[3] Until his death in 2007, he remained active in community life, serving as chairman for the Victorian Union for Progressive Judaism and as a patron of the Hawthorn Football Club.
In the lead up to the 1964 state election, Peter Garrisson, the Liberal member for Jona's local seat of Hawthorn was disendorsed because he was charged under the Companies Act.
Jona won a hotly contested preselection against ten other candidates, and went on to win the seat despite challenges from Garrisson and from Labor (at the time, the seat of Hawthorn included parts of working class Richmond, making it less secure for the Liberals than today).
[1] From 1973 to 1976 Jona served as Parliamentary Secretary to cabinet before being promoted by Premier Rupert Hamer to be Victoria's first Ethnic Affairs Minister.
From 1979 until the Liberals' defeat at the 1982 election, Jona served as Minister for Community Welfare Services.