Nicholas Kotsiras first entered politics not so much by accident, but through a burning desire to ensure all migrants and ethnic communities got a fair deal. As a teacher at Coburg High School, he noticed that students attending high schools in Victorian suburbs that didn’t have a high migrant population were given better opportunities than students in the western and northern suburbs; students in his high school. It took him back to when he was a student at Collingwood High School, when as a migrant child, he was forced into classes created for migrants. It was unfair. Newly arrived migrants were treated differently in the education system than those born in Australia. He wanted every student to receive the same opportunities. He wanted every student to have the ability to chose their career path and not be thrust into trade or otherwise just because they were born in a country other than Australia. His mission was to change the system and allow these students to prosper.
“I thought to myself, why should the new migrants be the experimental guinea pigs with different programs,” Minister Kotsiras tells Neos Kosmos. “So I thought, the system needs to change, and the only way to do this was to work from the inside out – to get involved with politics.”
In 1989, Minister Kotsiras applied for the Liberal Party. His intention then was just to be a voice in the Liberal Party – to change policy, and come up with new education programs – to change the system he viewed as “unfair and unequal”. He joined the Heidelberg branch, as – at the time – there was no Northcote branch. But Minister Kotsiras was dealing with local grassroots issues, and felt he could make a difference if there were a Northcote branch. He went ahead and established a branch in Northcote and became the president of the branch in 1992.
In the same year, Victoria went to the polls, and Minister Kotsiras was called up by the Liberal Party headquarters asking for a candidate for Northcote. Because it was a safe Labor seat at the time, members from the branch were reluctant to run, but it took one courageous man at the time to put his hand up. That year, Minister Kotsiras ran against tough competition in the form of the Labor Party’s Tony Sheehan – who was also the treasurer of Victoria at the time. He fought a good fight, and all was not lost because the day after the election, he got a call from Jeff Kennett – the then premier of Victoria – who asked him simply “would you like to work for me?”. Minister Kotsiras resigned as a teacher, and took up a post as an adviser to the premier between ’92 and ’99.
“It was a fantastic ride and an experience I will never forget,” says Minister Kotsiras of his time as an adviser to the premier. “It was a time of progress and huge changes.”
“The vitality, the progress, the energy, people only saw part of him but I saw him on a daily basis and he was such a good person to have around, he gave everyone a lift.
“[Mr Kennett] would come in early in the morning and he would walk through every office and talk to you with so much enthusiasm and energy and he kept the energy right up to the time we went home. I’ve never seen anyone like him.”
In 1999, Minister Kotsiras stood for the seat of Bulleen and won. Then in 2002, 2006 and 2010 – he consecutively won all four state elections in the seat of Bulleen. And is now bowing out on his own terms, in his own time. He admits he wanted to stand again for another four years, but family – in this instance – comes first for the minister, whose family have supported him and were his rock in his time in office. He says he wants to provide assistance to his wife, but also be with his grandchildren and allow both his daughter and daughter-in-law to go back to full-time employment while he enjoys his time as a pappou.
“I decided family comes first,” he explains. “I am going out at my time of my choosing, and I am pleased with myself, with what I have achieved.”
And what he has achieved is lauded by other states in Australia. He has brought unity to multicultural Victoria, specifically as the Minister of Multiculturalism and Citizenship. Through his vision, he has developed a proud multicultural state.
“What I’ve done is tried to unite the ethnic communities, to bring them together, so all my programs are geared towards making people aware of other cultures, so when the Serbians get together with the Croatians and the Greeks and the Turks, it shows we have our own unique culture and we are different from you but we can live together in harmony.
“We can debate those differences but in the end we are Australian and we can live together in harmony despite our differences.”
He has changed Victorian people’s perceptions; that multiculturalism is more than migrants – it’s about every Victorian having their own unique identity, regardless of race. It’s about everyone being a part of multiculturalism.
“People are now beginning to understand that and we have done this better in Victoria than any other state,” he explains.
“That’s because we have tried to unite people, and sometimes people criticise me for trying to bring the communities together, but I see it as an asset, something good. You can achieve unity in diversity and the minute you realise that, you can work together.”
Even though he’s held such a high position in politics, he has always been approachable to all constituents, and members of Melbourne’s Greek community. Being an MP in a very residential area, he has given his constituents a voice on local issues. He’s ensured they have good public transport systems, road upgrades, and has worked closely with the local council and the Labor government to ensure his constituents have fairness in the area of amenities. And now with the energy portfolio, Minister Kotsiras has brought fairness and balance in terms of energy and smart meters.
“I look at my mum, and if she doesn’t understand why she is paying $200 for an electricity bill, that means the retailers aren’t communicating what their bill is made up of, so it’s important for the public to have confidence in what they are paying,” he says.
Minister Kotsiras aptly chose Princess Pier to make the announcement that he was to retire from politics – a fitting gesture, as it was 50 years ago, in 1964, that as a young boy he first landed on Australian soil, at Princess Pier. And that young boy has certainly come full circle – he started his journey in Australia there, and ended his political one in the same spot.