Konstantine Vatskalis (born 4 April 1957) is a Greek-
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
Casuarina
''Casuarina'' is a genus of 17 tree species in the family Casuarinaceae, native to Australia, the Indian subcontinent, southeast Asia, islands of the western Pacific Ocean, and eastern Africa. It was once treated as the sole genus in the fami ...
. He was Minister for Business and Economic Development, Minister for Regional Development, Minister for Defence Support, Minister for Sport and Recreation, Minister for Essential Services, Minister for Health, Minister for Mines and Energy, Minister for Primary Industries and Fisheries and Minister for Children and Families.
On 30 July 2014, Vatskalis announced that he would be resigning from the Legislative Assembly at the end of the August sittings, which triggered a
2014 Casuarina by-election
A by-election for the seat of Casuarina in the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly was held on 18 October 2014.
Early years
Vatskalis was born in
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...
, and studied public health in
Athens
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
. He became involved in student politics while there, becoming a student representative at the Athens Higher Vocational School and taking part in the 1970s pro-democracy protests, where he witnessed people being arrested for speaking freely. He married an Australian woman, Linda Cotton in 1982, and in 1983, they emigrated to
Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
. Once they had arrived in
Perth
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...
, Vatskalis found that his Greek qualifications were not recognised, and was forced to start again, beginning a degree in environmental health at
Curtin University
Curtin University, formerly known as Curtin University of Technology and Western Australian Institute of Technology (WAIT), is an Australian public research university based in Bentley, Perth, Western Australia. It is named after John Curtin, ...
, where he also joined the Labor Party. After graduating in 1985, he worked as an environmental health officer and surveyor in the Western Australian towns of Port Hedland and
Wanneroo
Wanneroo is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, located within the City of Wanneroo.
Geography
As it is on the Swan Coastal Plain, the Wanneroo wetlands stretch parallel to the coastline and to the north and south of the suburb.
Education
W ...
from 1986 to 1993. This period was also marked by personal tragedy, however; his wife died in 1988. In 1992, not long before leaving Western Australia, Vatskalis completed post-graduate studies this time in environmental science from
Murdoch University
Murdoch University is a public university in Perth, Western Australia, with campuses also in Singapore and Dubai. It began operations as the state's second university on 25 July 1973, and accepted its first undergraduate students in 1975. Its n ...
.
In 1993, Vatskalis secured a job managing the NT Health Department's Darwin Environmental Health Unit, which meant relocating to the
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...
. He quickly became involved in Darwin's multicultural community, taking up a position hosting a Greek community radio show the same year, and going on to present a weekly nationwide Greek news segment on SBS Radio. Vatskalis also served a stint on the Northern Territory Police's Ethnic Advisory Committee.
Election to parliament
Vatskalis left the Environmental Health Unit in 1999, taking up a position at
Danila Dilba Danila, Dănilă or Dănila may refer to:
People
* Danila (given name) , a given name
* Danila or Dănilă, a surname
Other uses
* ''Dănila'', a village in Dărmănești, Suceava
Dărmănești (german: Hatna) is a commune located in Sucea ...
, the indigenous health service in Darwin. However, this was to be short-lived, as he soon nominated for Labor Party pre-selection to contest the seat of
Casuarina
''Casuarina'' is a genus of 17 tree species in the family Casuarinaceae, native to Australia, the Indian subcontinent, southeast Asia, islands of the western Pacific Ocean, and eastern Africa. It was once treated as the sole genus in the fami ...
at the 2001 election. Vatskalis was successful in gaining preselection, but was not widely expected to be elected. Not only had the ALP ever won Casuarina, but Vatskalis was facing incumbent MP and Arts, Sciences and Ethnic Affairs Minister Peter Adamson. However, in an unexpected result, a massive Labor wave swept through Darwin, allowing the party to win government for the first time ever. Notably, Labor took every seat in the northern portion of the capital—among them Casuarina, for the first time ever. Vatskalis took the seat on a swing of 13 percent.
Initial success as a minister
Though he had not even been tipped to win the seat, Vatskalis was immediately appointed to the ministry upon entering parliament, with new
Chief Minister
A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...
Clare Martin selecting him as her Minister for Lands, Planning and Environment, Housing, Local Government and Ethnic Affairs. He sparked brief controversies in October and November, when he oversaw the sale of a large public housing complex in Alice Springs and then attempts at compulsorily acquiring homes in Berry Springs, which were dumped after a public outcry.
Despite these hiccups, he was widely seen to be an effective minister, and was subsequently appointed to three additional portfolios—Transport, Infrastructure and Essential Services in a reshuffle on 16 November. He also began to win praise from several sectors over his handling of a number of issues, including opening up a large number of new housing blocks and both introducing speed limits on the
Lasseter Highway
Lasseter Highway is a fully sealed 244 kilometre highway in the Northern Territory of Australia. It connects Yulara, Kata Tjuta and Uluru east to the Stuart Highway at Erldunda. The highway is named after Lewis Hubert (Harold Bell) Lasseter, ...
and funding road repair projects in an attempt to curb the number of road deaths. He was also responsible for closing Darwin's Lake Leanyer after a coronial inquest into a death there. In February 2002, the '' Northern Territory News'' suggested that Vatskalis had "consistently been one of the Government's better performers", though they also criticised him for not appointing "new blood" to his departments. The usually conservative tabloid made similar comments in their report on the performance of the Martin ministry on the first anniversary of the election in August, suggesting that he had "impressed observers with his willingness to confront his new responsibilities."
Difficulties and demotion
It was around this point, however, where Vatskalis' initial positive stint ended, and he began to face serious difficulties in his position. He was criticised for the sacking without explanation of one of the Territory's most senior public servants, the head of the Parks and Wildlife Service, Dr Bill Freeland, and had recurring problems surrounding the planned gas plant at Wickham Point on Darwin Harbour. As the contracts had already been signed by the
Burke
Burke is an Anglo-Norman Irish surname, deriving from the ancient Anglo-Norman and Hiberno-Norman noble dynasty, the House of Burgh. In Ireland, the descendants of William de Burgh (–1206) had the surname ''de Burgh'' which was gaelicised ...
Country Liberal Party government, Vatskalis had little choice but to continue supporting the construction of the gas plant, despite significant pressure from angry community groups. In October 2002, Vatskalis had to be placed under police protection when he received death threats from residents angry over a decision to approve the construction of a private school in a suburban street.
In January 2003, Vatskalis—allegedly unilaterally—banned flights over the Katherine Gorge, but was forced to remove the ban less than a month later after a public outcry. He also became embroiled in a nasty stoush with the
taxi
A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice ...
industry over planned reforms, clashed with environmentalists over land-clearing around the Daly River area, and was the subject of a damaging ''
A Current Affair
''A Current Affair'' may refer to:
* ''A Current Affair'' (Australian TV program), 1971–present Australian current affairs program that airs on Nine Network
* ''A Current Affair'' (American TV program), a 1986–1998 American television news ...
'' report over his handling of the impact on pastoralists from the Alice Springs–Darwin Railway. These controversies were amplified by a personal scandal in August 2003, when Vatskalis was found to be offering paid translation services over the internet while an MP. Not long after, the Northern Territory media reported a number of concerns about a taxpayer-funded trip taken by Vatskalis and Chief Minister Martin in August–September.
While he had also had some successes in this period, cracking down on antisocial behavior by youths in cars, forcing licenses upon the building industry after a series of scams, and attempting to convince the federal government to hand Kakadu National Park back to the NT government—a move soon supported by MPs on both sides of NT politics—the series of incidents throughout 2003 had severely tarnished Vatskalis' reputation.
December 2003 Ministerial reshuffle
In the December 2003 ministerial reshuffle sparked by the axing of Health Minister Jane Aagaard, Vatskalis was severely demoted, losing all his portfolios except Ethnic Affairs, and being given the new responsibilities of Mines and Energy and Primary Industries and Fisheries.
Although the reshuffle had seen Vatskalis demoted, the new portfolios allowed him to move away from the areas in which he had been under siege. In his new portfolio, he signed several new resource exploration permits and launched several programs attempting to promote the Northern Territory to mining companies, in the hope of boosting the industry. He launched a significant shakeup of mining laws, blocked proposals to create a second mine in the Kakadu National Park, and oversaw the proposal to clean up the environmental damage from the abandoned Mount Todd gold mine, near Katherine. In 2006 he instigated the "China and Japan Investment attraction strategy" targeting China and Japan for the Territory's mineral resources. He led a number of delegations to China and presented the Territory's mineral wealth to mining companies and investors in China. This led to the attraction of significant investment in the mining sector by Chinese companies making China the number 1 trade partner of the territory. The success of this strategy was highlighted by the 2010 Darwin visit of the then Vice President (and current President) of China Xi Jinping.Vatskalis also won favour from the recreational fishing community, banning commercial fishing in the Adelaide River and rejecting proposals to introduce fishing licenses in the Territory.
Vatskalis faced his first electoral test at the 2005 election, and despite having won the seat from the CLP for the first time ever in 2001, was easily elected with a massive swing in his favour, amidst a landslide result across the Territory. He comfortably retained the seat again in 2008, albeit with a 4.2% swing against him, but still holding a 14% majority.
Another cabinet reshuffle on 4 February 2009 saw Vatskalis take the Government's Health portfolio from Dr Chris Burns while remaining the Minister for Primary Industry, Fisheries and Resources. In December 2009 he added the child protection portfolio to his duties.Chief Minister reshuffles his Cabinet again /ref>