Former federal minister Nick Bolkus, who played “a significant part in shaping modern multicultural Australia”, has died aged 75.
In a statement on social media on Thursday, the South Australia premier, Peter Malinauskas, announced the “long-time Labor stalwart” had “passed away peacefully this morning”.
“Nick was deeply respected across the political divide,” said Malinauskas of Bolkus, who was elected as a senator for South Australia in 1980 and served as a minister in the Hawke and Keating governments before retiring in 2005.
“He was a formidable intellect, a tireless advocate for the Labor Party, and a generous mentor to many. He was much loved by his family, colleagues and friends.”
In a statement posted to Instagram, the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, said Labor “mourns one of our great sons”.
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“Nick Bolkus came to public life as a young man, with a young man’s idealism and sense of urgency, and he held true to those principles and that sense of purpose right through his long and distinguished career.”
Bolkus, who Albanese said was the first Greek Australian to serve as a cabinet minister, was born in Adelaide on 17 July 1950.
Malinauskas said Bolkus had entered politics at a “remarkably young age” hand-delivering letters to everyone enrolled as Greek in the electorate during former premier Don Dunstan’s campaign in Norwood in 1966.
He was one of South Australia’s longest-serving members in the upper house, and was first appointed as a minister under former prime minister Bob Hawke in 1988.
After the re-election of the Keating government in 1993, he was appointed minister for immigration and ethnic affairs and minister assisting the prime minister for multicultural affairs, positions he held until Labor’s loss in the 1996 election.
Malinauskas said Bolkus played “a significant part in shaping modern multicultural Australia”. He said Bolkus was “particularly proud” of his role in allowing tens of thousands of Chinese citizens to remain in Australia after the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests.
He is survived by his wife, Mary, daughters Aria and Mikayla and son Nick. His daughter Aria is the Labor candidate for Colton at the 2026 South Australian election.
