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Konstantine Vatskalis (born 4 April 1957) is a
Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
- Australian politician and the current Lord Mayor of Darwin. Before becoming Lord Mayor in 2017 he was a Labor Party member of the
Northern Territory Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory is the unicameral legislature of the Northern Territory of Australia. The Legislative Assembly has 25 members, each elected in single-member electorates for four-year terms. The voting method f ...
from September 2001 to October 2014, representing the Darwin-based electorate 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 fam ...
. 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. In the 2017 local government elections in the Northern Territory, Vatskalis was elected Lord Mayor of Darwin.


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. 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 t ...
. 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, P ...
, 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 A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...
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 Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Aus ...
. 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 SBS Radio is an Australian radio network owned by the Special Broadcasting Service directed towards newly arrived immigrants in Australia. SBS Radio originally began as two stations based in Melbourne and Sydney, set up to provide pre-recorded ...
. Vatskalis also served a stint on the
Northern Territory Police The Northern Territory Police Force is the police body that has legal jurisdiction over the Northern Territory of Australia. This police service has 1,537 police members (as at 31 July 2019) made up of 79 senior sergeants, 228 sergeants, 839 co ...
's Ethnic Advisory Committee.


Election to parliament

Vatskalis left the Environmental Health Unit in 1999, taking up a position at Danila Dilba, 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 fam ...
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 terr ...
Clare Martin Clare Majella Martin (born 15 June 1952) is a former Australian journalist and politician. She was elected to the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly in a shock by-election win in 1995. She was appointed Opposition Leader in 1999, and won ...
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 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 The ''Northern Territory News'' (also known and branded as the ''NT News'') is a morning tabloid newspaper based in Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia. Owned by News Corp Australia, it is published every week from Monday to Saturday. It pri ...
'' 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 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 Nitmiluk National Park is in the Northern Territory of Australia, 244 km southeast of Darwin, and 23 km northeast of the town of Katherine, around a series of gorges on the Katherine River and Edith Falls. Previously named Katherine ...
, 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'' 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 Kakadu National Park is a protected area in the Northern Territory of Australia, southeast of Darwin. It is a World Heritage Site. Kakadu is also gazetted as a locality, covering the same area as the national park, with 313 people recorded li ...
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 Jane Lesley Aagaard (born 1956) is a former Australian politician. She was a Labor Party member of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly from 2001 to 2012, representing the Darwin-based electorate of Nightcliff. She was the Speaker ...
, 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 Katherine, also spelled Catherine, and other variations are feminine names. They are popular in Christian countries because of their derivation from the name of one of the first Christian saints, Catherine of Alexandria. In the early Chri ...
. 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 The Adelaide River is a river in the Northern Territory of Australia. Course and features The river rises in the Litchfield National Park and flows generally northwards to Clarence Strait, joined by eight tributaries including the west bran ...
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
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References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vatskalis, Kon 1957 births Living people Members of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly Australian Labor Party members of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly Mayors and Lord Mayors of Darwin Greek emigrants to Australia Curtin University alumni Murdoch University alumni 21st-century Australian politicians