Petro Georgiou
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Petro Georgiou (born 30 November 1947), Australian politician, has been a Liberal member of the Australian House of Representatives since November 1994, representing the Division of Kooyong, Victoria. He was born in Kerkyra, Greece, and was educated at Melbourne University.
Georgiou was a senior tutor in politics at La Trobe University 1970-73, Senior Adviser to Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser 1975-79, Secretary of the Ethnic Television Review Panel 1979-80, Director of the Australian Institute of Multicultural Affairs 1980-85, Senior Adviser to the Leader of the Opposition, Andrew Peacock, 1985, Director of the Victorian Liberal Policy Unit 1985-89 and State Director of the Victorian Liberal Party 1989-94.
In 2005, Georgiou was one of a small number of Liberal parliamentarians who led a revolt against the Howard government's policy of mandatory detention for asylum seekers. He began speaking out against the policy in June and began drafting a private member's bill aimed at softening the policy. On June 17, Howard announced a major shift in immigration policy in Australia, allowing families in detention with children to enter the community and ensuring long-term detainees would have their cases reviewed regularly. Georgiou was given a large amount of credit for helping change Howard's stance on immigration.