There will be no democracy sausage in the upcoming Victorian council elections, as the Victorian minister for local government, Melissa Horne chose to use postal votes – and we’re not in the middle of a pandemic as in 2020, the last time postal votes were used.
A postal vote will make it difficult for older Greek Australians to participate in local council elections.
This year’s Melbourne Council election has a decidedly Greek flair. The current Lord Mayor Nick Reece, who took over Sally Capp, is married to a Greek and told Neos Kosmos that he is, “Greek at heart.”
“My beautiful wife Felicity is Greek, and my children are very much growing up as Greek Australians, learning Greek and we consider ourselves very much part of the community”.
Reece has developed a deep relationship with the Greek Community of Melbourne (GCM) and has been a champion of Greek causes. He has spoken at the annual Antipodes Festival and was a guest of the former mayor of Athens, Kostas Bakoyannis, where relations between Melbourne and Athens were strengthened.
The former adviser to prime minister Julia Gillard and Labor state secretary, who as deputy lead of the finance department in council, Reece has helped run a surplus for the first time in five years. The Lord Mayor of Melbourne was the chairman of global men’s health charity Movember where almost $1.2b for prostate cancer and men’s mental health.
Reece who also headed the planning portfolio, oversaw the approval of 20,000 new homes, the implementation of new policies to enhance architectural quality and design, and the establishment of higher sustainability standards for buildings.
Reece has committed to slashing power bills for people in the City of Melbourne. Reece has been on the Committee for Melbourne, Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute Advisory Board, Melbourne Art Trust Melbourne, and the Council of Capital City Lord Mayors among other positions.
Another contender is AFL legend Anthony Koutoufides who confirmed he will run for lord mayor of Melbourne.
The legend played 278 games for Carlton, including their last premiership in 1995, and in a recent statement confirmed his intention to run.
The Australian football hall of famer has unveiled several key policies.
“In our lovely city, many businesses are closing down, residents currently do not feel safe, shop fronts are vacant, government workers have not returned to the city to work since the pandemic and the current economic and cost-of-living crisis has increased homelessness in the CBD,” the 51-year-old said in the statement.
“We will work with the state government to introduce new laws that government and corporate workers must work at least four days a week in their office to enliven the city.”
Both he and Reece also want to focus on affordable housing. Reece in a statement said: “Melbourne’s best days are ahead, with more shovels in the ground than ever before through our city-shaping projects – like the redevelopment of the Queen Victoria Market, the Greenline Project river front transformation and our life-changing Make Room initiative for the homeless.”
While not competing for the mayorship, arts professional, Esther Anatolitis, has joined Councillor Jamal Hakim’s team, Hakim is angling for the top job. Anatolitis may be the first Greek Australian woman to be deputy mayor. The editor of the radical Meanjin, states in her biography that she is on of Australia’s “leading advocates for arts and culture” and a “champion of artists’ voices.”
Anatolitis also holds the position of Honorary Associate Professor at RMIT’s School of Art. Again according to her biography, she “fosters critical reflection on creative practice and encourages active civic engagement.”
Clearly there is no shortage of Greeks and Hellenophiles running for the coveted titles of Lord Mayor or Councillor of one of the most Greek cities in the world.
