You’ve probably heard the saying, “Beware of Greeks bearing gifts,” from Virgil’s Aeneid, spoken by the Trojan priest Laocoön after the Greeks left behind their infamous wooden horse during the Trojan War.

However, in this election, it’s both major parties—Labor and the Liberal-National Coalition —who come bearing gifts.

Whoever forms government after the polls close on Saturday, one thing is clear — both Anthony Albanese’s Labor and Peter Dutton’s Coalition have thrown their fiscal weight behind Greek communities across Australia. Labor and the Coalition have pledged close to $15 million to various Greek organisations—secular, church-based, sporting, and cultural.

Labor has pledged $25 million for community language schools nationwide. Of that, $4.5 million is earmarked for the creation of a Greek Cultural and Language Enrichment Centre in Oakleigh—funding the Coalition has also agreed to match.

Shadow Minister for Education Sarah Henderson called community language schools “a pillar of Australia’s multicultural success story,” saying they are crucial to preparing young Australians for a globalised future.

“The ability to speak a second or third language—especially those of our key regional partners—also opens doors in trade, diplomacy, and business,” she said.

In February, Labor’s Assistant Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs, Julian Hill, and Communications Minister Michelle Rowland announced $11.4 million in funding over four years for Independent Multicultural Media Australia (IMMA). Dutton has since matched that commitment, signalling bipartisan support for multicultural media.

Hill called multicultural outlets “the most trusted source of news and information for many Australians,” warning that their decline would leave communities vulnerable to misinformation spreading via social media and messaging apps.

Speaking to Neos Kosmos two weeks ago, Peter Dutton said, “It is important to invest in independent multicultural media.” He stressed that such media sustain cultural heritage and traditional values—”values which are at the heart of the Coalition”.

Among the Greek-Australian beneficiaries of these pledges is the Greek Community of Melbourne (GCM), set to receive approximately $1.6 million in federal funding for a range of cultural programs—regardless of who wins government. Both Labor and the Coalition have also pledged $4.5 million to the Greek Orthodox Community of NSW.

In Darwin, the Country Liberal Party (CLP) and Labor have each committed $5 million toward constructing a new Greek Orthodox community hub.

Sporting and cultural initiatives have also drawn bipartisan support. The LNP has pledged funding to upgrade facilities at Aris South Springvale FC, while Labor has promised $660,000 to support women’s football through upgrades at Alamein FC and Ashburton United Soccer Club. Additional grants include $49,500 to Pontiaki Estia in Brunswick for elevator installation, $500,000 for a Hellenic Museum exhibition, and other cultural activities across the country.

RedBridge Group Australia pollster Kos Samaras, a former Victorian Labor strategist, told Neos Kosmos that Labor’s “two-party preferred is now well over 60 per cent among diverse Australians.”

Perhaps most telling is that both major parties appear to have embraced a capital-‘M’ Multiculturalism reminiscent of the Fraser, Hawke, and Keating eras. Their campaigns look to win over migrant communities—Greek, Italian, Indian, Chinese, Jewish, Arab and others—through values of tradition, family, language, culture, faith, and business.

It may mark a pivot away from the identity politics shaping inner-city Greens strongholds and back toward a more unifying multicultural vision—one framed by the late Petro Georgiou, a key architect of Australia’s multicultural policy.

There is little doubt, the culture wars that fuelled Donald Trump’s second-term campaign in the US, combined with the increasingly divisive rhetoric from some Greens-aligned pro-Palestinian activists, have given both major parties reason to re-invest in centrist, inclusive multicultural policy.

One thing is certain—Greek Australians are set to benefit, whichever side forms government.