As many of you may now be aware, Gaetano passed away in Olivia Newton John Cancer Wellness and Research Centre on Saturday morning, 26 April 2025.

Gaetano Greco was a great local champion. Perhaps he had played golf on one or two occasions in his lifetime but that did not impact the clarity of his understanding that the fight to save the Northcote Public Golf Course was a genuine local, social-justice issue. He valued the importance of community sport and especially had a heart for people who are disadvantaged to have access to public facilities for the sports and pastimes they love.

It’s appropriate that on the evening of 25 July 2022 when Council voted 5 to 4 to keep the Northcote Public Golf Course open, as a nine-hole facility, seven days a week, in daylight hours, it was Gaetano who tabled the petition of our friends at ‘Save the Northcote Public Golf Course.’ In the lead up to that night, the petition had been closing in on matching and then exceeding the number of signatures of a petition made by the folk who characterised themselves as our opponents. We got our noses in front with just hours to go.

You can see Gaetano tabling the petition here https://youtu.be/N4XWEaLItP4?t=4249

Gaetano helped us to expand our vision and see the full possibility of what ‘shared use’ might look like. This group started with a simple one page note you might have received in your letterbox when we ran by the name, We Play Golf at Northcote. Through messages from people who contacted us, we saw that we had other allies who might not actually play golf but wanted to support golf continuing and sharing in a larger vision. When we developed the concept of the Northcote Community and Golf HUB, Gaetano was excited.

The community debate didn’t have to be either/or… Golf or NO Golf.

It could be Golf AND!

With Gaetano’s support, we expanded our vision to see that the Northcote Public Golf Course could be for Golf AND protecting the unique environment there AND a shared pathway AND respectful consultation with the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung AND local first nations people and groups (many of whom played their first game of golf at Northcote) AND the diverse community who make the inner north so vibrant (the first ‘Rainbow Cup’ golf competition was proudly held at NPGC) AND prudently, for rate-payers who came to see that a well-run and profitable golf course would be cash positive and therefore support other projects in the municipality.

Gaetano was passionate about having an improved Reservoir Pool and he saw that the golf course sending revenue back to the rate-payers could make a 50 metre pool at Reservoir more possible.

We acknowledge our friends who also worked with Gaetano to save the Preston Market. Gaetano encouraged us to be in touch with each other. He once remarked that in all his years as a Councillor, he had never seen such effective local grassroots campaigns as the Save Preston Market and the Northcote Community and Golf HUB efforts.

Vitally though, Gaetano was a linchpin in all of this. He was a tireless worker. Often we would meet with him at the market after he had finished a stint behind his card table handing out information to shoppers about the critical issue of saving what became known as ‘the heart of Preston.’

On a personal note, it was an honour to hand out how-to-vote cards for him on the 2022 State Election Day. The euphoria felt in the after-party at the Preston-Reservoir Bowls club was palpable especially when Gaetano got a mention from Antony Green on the ABC’s election broadcast!

He pushed Labor from a 20+% majority to a wafer thin margin for the Seat of Preston. He ended up just a few hundred votes from winning the seat. The real legacy though was that the State Government realised how precious the Preston Market was to us locals. Not long after, the market received vital ‘State Heritage Significance’ (above ‘local’ heritage status). Planning permissions by the Minister carefully ensured that the owner would be required to keep the market open when there are renovations in the future.

Gaetano’s will and capacity to bring people with him meant that the Preston Market and the Northcote Public Golf Course are both now thriving compared to the times when they were under threat.

Above all else, Gaetano Greco was a great human being. In all our dealings with him as a group, he never told us a lie. He was prepared to deliver the hard truth if required and always respectfully and forthrightly disagreed if he needed to. We always knew where we stood. It is remarkable to consider that Gaetano was an astute politician who operated out of the highest integrity. That’s a rare combination in these times.

He never forgot his roots as a young migrant attending Northcote High School, living then in one of the poorer parts of Melbourne. His motivation has always been for those on the margins, locally and globally.

Gaetano also enjoyed a good time, a yummy hot chocolate or a glass of red. Gaetano’s Italian heritage meant he had hospitality in his sinews. He was a generous host when there were times to celebrate!

We are so sad to have lost a true friend and staunch ally in Gaetano. Our hearts go out to Susana and all of Gaetano’s family.

It is up to us to honour Gaetano’s legacy by living our own values with energy and integrity.

Vale, Gaetano Greco.

Bill Jennings on behalf of the Northcote Community and Golf HUB.