Philhellene-Australian Politician Retires from Politics

Mike Rann retired as Premier of South Australia after 9 1/2 years yesterday. He was the last of the Labor premiers to sit around the Council of Australian Governments table with prime minister John Howard, who faced wall-to-wall labor governments across Australia.

Greeks can never forget Rann’s support to their national issues such as: Cypriot Issue, Patriarchate Issue and Pontian Issue. Moreover, he contributed to the spreading of Greek language and culture and the return of Parthenon sculptures. For all these reasons he has been multiple honored by Greeks in Australia.

Rann was born in Sidcup, England, to working class parents. His father had served in World War II at El Alamein, while his mother was employed in an armaments factory. Most of Rann’s childhood was spent with his father, an electrician in South London. In 1962, when he was nine, his family emigrated from Blackfen to a rural village in New Zealand and shortly afterwards moved in South Australia where he decided to stay permanently.

He was involved in ecological movements, such as Greenpeace and he became very soon member of the Labor Party. Afterwards, he became the adviser to three South Australian Labor Premiers, including the late Don Dunstan.

In December 1989, he was elected to the Labor Cabinet under Premier John Bannon, as Minister for Employment and Further Education, Minister for Youth Affairs, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Minister Assisting in Ethnic Affairs.  Mr Rann became South Australia’s 44th Premier after the State election in March 2002 and was re-elected with an increased majority in March 2006.

Although in the Australian multicultural society the pursuit of a balance between people from different nationalities would be essential on behalf of a politician, Mike Rann talked always about Greek national issues. ” I am going to talk about Hellenism and no one can prevent me from doing this, because I strongly believe in this”, Rann stated.