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Ravlich retires from Parliament

Former Gallop and Carpenter government minister Ljiljanna Ravlich has retired from Parliament.

Ms Ravlich brought an end to her political career with a funny and heartfelt speech in the Legislative Council yesterday that detailed her extraordinary personal journey from a poor Croatian village to the WA Parliament.

"I began on the other side of the world in a small, poor, remote mountain village with no running water, electricity, police officers, doctors or nurses and where in living memory political enemies had on one occasion executed nearly all the men in our village," she said.

"That journey brought me to this seat in this Parliament, a testament to what this nation can and has delivered to millions of migrants throughout its history."

She was the first person from a non-English speaking country to be elected to State Parliament.

A former history and economics teacher, Ms Ravlich was elected in 1996 as a Labor member for the East Metropolitan region.

She was a minister from 2004 to 2008 including for local government, racing and gaming, heritage and multicultural interests. But it was as education and training minister in 2005 and 2006 that was most contentious.

With her partner, former treasurer and opposition leader Eric Ripper, looking on, Ms Ravlich said it was the greatest challenge of her career because of a "vicious and unprincipled campaign of resistance" against the implementation of outcomes-based education reforms.

She said the campaign came to a head when she was depicted on a "wanted" poster on the front page of _The West Australian _.

"I looked like a trapped, wild animal in that picture and I have to tell members that is exactly how I felt," she said.

"It was amazing how many people came up to me in the street to offer their apologies and wind down their windows to say, 'Don't let the bastards beat you, Lil'.

"I will always remember the radio talkback caller who said he liked that photo because of what he claimed were my bedroom eyes, something I've never heard before.

"All I could say was I better have a chat with Eric about that!"

Ms Ravlich is likely to be replaced by Martin Pritchard, who was No. 3 on Labor's ticket behind Ms Ravlich and Ken Travers in 2013.