Dave Tollner (Solomon, Country Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

In my electorate, we have a large Greek population. It is estimated that there are between 7,000 and 8,000 Greeks living in the Top End of the Northern Territory. Only recently I joined with thousands of other Territorians in Darwin to celebrate the annual Greek cultural festival known as Glenti. Glenti is the time when people of whatever origin gather to help Territorians of Greek descent celebrate all things Greek. Glenti offers an opportunity to give thanks for the gifts that the Greeks have brought to the Northern Territory and to Australia. The rich cultural contribution of the Greek community, like that of so many other migrant groups, has helped make Darwin and the Northern Territory a bigger and better place for us all.

It was a historic few weeks for our Greek community leading up to the Greek Glenti Festival. It marked the first official visit to Australia by a Greek Prime Minister, Kostas Karamanlis, who signed a landmark bilateral social security agreement with our own Prime Minister, John Howard, during his stay here in May. It was a great honour for me—along with my colleague the member for Indi—to meet the Greek Prime Minister in Canberra and then to have him come to Darwin, which was also a first. During his visit, he told the children at the Greek Orthodox School of Darwin, ‘Keep Greece always in your heart.’ The Greeks of the Northern Territory organised a fantastic reception for the Greek Prime Minister, and I pay tribute to them for that.

The Prime Minister’s visit was followed by a visit of the Lord Mayor of Kalymnos, Georgios Roussos, whose official delegation departed Darwin last week. Kalymnos was one of Darwin’s first sister cities, and with many Kalymnians living in Darwin the two cities have developed a close friendship over the years. It is estimated that around 80 per cent of the Greeks living in Darwin are Kalymnian.

Every Tuesday night, Darwin’s Radio Larrakia becomes the voice of Greece, broadcasting the first hour of its Greek program live to Kalymnos, symbolising the 25th anniversary of the sister city relationship between the Greek Island and Darwin. The majority of Territorians, as I said, of Greek ancestry are descended from the Kalymnian migrants. The local Greek community, which according to the 2001 census was around 4,500 people, has a proud history in the Northern Territory, from the early pearling days to the reconstruction effort after Cyclone Tracy to the present.

The first influential Greeks came between 1910 and 1915. Among those settlers were families whose names are prominent among the citizenry of Darwin and Palmerston today: Harmanis, Kailis, Liveris, Paspaley, Paspalis, Margaritis and Haritos, just to mention a few. They mostly settled in Greek Town, as it was then known, along what is today’s esplanade, the site of the Glenti festival. It is recorded that, in the period from 1914 to 1919, some 1,400 Greeks arrived in Darwin, but, after the closure of Vestey’s meatworks at Bullocky Point in 1920, the Greek population was much reduced.

The second wave of Greek settlement was after World War II. Their arrival was prompted by the search for divers in the pearling business led by Haritos and Paspaley. Kalymnos was, of course, a good place from which to recruit, as many Kalymnians earned their living from sponge diving in their home country. It was not long before the new arrivals undertook other ventures, particularly in construction, hotels, retail and property development, prospering as Darwin grew, and building the major retail landmarks of central Darwin. Many went into the Public Service. John Anictomatis, the Greek Consul General, is a former Administrator of the Northern Territory. (Time expired)

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