Demetri Dollis – Former Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs, Greece

Born in Greece in 1956, migrated to Australia in 1971 with his family because of the military dictatorship that controlled Greece at that time. He studied at Monash and Melbourne Universities and received an Adjunct Professorship from La Trobe University. Before entering Parliament as the Member for Richmond in 1988 he worked in a number of political offices including those of the Deputy Prime Minister and the President of the Labor Party. He was elected Deputy Leader of the Victorian Parliamentary Party and served in a number of Shadow Cabinet positions. At the end of 1999 he returned to Greece with his family. From 1999 until the end of 2012 he served in a number of positions including as General Secretary in the Greek Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Senior Advisor to the Leader of the Opposition and Prime Minister, Ambassador at Large, Special Envoy, and Deputy Foreign Minister. He has negotiated the release of people held captive in the former Yugoslavia, Sudan, Afghanistan, Egypt and Libya. He has written extensively on Globalisation, Immigration and Ethnic Affairs, Foreign Policy and ideology. He is the recipient of a number of awards, and is married with two children.