Victorian MPs pay tribute to Labor’s Jane Garrett

Single yellow rose placed on former minister's seat in upper house while family look on

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The Victorian Liberal Tim Smith says a drink-driving crash that led to him announcing his retirement occurred on the day he discovered that his best friend" - the Labor MP Jane Garret, who died last month - had a cancer recurrence.

On Wednesday morning Smith and state MPs from across the political divide paid tribute to the former emergency services minister, who died from breast cancer. She was 49.

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