Metricon co-founder Mario Biasin did not know how to design or build a home, but the post-war Italian migrant had the determination and ambition to make a company that supplied ordinary Australians with well-built, reasonably priced homes.

The family and friends of Mr Biasin – whose sudden death at 71 last month shocked the worlds of the home building industry, soccer and Australian Rules Football – spoke of a man who overcame the poverty of an immigrant start and racism to create the country’s largest homebuilder.