Greek-born politician Kon Vatskalis is preparing for one final stand in his career of politics as he runs for a third and final term as Lord Mayor of Darwin.
Vatskalis has fostered a reputation over the years for his work in politics in the Northern Territory, having served in the Legislative Assembly from 2001-2014 before taking on the role of Lord Mayor of Darwin in 2017.
The 68-year-old revealed to Neos Kosmos that the coming Northern Territory local government elections on 23 August will see him try to secure one more term, which he confirmed would be his last.
“I am now in my second term and I intend to put my hand up for a third and final term,” Vatskalis said.
He stressed that his decision is motivated by him wanting to fulfil one last term before handing the reins to the younger generations.
“I believe in younger people. They can do a different job than us. We are a bit older and they can do it better. I think we should encourage young people to get involved with politics and change things.”
Vatskalis’ interest in politics can be traced back to his upbringing in Greece, having been raised during a time of great political upheaval during the military junta of 1967-1974.
“Going from a military dictatorship to a socialist party in government, it was a really interesting time. That gave me my first lessons in politics,” he said.
It was not until 1983 that he migrated to Australia, arriving in Perth with his now late first wife, and it was there that he first began his engagement with the political realm.
“When I arrived in Western Australia I got involved in the Labor Party, and I was one of the founding members of the Greek branch of the Labor Party of Western Australia. I stood for elections for the first time with the Australian Labor Party in Perth in 1986.”
Vatskalis later moved to Darwin in 1993, a decade on from his migration to Australia, and his stay became far more permanent than he planned.
“The idea was to stay there for two years but that became four, ten, twenty and now I am in my 32nd year in Darwin.”
He did not get involved politically until the following year when he met his friend Paul Henderson (former Chief Minister of the Northern Territory from 2007-2012), with the pair becoming the founding members of the Millner branch in Darwin.
“From there on I continued my involvement with the Labor Party and I insisted they get out of its comfort zone and start talking to the ethnics which Paul did very well, and he was elected in a by-election in 1999 as the Member for Wanguri,” he said.
“In 2001, the then leader of the Labor Party, Clare Martin, asked me to stand for Casuarina.”
Vatskalis went on to win election and, at the same time, the Labor Party went into government for the first time in 27 years.
He served as minister of numerous portfolios during his 13-year career on the Legislative Assembly, contributing greatly in various areas like health, welfare, education etc.
“We have made a lot of changes for Northern Territory. From an extremely conservative society we became a liberal society…we completely changed the face of the Northern Territory,” the politician said.
Vatskalis retired from his post in 2014, explaining his decision was motivated by the same reason he only plans to run for Mayor one last time.
“I decided it was time for me to go. There were younger people that could do a different job. You can’t stay there forever.”
He briefly worked for the Leukemia foundation after leaving the Legislative Assembly before the prospect of becoming Lord Mayor of Darwin made him jump back into politics.
“When the elections for the Lord Mayor of Darwin came up in 2017, I thought I could do a better job and so put my hand up and I was fortunate enough to be elected,” he said.
His term has had its difficulties with the Greek-born Mayor citing Cyclone Marcus in 2018 and COVID-19 as significant challenges they had to deal with.
The former was particularly detrimental to the area’s urban forest, which guided Vatskalis and his fellow council members to initiate efforts to rejuvenate it.
“Cyclone Marcus decimated Darwin’s urban forest. We lost about 15,000 trees in 12 hours,” he said.
“Since then we have worked hard to re-establish the urban forest. Darwin now is a big, greener city. We have planted and given away about 16,000 trees in the past five years.”
He remarked on his pleasure in how he and his fellow elected members have worked for the betterment of the community, rejuvenating parks, playgrounds, and the local economy (having contributed between $60 to 90 million every year in recent years).
“We changed Darwin, myself and my fellow elected members…Darwin is completely different to what it was even ten years ago.”
Vatskalis, in his final message, stated the following:
“In the past eight years, Darwin City Council has been a very stable council, a council that looks after the city and invests in its future. We are making sure that Darwin is going to be a green, beautiful city that everyone can enjoy, not only locals but tourists as well.”
