Jude
Perera
"Challenging Incomplete Democracy"
The autobiography of Jude Perera, first Sri Lankan-born and -educated MP in any lower house of parliament in Australia.
(Parliament of Victoria 2002-2018).
Jude Perera on the steps of the Victorian Parliament in 2003.
Jude Perera
My autobiography is about a person born into a middle-income family, according to Sri Lankan standards at the time. It is also about the challenges encountered by a migrant moving to Australia with his wife and two young children to start a new life. And about the first Sri Lankan migrant elected to any lower house of Parliament in Australia – as well as the first Sri Lankan to win four consecutive parliamentary terms in a jurisdiction anywhere outside Sri Lanka.
"This is also a story of perseverance, often in situations where many would have given up. Whether it is in his education, his political activism in Sri Lanka or his achievement of elected office as a parliamentarian in the Victorian Parliament, Jude was always prepared to stay the course."
Alan Griffin, former Minister for Veterans’ Affairs
Australian Government
Reviews
"This story shows by and large that the path to power and influence is open and accessible to anyone willing to persevere and embrace the setbacks and frustrations of a process that is at times particularly daunting."
Donald Betts Jnr, Senator,
State Parliament of Kansas
United States
"The autobiography of Jude Perera is a reflection of his political life and the need for real democracy, a democracy in the truest sense of the word that encompasses not only political democracy but also economic democracy."
Dr Lionel Bopage, human rights and social justice campaigner