The Mutual Party – a new political party hoping to redefine Australian politics – will be launched in Melbourne today.
With ambitions “to fix a broken political system that has churned out disillusionment and cynicism for a generation”, the fledgling party has also endorsed its first candidate – Stella Kariofyllidis, the former mayor of the City of Moreland in Melbourne’s northern suburbs.
Ms Kariofyllidis will stand for the seat of Brunswick in the 2014 Victorian state election on a ticket that promises “a public agenda based on innovation and reform in government”.
Born in Veria, northern Greece, Ms Kariofyllidis came to Australia as a 14-year-old. With a background in banking and teaching Greek, she served as a councillor between 1996 and 2012 and was Moreland City’s mayor twice.
Married with two grown up sons, Ms Kariofyllidis was formerly an ALP member but is now committed to returning to the political fray independently.
“I was expelled from the ALP twice for challenging the jobs for the boys,” she told Neos Kosmos.
“They think because I am a little Greek woman that I will be pushed around, but I stood up to them, and they expelled me. Last year, I decided I would not renew my ALP membership.”
Ms Kariofyllidis, who lost her council seat in October 2012, says her decision to run for state government was influenced by her local community.
“Both Labor and Liberal have lost their way. We need a new voice for the ordinary person, so that is why I have come on board the Mutual Party.”
Co-founder of the Mutual Party Maria Rigoni describes her party’s position as being in the centre of the electoral mainstream and had been conceived to move away from political partisanship.
“Australians are fed up with mindless adversarialism in politics,” she said.
“Mutuality points to working together, moving beyond adversarial argument. It implies give-and-take and social consensus.”