Goodbye to Spring Street

“I’ll miss those who are trying to do the right thing – people who are driven by passion and not by power.

After more than twenty-five years in public office, John Pandazopoulos MP has announced that he will not seek re-election for the seat of Dandenong at the 2014 state elections.
‘Panda’ – as he is known to many – said that the decision has been made to devote more time to his family.
Widely respected for his passionate advocacy of the Greek Australian community, and work in promoting Australia’s relationship with Greece, Neos Kosmos caught up with the former state minister in a reflective mood on the day of the announcement.
The first question had to be, what brought on this life-changing decision? An offer he couldn’t refuse perhaps?
“No, nothing like that,” he says. “There’s nothing planned. It’s time to take a punt, have a rest, and change my life.
“I’ll be 51 by the next election. If I want to do something else with my life, it’s better I do it now rather than later.”
Will he miss the cut and thrust of parliamentary debate? Not overly.
“After a period of time you get a bit tired of the semantics,” he says.
“When you first get in you think the rough and tumble is exciting, but when you’re a bit older and wiser, you realise it’s a bit of a nonsense – a bit of a game, and we’re seeing that at the moment. It’s frustrating, but it’s part of the political process.”
As the longest serving Labor member in Victoria’s Lower House, Pandazopoulos was central to enshrining multiculturalism in Victorian state legislation during Steve Bracks’ first term as premier. It’s an achievement he is – understandably – hugely proud of.
“We were a minority government in both houses, so to be able to build bipartisan support for that was really important.
“What it did was create an obligation on government to have a whole of government approach to delivering a multicultural agenda. The proof of the pudding is that it’s still there.”
Panda’s recipes for success in ministerial office didn’t end at multicultural legislation.
As Minister for Tourism and Major Events other career highlights include overseeing the development of the Melbourne Convention Centre, Federation Square, the growth of Docklands, and the creation of Victoria’s first 10-year tourism strategy.
For someone with such a CV, no doubt offers from the business sector might be on the cards. Looking into the crystal ball, where does he see himself in two years’ time?
“I’m tempted to say I’ll be lying on a Greek island beach,” says Panda, before scotching the idea. It doesn’t sound as if he’s going to be lying still anywhere for very long.
“I’ll still be doing community work. I’m passionate about multiculturalism, tourism and events and I’ve acted as an unpaid advisor to many organisations in those sectors.
“We’ll see where things take us. It’s really too early to say.”
As for what he will miss most about being a state MP, Panda declares it’s the people.
“I’ll miss those who are trying to do the right thing – people who are driven by passion and not by power.
“We always need ‘the vision thing’ in politics – too often it’s about strategy and tactics rather than passion.”
For his remaining twelve months as a parliamentarian, the Member for Dandenong says he’ll be focused on consolidation, working with his nominated replacement (who will not be of Greek heritage) so they hit the ground running.
With record numbers of ALP pre-selection nominees of Greek background eager to fight the 2014 Victorian elections, he also sees himself in a mentoring role.
“I’ll be working with those candidates, encouraging them to work not just for their own electorate but – because of their common heritage – for a broader area.”
Pandazopoulos’ parliamentary career has run in tandem with being a vocal advocate for the wider Victorian Greek community – offering advice and support to countless community organisations and causes.
But he is not uncritical of what he sees. For Panda, a message to accompany that of his exit from parliamentary politics is a call to arms.
“There’s too much division in the Greek community. If we have conflicts in our business organisations we deal with them and try to eliminate those conflicts. We need to do the same in the community.
“Like businesses, we need to continually transform ourselves and have a vision.”
While he says that a measure of success is the extent to which Greek Australians are represented in senior positions on all sides of politics, often there’s an overdependency by community organisations on their elected representatives.
“Perhaps there’s been a sense that people say ‘you guys are there, what are you going to do about it?’ We shouldn’t be dependent on that.
“It’s about what you can do altogether. Think big.”
John Pandazopoulos may be changing his spots, but there’s every indication he’ll be fighting his corner for the causes he believes in – long after he takes that final walk down the steps of Parliament House as an MP.