Last month Victoria’s newest minister Phillip Dalidakis was in Athens to attend a conference of the World Hellenic Inter-Parliamentary Association (WHIA) – a body of parliamentarians from around the world of Greek heritage.
“It disgusts me to think that this incident has allowed Golden Dawn to further pedal their policies of hatred
It was during this assembly that the Labor MP, grateful for an opportunity to share his thoughts on the debt crisis, spoke in English about its damaging side-effects and the growing polarisation of political expression in the country.
To his horror, the speech surfaced days later – incorrectly translated into Greek – on the website of Golden Dawn, Greece’s ultra-right political party, which described him as supportive of the neo-Nazi organisation.
“To my misfortune there was a translation error during my address, [suggesting] that I had used ‘warm words’ to praise the party and their policies,” said the minister in a statement this week. “This is completely untrue.”
Minister Dalidakis added that he was “disappointed that the translator could get it so wrong and that the Hellenic Parliament allowed the wrong translation to be distributed, permitting my Greek colleagues to think that I could support the policies of a neo-Nazi fascist party that prey on the most vulnerable people in our society”.
“It disgusts me to think that this incident has allowed Golden Dawn to further pedle their policies of hatred.”
Mr Dalidakis became aware of the misquoting on July 25 through posts made to his Twitter account.
Footage of the speech clearly shows that Mr Dalidakis made a robust attack on Golden Dawn during his address. The minister has written formally to the Hellenic Parliament to ensure the public record of his speech reflects the correct translation.