Andrew Theophanous | |
|---|---|
| Member of theAustralian Parliament forCalwell | |
| In office 1 December 1984 – 10 November 2001 | |
| Preceded by | New seat |
| Succeeded by | Maria Vamvakinou |
| Member of theAustralian Parliament forBurke | |
| In office 18 October 1980 – 1 December 1984 | |
| Preceded by | Keith Johnson |
| Succeeded by | Neil O'Keefe |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Andrew Charles Theophanous (1946-03-24)24 March 1946 (age 79) |
| Party | Labor (1980–2000) Independent (2000–2001) |
| Spouse | Kathryn Eriksson |
| Alma mater | Monash University University of Oxford University of Melbourne |
| Occupation | Lecturer |
Andrew Charles Theophanous (born 24 March 1946) is aCypriot-born Australian former politician. He was anAustralian Labor Party member of theHouse of Representatives from 1980 to 2000, and an independent member from 2000 to 2001. He is the author of three books and numerous articles on political theory and philosophy, especially in the areas of multiculturalism and social justice.
He spent 21 months in jail for one charge of bribery of $2000, two charges relating to misuse of his position over one visa application, and another immigration matter. Theophanous pleaded not guilty to all charges but was convicted. Despite those convictions, he has consistently maintained his innocence, while procedural errors in his trial were later found.
He later made a Petition of Mercy application seeking a retrial on the three convictions. To date, his efforts to quash his prior convictions have been unsuccessful. He is related to many other prominent Australian politicians from Victoria.
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Theophanous was born inPolis Chrysochous,Cyprus, on 24 March 1946, to aGreek Cypriot father and aGreek mother, a refugee who had fled Nazi occupied Greece. He migrated to Australia at the age of eight, with his mother, brotherTheo Theophanous and sister; his father had arrived three years earlier. He grew up inBroadmeadows inMelbourne, enteredMonash University and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts with First Class Honours. He gained a B.Litt. fromUniversity of Oxford and a Ph.D. in philosophy fromUniversity of Melbourne. In 1980, his first bookAustralian Democracy in Crisis: a radical approach to Australian politics was published by Oxford University Press. He became a lecturer in politics at Melbourne State College and later in social theory at Melbourne University. He also lectured at theUniversity of Nevada, USA, and as Senior Teaching Fellow at Monash University.
Theophanous was first elected as the Labor member for theMelbourne electorate ofBurke in1980.[1] He switched to the new safe Labor electorate ofCalwell in1984.[2][3] Theophanous was heavily interested in immigration matters, and from 1989 to 1993, was Chairman of the Joint Standing Committee on Migration. In this capacity, Theophanous' committee produced a number of reports on immigration policy. In one of these reports, 'Australia's Refugee and Humanitarian System: Achieving a Balance between Refuge and Control (1992)', Theophanous strongly supported granting permanent residence to 45,000 Chinese students and their dependents, who had been in Australia at the time of the1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre in China. This view was later adopted by the Keating Government in November 1993.[citation needed]
In March 1993, Theophanous was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Community Services and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Health. In December 1993, he was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Human Services. Also, in December 1993, he was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to Prime MinisterPaul Keating, who had enjoyed his support in two caucus leadership ballots, which made him unusual in the Left grouping, who mostly supportedBob Hawke. As Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister, his main role was the promotion of the Access and Equity program within the Federal government departments.[citation needed]
Theophanous also wrote two more books: "Understanding Social Justice: an Australian perspective" (1994); and "Understanding Multiculturalism and Australian Identity" (1995). Both books were officially launched by Prime Minister Keating and were used in a number of academic courses.
During 1999, a convicted heroin dealer working as an informant for theNational Crime Authority (NCA) alleged that Theophanous was involved in migration fraud, and in July 1999 the NCA launched an investigation, codenamed Operation Legume. The major charge arising out of this was that Theophanous was involved in a conspiracy with the NCA informant to defraud the Commonwealth by making false representations in relation to attempting to bring the NCA's informant's Chinese girlfriend to Australia unlawfully. He was also charged in 2000 with taking an unlawful inducement and soliciting an unlawful inducement.
Theophanous resigned from the Labor Party on 18 April 2000. His brother,Theo, condemned the resignation, calling it "an action taken by him with which I strongly disagree. I do not believe his actions are an appropriate response".[4] At this time, Andrew Theophanous announced that he would serve out his term as an independent. During this period as an independent, he initiated a number of parliamentary motions on immigration, refugees, multicultural affairs and human rights. He recontested the seat as an independent candidate at the2001 election. He polled 9.6% of the vote, with the support of the Unity Party, but the seat was won by the new Labor candidate and former staffer,Maria Vamvakinou.[5]
Theophanous was jailed in May 2002 and sentenced to six years in prison with a minimum of 3.5 years. However, he served only 21 months, and was released in February 2004. His barrister, Stephen Shirrefs SC, successfully appealed the conviction for conspiracy to defraud which resulted in theSupreme Court of Victoria quashing this major charge.[6][7]
TheCommonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions (CDPP) then began a process of reinstituting the conspiracy charge. The pre-trial commenced in early 2006 and continued for three months. In her ruling of July 2006, in theCounty Court of Victoria, Judge Jeanette Morrish dismissed and permanently stayed the conspiracy charge. She said that Theophanous should not be retried on the charge to defraud the Commonwealth because the formerNational Crime Authority had withheld evidence crucial to his original case and subsequent appeal. She also said 'the conduct of NCA officers who withheld documents for seven and a half years and despite 20 subpoenas was "grossly inadequate" and ... That conduct seriously calls into question the integrity of all previous proceedings'.[8] The CDPP did not appeal the ruling.
As a result of the findings of Judge Morrish, Theophanous applied to the Commonwealth Attorney-General for the Governor-General to grant a retrial on the three remaining convictions under theRoyal prerogative of mercy process. The FOI process secured additional information being held by the successor of the NCA, theAustralian Criminal Intelligence Commission, which had not been secured before the Trial, in spite of the subpoenas issued at the time. As of 2021 a decision from the Federal Government on the prerogative of mercy has not been made.
Theophanous is married to Dr. Kathryn Eriksson, an archaeologist and high school teacher. In November 2005, she was elected as aBrimbank Horseshoe Bend Ward Councillor.[citation needed] Theophanous' brotherTheo Theophanous is a former state Labor politician and minister.[9] Theo's daughter and Andrew's nieceKat Theophanous is also a state Labor politician and is the member forNorthcote since 2018.[10]
| Parliament of Australia | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member forBurke 1980–1984 | Succeeded by |
| New division | Member forCalwell 1984–2001 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
