An Examination of Australians of Hellenic Descent in the State Parliament of Victoria

LOUCA.qxd 15/1/2001 3:19 ìì Page 115 Louca, Procopis 2003. An Examination of Australians of Hellenic Descent in the State Parliament of Victoria. In E. Close, M. Tsianikas and G. Frazis (Eds.) “Greek Research in Australia: Proceedings of the Fourth Biennial Conference of Greek Studies, Flinders University, September 2001”. Flinders University Department of Languages – Modern Greek: Adelaide, 115-132. An Examination of Australians of Hellenic Descent in the State Parliament of Victoria Procopis Louca Victoria, the second most populated State in Australia, is widely claimed to include as its capital the third largest Grecophone city in the world, after Athens and Thessaloniki. The Victorian State Parliament has more members of Greek and Cypriot (Hellenic) background, than any other jurisdiction in the Commonwealth of Australia. Continuing a series of analyses of the role of elected State and Federal representatives of Hellenic descent in Australia (Louca, 2001), this paper will focus on the Victorian State Parliament, but with reference also to current and former Victorian Federal parliamentarians. There is an exploration of the cultural, political, social and personal influ- ences that guided these individuals to seek election to Parliament and their experiences as politicians with a Hellenic background. As at the beginning of 2002, six sitting members in the Victorian Parliament have a Hellenic background. Four represent the Australian Labor Party (ALP), two the Liberal Party. They are: Alex Andrianopoulos ALP Peter Katsambanis Liberal Nicholas Kotsiras Liberal Jenny Mikakos ALP John Pandazopoulos ALP Theo Theophanous ALP In addition to these current members, there are also two others who have retired from Parliament, or are deceased, Theo Sidiropoulos ALP (deceased) 115 Archived at Flinders University: dspace.flinders.edu.au LOUCA.qxd 15/1/2001 3:19 ìì Page 116 PROCOPIS LOUCA and Dimitri Dollis ALP (retired). Victoria is also the source of the most Hellenic background Federal representatives, including Andrew Theophanous, Independent (formerly ALP; defeated in 2001) and Petro Georgiou (Kooyong; Liberal Party). It is noteworthy that the first two women of Hellenic Australian background in the Commonwealth Parliament are also representatives for Victorian electorates, Maria Vamvakinou (Calwell), and Sophie Panopoulos (Indi). Jupp estimates, based on Prices population proportions, that an ideal number of Greek members of Parliament would be in the order of about 15 (Jupp, 1984), Australia-wide. The total number of Hellenic background MPs currently in the Victorian Parliament represents over one-third of that ideal sum if, concurring with Jupp, a function of parliamentary rep- resentation was to proportionately reflect the total Hellenic Australian population. In Victoria according to the census of 1996, 61,683 people indicated that they were Greece born. In the category Language spoken at home Greek 119,577 people identified themselves in this category (ABS, 2000). In the measure under religion Greek Orthodox including non-Greek 205,359 people responded. From this census data, it can be concluded that the Greek Australian population measure for Victoria is between 120,000 and 200,000 persons. Political involvement in the Australian polity is motivated and influenced by a number of factors, including political developments in Greece and Cyprus. This study intimates that as the Hellenic Australian community has developed and matured, it has embraced the political system of Australia. A result of this occurrence is the election to State and Commonwealth Parliaments of persons of Hellenic background. Tsounis argues that Greeks did not get involved in mainstream Australian politics immediately following their migration, because they were focused on building their own communities and associations in Australia. In the first decades following the mass migration of Greeks, the numerous Greek organisations fixed on providing essential services in what was con- sidered for a time a foreign land, that is, churches and community halls for 116 Archived at Flinders University: dspace.flinders.edu.au LOUCA.qxd 15/1/2001 3:19 ìì Page 117 AN EXAMINATION OF AUSTRALIANS OF HELLENIC DESCENT IN THE STATE PARLIAMENT social, educational and cultural interaction (Tsounis, 1971). Holton describes this internal focus as ethnic communities adapt old concerns to Australian situations and/or develop new political concerns (Holton, 1994). The lack of involvement in the broader Australian political system by Greek Australians up to the 1970s may be attributed to a number of factors: (i) lack of English language skills; (ii) lack of social mobility; (iii) lack of knowledge of the Australian political system; (iv) low levels of citizenship or naturalisation; (v) exclusion through institutionalised discrimination and socio-political cleavages. Greeks actively participated in Australian party politics in the 1970s, es- pecially in the Australian Labor Party. Across Australia, party political ex- pression for Greek Australians first emerged strongly in the Left. An ex- planation for this phenomenon is found in a demographic evaluation of Greek immigrants, who were mostly unskilled labourers. Their involvement in the ALP was cultivated by the creation of Greek-speaking branches in South Australia and Victoria. Theophanous points out that there were nearly a dozen such branches in Victoria by the late 1980s (Theophanous, 1988). This does not imply that Hellenes were not involved in politics in Australia before the 1970s. Dimitreas states: Lack of social justice and equal opportunity in the job market coupled with either indifference or active prejudice of general society organisations led many Greeks to either tacitly support or openly join radical political organisations such as the Communist Party of Australia. With the excep- tion of the CPA, the other political parties excluded non-British migrants from their lists (Dimitreas, 1998). In attempting to understand why Greek immigrants and their antipodean- born children joined the ALP, the analyses have attempted, through face-to- face interviews, to identify factors contributing to the party identification of Greek Australians with the ALP. Members of Parliament offered their own interpretations that will be 117 Archived at Flinders University: dspace.flinders.edu.au LOUCA.qxd 15/1/2001 3:19 ìì Page 118 PROCOPIS LOUCA expanded upon. Dimitreas suggests that in addition to the five points above the issue of conscription in the context of the Vietnam war was a factor. Some one hundred and seventy Greek Australians were conscripted and this enraged the local Greek communities (Dimitreas, 1998). Policy changes ini- tiated by the Whitlam Government brought to a conclusion assimilation as the driving policy directing migration issues in Australia. The seeds of mul- ticulturalism were sown, and influenced according to Dimitreas and Tsounis by the Greek Left, the Greek Orthodox Community and the Australian Greek Welfare group (Dimitreas, 1998). Theophanous and Dimitreas also suggest the community divided between the Greek Orthodox Community and the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese, prompting Left and Right identification respectively. The con- tinuation of home politics, that is the transplanting of the politics of Greece to Australia, in addition to the intensity of the religious and ideological con- flict that emerged, helped characterise the party political identification of Greek Australians. The active involvement of Greeks, particularly Greek Cypriots, in the Union movement was also an important factor in the de- velopment of strong party identification and involvement (Theophanous, 1988). This discussion on political participation raises a key query. Were these early forays into Australian politics a product of collective promotional ac- tivity and organisation, or a result of the efforts and action of individual en- deavour? Karaisaridis identified that as the success and numbers of Greek Australian background MPs have increased, there is a perception that this was a result of organised Greek community support. Without dismissing the influence of Greek branches in party structures, the role of an organised lobby to install politicians is overstated (Karaisaridis, 1996). Some commentators, such as Healy, have poured scorn on Greek Australian involvement in the ALP as an exercise in so-called ethnic branch-stacking (Healy, 1995). Karaisaridis draws the conclusion that Greek background MPs have succeeded partly due to their personal abilities and contributions to their party, but also due to the levels of general support and respect that 118 Archived at Flinders University: dspace.flinders.edu.au LOUCA.qxd 15/1/2001 3:19 ìì Page 119 AN EXAMINATION OF AUSTRALIANS OF HELLENIC DESCENT IN THE STATE PARLIAMENT they have gained within the party and broader community (Karaisaridis, 1996). This is also evident in interviews with Nick Bolkus and Steve Condous, whose comments concur with Karaisaridis evaluation (Louca, 2001). The Victorian Hellenic background parliamentarians further support this, for example Katsambanis said Is the Greek community supporting the Greek candidate, no I dont think so (Interview, 2001:1). In Victoria, Greek Australians have also been active in the Liberal Party, at around the same time as their involvement increased in the ALP. Alfredos Georgeos Kouris ran several campaigns as a candidate for the Liberal Party, as early as 1976 (Brunswick Sentinel, 1976). During this period another

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