proud supporters of many charities, community sports and the arts, for which both of them were recognised with Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in 2005.

Vili was unstinting in sharing his skills and life-long learnings to various government boards schemes.

To me Vili has always been an inspiration, a shining light in our community.

Vale Vili. You have done your family, your heritage and your State proud.

Rest in peace! We will dearly miss you!

I acknowledge the honourable member's concerns that Mr Milisits did not receive the care he needed. While I am unable to comment in detail, I will certainly take those concerns and seek a briefing. I hope and expect that Vili received the quality care that he should have. I will seek further advice. In conclusion, I too echo the remarks of the Governor. Vale, Vili—you have done your family, your heritage and your state proud. Rest in peace. We will all dearly miss you.

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. I K. Hunter.

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