>> Go Back - page - >> List of Entriess
migrants, very skilled artisans, left for other parts of Australia because they could not find work to suit their skills.
In the early 1950s, the post-war pearling industry was in its infancy and he assisted with the re-introduction of
Asian labour, including Japanese. Les recalled that the post-war migrants ‘changed the character of Darwin’, not
least by their economic input. One of his jobs was reporting on how the migrants were settling in, whether there
was any friction, and how many were employed on building projects. The contractor for the civic centre reported
that he had 70% migrants in his work force but ‘I wish it were 100%’.
On 7 January 1956, Les married Maria Haritos, daughter of E G Haritos. There were two daughters of the
marriage. Up to the time of his marriage Les spent a lot of time fishing and crocodile shooting with two men
whom he described as ‘the best in the business’, his brothers-in-law, Mick and Jack Haritos. With a couple of
others they would spend two or three nights a week in their boat and Les estimated that they probably caught
over 300 crocodiles in Darwin Harbour, one of which was a ‘14 footer’ shot in East Arm. His prize fishing catch
was a jewfish, which weighed 15 kilograms gutted and which he caught over the wreck of British Motorist.
Between 1946 and 1949, he played Australian Rules football with the Buffaloes and they retained his allegiance
and support until his death. In 1949, he was a foundation member of the Northern Territory Basketball Association
and president during the year the court was built at the corner of Daly Street and the Esplanade. The Association
is now called the Darwin Basketball Association and Les was its first life member.
Les Liveris served in Darwin until May 1965 when he was posted to Madrid, Spain, as Consul. This was a
diplomatic posting, the first for a Territorian, but a large part of his duties still concerned immigration matters.
Having become fluent in Spanish, he returned to Darwin in May 1968 and served as Regional Director of
Immigration until September 1980. These were very interesting years indeed, as apart from the changes involving
self government—and for three months Les was seconded to the Northern Territory government to write the
policy for the establishment of state type functions connected with immigration—the Vietnamese boat people
also began to arrive. The immigration officers were stretched to the limit. From the late 1970s, approximately
2 500 Vietnamese arrived in Darwin and on two occasions Les helped when Vietnamese boats reached West
Australia. Before the arrival of the Vietnamese, there had been an influx of refugees from Timor in 1975, although
the immigration work was made a little easier as the department had some advance knowledge of the numbers to
expect which was not the case with the majority of the Vietnamese boats.
As with most other residents Cyclone Tracy affected Les and his family in December 1974. Their home was
damaged and Marie and the girls were evacuated not to return for 14 months, ‘a very hard 14 months’ said Les.
For most of this time, he lived in a single room in a hostel but he was able to go south to see his family about
every three months and he also had several business trips to Canberra when he was also able to visit them. He was
offered a transfer to a southern office (of his choice) but declined to go and joined the emergency committee
of departmental heads set up soon after the cyclone. On his suggestion an information office was established,
immigration work being at a standstill, and with Les at the helm, assisted by Iro Melbye and Myra Skinner, the
office gave help to all who came for assistance. Many of the Commonwealth government’s records were sent south
at this stage but Les declined to do this and within six months of the cyclone the immigration office was working
as usual.
In December 1980, Les was posted as Counsellor to the Australian Embassy in Athens. It had previously
been Foreign Affairs policy that diplomatic appointees were not sent back to the country of their ancestors. At a
conference in Sydney, the Immigration departmental head said he would clear it with Foreign Affairs if Les and
his family were willing to go. The policy was changed and the family brushed up on their Greek. In April 1982,
he suffered a massive heart attack and returned to Australia in August and later had by-pass surgery. He then
retired having spent 46 years in distinguished public service, years that saw massive change in Australia. No doubt,
Les’ career paved the way for many of his compatriots both in and out of the Northern Territory.
In 1980, he received an Order of Australia Medal (OAM) for public service though Les claimed that the medal
properly belonged to the staff of his department whom he described as ‘most loyal hard working public servants
who were a dream to have as a gang working for you’. He received a Queen’s Silver Jubilee medal in 1978 and
held commissions as a notary public and for taking declarations.
In the early 1960s, Les was very involved with the Darwin Handicapped Persons’ Association, later called
Kokoda Industries. Between 1962 and 1965 and 1968 to 1970, he led a team that raised 25 000 Dollars for
construction of the Greek Hall in Cavenagh Street. In addition to working with migrants in his professional
capacity Les was actively involved with the Good Neighbour Council and the Migrant Resource Centre so that
he could see at firsthand how they settled into the Australian community. He assisted in the establishment of
these organisations following the Galbally report in 1978. The report also recommended the establishment of a
translators and interpreters service and Les was involved with its setting up. With the assistance of Robyn Turnbull
and Lyn Powierza, migrant education services were established for the first time in the Northern Territory. After
his retirement, he did a year of voluntary work and established the Greek Orthodox Community Welfare Office,
and trained two staff in the first year.
In late 1994 Les, Marie and daughter Kerry moved to Perth to be near their other daughter, Christine, who had
their first grandchild in January 1995. He died suddenly in Perth on 22 November 1995 and his body was returned
to Darwin for burial in the McMillans Road Cemetery, a service first having been held at the Greek Orthodox
Church. He was a highly respected man and the tributes poured in.
Family information; personal interviews, 26 August 1995, 10 September 1995.
HELEN J WILSON, Vol 3.