Within hours of his appointment, Victoria’s new Minister for Small Business, Trade and Innovation said that he would be working “day and night” to ensure small businesses were getting the state government’s full attention in order to grow.

Phillip Dalidakis takes the reins of the trade portfolio from fellow upper house MP Adem Somyurek, who was forced to resign last week following a bullying investigation. Mr Dalidakis was sworn in after Mr Somyurek’s sub-faction endorsed him as their candidate prior to a caucus vote.

The minister told Neos Kosmos he was “proud, humbled and honoured” by the appointment. “It’s a privilege to be an MP and the opportunity to serve at a higher level in a ministerial role is an even greater privilege.”

Asked about the circumstances of his elevation, Mr Dalidakis said: “Sometimes you don’t choose the situation, the situation chooses you. Irrespective of how I got here, I’m here now and there’s a big job to do.

“That job is to ensure that for all those people wanting to start or grow a business, government doesn’t get in their way but assists them wherever possible.”

Mr Dalidakis was elected to the upper house in the 2014 election and previously worked as deputy chief of staff to Senator Stephen Conroy and as a principal at communications agency SCG Advisory.

Having set up his own corporate affairs consultancy, the experience, he says, gives him “a good insight into the challenges, trials and tribulations, faced by small business owners”.

The MP’s experience of “merging public policy creation with private sector know-how” was a key factor for Premier Daniel Andrews, who described Mr Dalidakis as a “good fit” for his new portfolios.

Mr Dalidakis said that he hoped under his leadership the government’s “policy settings will encourage small business owners to reach their dream, their optimum”.

The minister added that the government had a range of programs in place to help small businesses which he would be reviewing.

“This month we have the Small Business Festival, where we ask them to think about what they’re doing and how they’re doing it. Small businesses can also access reviews of their operations, get mentors and mediation services.”

As part of its pre-election platform Labor promised $60m to a new high level work-creation program, Start Up, aimed at fostering the creation of start-up enterprises and to “enhance Victoria’s entrepreneurial ecosystem”.

Yet to be rolled out, Mr Dalidakis said that he would be talking about Start Up in more in detail in the coming weeks.

Mr Dalidakis said he was grateful for the support shown to him by Melbourne’s Greek community in his what has been a meteoric rise into representative parliamentary politics. “The community has supported me since before the election and made it very clear to me that I’m one of their own,” he said.