John Madigan, the humble tradesmen who rose all the way to Federal Parliament in Canberra, has died.
Aged 53, the softly-spoken Hepburn blacksmith had a long battle with ill health.
He might have worn a suit during his six years at Parliament House in Canberra, but Mr Madigan was no ordinary politician.
"Blacksmith, teetotaller, Democratic Labour Party Senator: he's a throwback to another generation, a time when things were done differently," The Courier wrote of him in 2013.
Representing the Democratic Labour Party, Mr Madigan won the sixth and last Victorian Senate seat at the 2010 federal election. He would remain there for six years.
In 2015 he started his own political party - John Madigan's Manufacturing and Farming Party. However, this would only last for one year, before he failed to get re-elected and subsequently retired from political life.
There are already tributes flowing for Mr Madigan, including from former Prime Minister Tony Abbott.
"He was a very decent man with an old-fashioned sense of courtesy and respect for others," Mr Abbott posted on Twitter.
In recent years, Mr Madigan has no longer been in the political spotlight, instead living the quieter life back home in Hepburn.
He is survived by his wife Teresa and two children.
