The big man, called Andonis, could be Greek in anything but looks. Not that that counts against him but with his blue eyes, fair hair and broad, craggy face it is easier to imagine him in a kilt than a foustanella.

But Ballarat resident Mr McCartney will be quick to break into Greek song, like his favourite Xipna Manoli (Wake up, Manoli). As a volunteer he would effortlessly break into song to serenade Greek pensioners at lunches organised by the Ballarat Regional Multicultural Council. He also shared jokes with them that only a person who is steeped in a culture can do.

“I was a pretty good dancer of Zembekiko and Kalamatiana,” Mr McCartney, 65, told Neos Kosmos in Ballarat where he now lives.

“The first time I was at a Greek function and they asked me to join in, I told them I did not want to dance because I did not want to embarrass myself. I was sitting in the chair when two Greek men came and lifted me by the elbows and took me to the dance floor. They were playing Zorba’s Dance and the Sirtaki came quite easily.”

The fact that he was the Victorian Police heavyweight champion meant he had good footwork which made it easy for him to learn the steps for the various Greek dances.

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Mr McCartney grew up in Ballarat and moved to Melbourne where he joined the police in 1974. It was in the Victorian capital when he came into contact with the city’s migrant communities.

“I met a lot of Greeks, Italians and Lebanese people on the streets and in their shops when I was on foot patrol.

“I got on well with everyone as I was a young and a country boy. I was interested in their culture, where they came from and how they came to be in Australia.”

Two years later, in 1976, he met his wife, Ourania, who had come to Australia with her brother and sister.

“She was one of a family of 12 children. Her father had died and her mother lived in a Neo Horion, a village in the mountains above Olympia in the Peleponnese. We just hit it off and kept seeing each other. The next year, we married,” said Mr McCartney.

He said the main difference between Australians and Greeks at that time was the fact that the Greeks were very social and would have regular gatherings and parties at their homes.

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“I found that when Greeks got together, they tended to want to speak Greek, so I found myself playing cricket and other games with the kids.”

The kids were to help him with his Greek better than the adults would.

“When I attempted to speak Greek, the adults would be polite and not correct me, whereas the kids would laugh and immediately correct me and that improved my pronunciation.

“I started to study Greek. I bought a book called Greek Made Easy, which was very good with lovely calligraphy,” he said. “I persevered and started to understand more. It came to a point where I found that I could speak and think in Greek.”

As well as dancing at the social gatherings, there was also singing and Mr McCartney learnt to sing Greek songs.

“If you learn to sing, you learn the pronunciation and it helps with the grammar,” he said.

In 1978, Mr McCartney went to Greece to visit his wife’s family. It was the first time he had been out of Australia and he was struck by the beauty of Greece.

“I was surprised at how small Olympia, the ancient home of the Olympics, was. It was just a village.”

Everyone in the Neo Hori turned out to greet them when they arrived in Neo Horion during Holy Week just before Easter.

“I thought ‘this is what celebrity feels like’,” said Mr McCartney.

Andonis (Don) McCartney proudly displays his baptism certificate. He was baptized into the Greek Orthodox church in 1982. Photo: Alex Economou

“During that week, the village swelled with people returning from the cities. We went to church and I noticed the old men filled the seats at the front and everybody else stood behind and outside the church. There was a definite patriarchy.

“At midnight, the priest announced ‘Christos Anesti’ and the festivities went on for a week. I have never seen festivities like that in my life.

“The Greeks may drink alcohol, but I never saw anyone acting drunk. Anyone who did act that way was looked down upon, whereas in Australia they are treated as some kind of hero. I saw people arguing occasionally but there was no fighting.”

The one Greek activity that drew the attention of the police was the Greek love of gambling at cards – this was at a time when it was not allowed by law. It was a love shared by the Italians and Balkan communities.

“Sometimes, a wife would come to the police station to inform on her husband as a way to bring the husband home with the money, but it was a (law that was) hard law to police.

“If you went to the coffee shops, you would find there were watchers to warn the gamblers upstairs. By the time the police arrived, everything would disappear from the table or they would claim they were having a social game.”

“By and large, the Greeks were not a particular problem for the police. I would occasionally liaise with the Greek community and I would also serve as interpreter. There was a case where a Greek woman was jailed for defrauding Centrelink. She had four children, their father was not around so I went to the Greek church and together we organised a place for the children to live in.”

Mr McCartney was on duty at a time when the soccer clubs in Melbourne were aligned along ethnic lines and games would sometimes get out of hand.

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“The Greeks were fairly rowdy, vocal and enthusiastic in their support of clubs such as South Melbourne Hellas and Heidelberg. I remember there was one player whose hairy legs earned him the attention of the crowds, who named him “O Maliaros” (the Hairy One). It was harmless fun with no venom in it.”

There were some games where there were some skirmishes that put police on alert, but Mr McCartney said the violence at Australian Rules Football and cricket matches was far worse.

“Those supporters could take in as much grog as they wanted and they were so tanked up and ready to fight. At some MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground) matches, there were big brawls. We had to call in the ‘Big Paddy Wagons’ and take them to watch houses around the city.”

There were some bad brawls when Carlton played Collingwood at Princes Park, he said.

His marriage to Ourania lasted six years but his association with Greek culture and identity has remained. He was to marry again and raise four daughters.

Mr McCartney left the police in 1989 and went on to study Bachelor of Arts in English Literature, Sociology and Asian Studies in Ballarat. He started to learn Mandarin English and was to put it to good use when he went to China to work as an English teacher between 2004 and 2011.

He lives in Ballarat with his third wife, Belle, whom he met in China, and stepson George.