Walt Secord pays tribute to Ilona Lee
NSW Parliamentary Friends of Israel deputy chair and Labor MP Walt Secord has paid tribute in NSW State Parliament to outgoing Shalom Gamarada board of trustees chair Ilona Lee for her commitment and dedication to supporting the education of Indigenous doctors in Australia.
Ilona Lee
In a major adjournment speech in the NSW Parliament’s Legislative Council on October 11, Mr Secord spoke in admiration of the Shalom Gamarada Indigenous Residential Scholarship Program – which supports First Nation students to pursue university study, particularly in the field of medicine.
Co-founded in 2005 by Ms Ilona Lee and University of Sydney Professor Lisa Jackson-Pulver, it has produced 64 graduates, including 27 Indigenous doctors. Another two doctors are expected to graduate later this year – bringing the total to 29.
“This is remarkable as there are 175 indigenous doctors in Australia. This means almost 17 per cent of all the indigenous doctors in the country are associated with Shalom Gamarada,” Mr Secord said.
Mr Secord, who grew up on a Canadian First Nation reserve in Canada and converted to Judaism as an adult, told State Parliament about the September 14th event, where almost 200 people including students, graduates and financial supporters, came together to back the program.
Mr Secord said it was a “unique friendship between Jews and First Nation peoples, it provides safe accommodation on campus, healthy meals, tutoring and encouragement to assist scholarship holders to `stay the course’.”
Mr Secord also acknowledged the numerous financial sponsors which include Medicines Australia, Wolper Jewish Hospital, the Jewish Communal Appeal, Baker and McKenzie and the various family foundations – including the Goodridge, Gonski, Joffe, Windt, Pinshaw and Hersch families.
“Over the years, I hosted these events in three capacities. That is as Labor’s Deputy Chair of the NSW Parliamentary Friends of Israel; as a member of Sydney’s Jewish community; and as the bi-cultural son of a late-Mohawk-Ojibway First Nation man who grew up on the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation reserve in southern Canada,” Mr Secord said.
“I remember the isolation and lack of emotional support when I first went off to university. I did not have a campus mentor and it was very lonely to move from my father’s Indian reserve to a university residence. I know how education changes lives and I know Shalom Gamarada changes lives.”
Mr Secord said future generations of indigenous doctors will reflect with both pride and gratitude on the work of Shalom Gamarada.
“This program is a testament to what can be achieved when a hunger for knowledge is given generous and careful support. That is why I never hesitate to lend my support when Shalom Gamarada ask me to be involved.”
“On that note, it is with great sadness that Ms Ilona Lee announced at the most recent event that she was stepping down as chair of the board of trustees. Ms Lee is going to be replaced by Dr Lisa Sarzin.
“I wish to pay tribute to Ms Lee, a former educator and senior NSW Health manager who has held many senior Jewish and non-Jewish communal positions over the years.
“They include: the Jewish Communal Appeal, the New Israel Fund, Plus 61J, Jewish Care, Moriah College, the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies and The Shalom Institute. “In 2008, she received an AM, an order of Australia, in recognition of her remarkable contribution to the community.
“I have known her since 1988 when I first encountered her late husband, Waverley Councillor Norman Lee – a local government advocate for people with disabilities. A man ahead of his time. The Lees were well known for their commitment to Tikkun Olam, the Jewish precept of performing service in order to `repair the world’.
“Ms Lee can be proud of her achievements and how she has touched so many lives and for making possible a program that I wish had existed when I was a university student.”
