Former GP turned politician Dr Tim Read has been remembered as a “brilliant local MP, doctor and scientist”, after passing away from metastatic melanoma aged 64. 

Dr Read had served as a Greens MP for the Melbourne seat of Brunswick since 2018, but announced last December that his cancer had returned and he would not run again. 

A GP and sexual health researcher, Dr Read was drawn to politics because of his passion for climate action. 

In Parliament, he advocated for public health reforms including pill testing, the abolition of public drunkenness laws and an end to solitary confinement for children in prisons — all measures the Victorian Government subsequently introduced.