Just as you enter Collingwood Town Hall in Melbourne, right near reception, you will now find a public room with a small plaque at the entrance.
It says: “A leader both locally and in the Greek community, with a strong belief in social justice, Theo Sidiropoulos stood up and spoke out for migrants and minorities.”
The Theo Sidiropoulos room, newly minted after the Collingwood Town Hall finalised its renovations, honours the legacy of its former mayor.
The late Theo Sidiropoulos was quite a figurehead in the inner city suburbs of Melbourne, always fighting for migrant rights and supporting the Greek community.
Working as a tram conductor for a number of years and becoming a small businessman taking care of take away shops and milk bars like many Greek migrants at the time, Theo’s ideologies would push him to a life of public service.
He eventually became Collingwood’s mayor in 1977, the first that spoke English as a second language. A friendly man and always up for a chat, Theo campaigned for everyone, but especially for those disenfranchised or neglected by those in power. Nothing was above or beneath him.
Numerous migrants came to him with their problems even if it was out of the jurisdiction of the council. People would ask for help with their monthly electricity bills, filling out taxation returns, passport application and immigration issues, even filling out papers to register their pets. Theo’s door was never closed.
He was a Collingwood councillor for ten years, and became an even bigger personality when he was elected as the member for Richmond, for the Victorian Legislative Assembly in 1978, where he would serve for the next 11 years before retiring.
Current councillor for the City of Yarra council, Phillip Vlahogiannis had Theo as his local member of parliament when he was growing up in Richmond.
Today he is inspired by Theo’s tenacity and willingness to help his fellow man and his community.
“What Theo Sidiropoulos’ legacy is about and the way I reflect upon it is, there was a person who was trying to build those bridges of those sections of the community of which he himself was part,” Cr Vlahogiannis tells Neos Kosmos.
“He contributed not only to the Greek community broadly, but the local community especially, back in a time when a very large proportion of the community was of non-English speaking background.”
He realised how important it is to have someone who is of the people representing the people.
For Cr Vlahogiannis, he’s seen that just having a foreign name has helped his local members open up.
“Recently I had a woman call me and she was a bit tentative at first, and she asked ‘are you Greek?’ and I said yes and all of a sudden, she just opened up and without hesitation was able to discuss with me her concerns,” he says.
Looking back at Theo’s mayorship, Cr Vlahogiannis says it would have been a huge help having a migrant represent a community that was mostly made up of working class migrants.
“I think it helped having a member with an ethnic background, because sometimes it’s just familiarity,” he says.
Theo took on the role of a multicultural spokesperson seriously. As a local member, he campaigned tirelessly to bridge the gap between the local Australian community and the migrants of the time.
He himself saw the inadequacy of multicultural services, of a system that sometimes hindered the rights of migrants thanks to lack of language services.
Coming to Australia in 1955, Theo was sent to the Bonegilla migrant reception centre, a place that gave him the first taste of what it was like to be
considered foreign in a new country.
That experience would have certainly stayed with him and would have encouraged him to seek office.
He was the first to change the look and make up of Victorian parliament, drawing attention to the plight of migrants and calling for respect for all. His legacy remains in a special memorial park next to the Town Hall. A special commissioned artwork created by Jenny Steiner was unveiled in 2007 that has the word ‘freedom’ in multiple languages including Greek.
As a fighter in the Greek resistance and a military officer, Theo understood the deep need for freedom and championed that right in his political life.
Now taking pride of place in Collingwood Town Hall, Theo’s legacy will act as a cautionary reminder to keep championing the rights of minorities.
“It’s a fitting tribute, but it’s a very important reminder that there are also older immigrants and new ones who need services that are culturally and linguistically specific,” Cr Vlahogiannis says.
The Theo Sidiropoulos room will be officially opened in a special closed event at Collingwood Town Hall on September 2.
Theo’s wife Popi and daughter Andrea will be given a tour of the town hall and will open the room.