Two Victorian parliamentarians met for lunch in Larnaca last week. Not in itself a remarkable event, given that the sun-kissed island is basking in its peak tourism season.

But these state law-makers – former Labor MP Theo Theophanous and Natalie Suleyman, the current member for St Albans, have a bond that means so much as the island grapples with its problematic past.

Their individual stories embrace the Cyprus narrative, and the symbolism of a simple shared lunch, and a shared culture, is a lesson to be learned as Cyprus looks for deliverance from division.

“We had grilled haloumi and kleftiko,” Mr Theophanous told Neos Kosmos. “We agreed that Natalie would have a Greek coffee and I would have a Turkish coffee. Both sketo. Of course, they were exactly the same,” said the former state minister wistfully.

Natalie’s uncle turned up and joined them for dessert. “I had a great conversation with him, in Greek,” added Theophanous. “I said to him that with so much in common, we should use the example of Turkish and Greek Cypriots in the diaspora to show how Cyprus can be reunited to the benefit of all.

“He responded in perfect Greek to say how much he loved his home town of Larnaca and looked forward to spending more time there.

“Meanwhile Natalie, whose family own a house just behind the restaurant, joked that if they just left the Cyprus negotiations up to her and me we’d come up with a solution in no time!”

As the conversation meandered in the summer heatwave, Ms Suleyman said she looked forward to the day her family could return to their house and renovate it, to use as a holiday home.

Theophanous invited Natalie to his home town of Polis in Paphos, “the best part of Cyprus” he said, before the member for St Albans cut him short: “It couldn’t get better than Larnaca,” she said with playful indignation.

“Turkish or Greek towns, it doesn’t matter. It’s love for your home town that counts most,” says Theo.

Who is to say that the diaspora aren’t key to unlocking ‘the Cyprus issue’? They’ve promised to meet for lunch every summer in Cyprus and look forward to the time they’ll break bread in a reunited country.

Theo Theophanous was the first person of Greek Cypriot background to be elected to the Victorian Parliament in 1988. In 2014 Natalie Suleyman was the first person of Turkish Cypriot heritage elected to the same parliament.