Yanis Varoufakis, the maverick Greek intellectual appointed to one of the world's toughest economic posts, says the 12 years he lived and worked in Sydney left an "indelible impression" on him.
Varoufakis was sworn in as the finance minister in Greece's new left-wing, anti-austerity government this week. He takes on responsibility for an economy in deep crisis and will spearhead high-stakes negotiations with his nation's creditors amid fears that Greece could be forced out of the eurozone.
It's a far cry from the post teaching economics at Sydney University he took up in 1988 aged 27. His daughter still lives in Australia and Varoufakis, a duel Greek-Australian citizen, visits at least twice a year.
When I asked him how living in Australia helped shape his intellectual journey, Varoufakis reeled off half a dozen political and economic themes including the Hawke-Keating Accord, the "diminution of the stature" of trades unions, the rise of One Nation (which "infected" the major parties with xenophobia) and the "conservative turn" of Australian society in the mid-1990s – largely due to the 1991 recession.
"All these had an effect on my perspective," he said.
So are there lessons from Australia that will shape Varoufakis' approach as finance minister?
"Great successes and terrible failures are always rich sources of insights," he said. "Neal Blewett's Medicare and his handling of the AIDS crisis was an inspiration. The grand failure of Paul Keating to push Australia out of a certain parochialism, and the breakdown of the legitimacy of the major political parties within Australian society, are failures that one must draw upon."
After shifting from Sydney to the University of Athens, Varoufakis became a high-profile critic of policy responses to the European debt crisis.
Earlier this month he described the bailouts for struggling eurozone countries as "fiscal waterboarding" that threatened to turn Europe into "a form of Victorian workhouse".
Varoufakis believes Greece should never have joined the euro in 2001 but thinks it's now too late to exit.
"The last line in Hotel California explains where we are: you can check out any time, but you can never leave," he told Bloomberg in May 2012.
Varoufakis has spent much of his career debunking the basic tenets of orthodox economics and there are signs his transition from the high-minded world of academia to politics could be bumpy.
"My greatest fear, now that I have tossed my hat in the ring, is that I may turn into a politician," he wrote in a blog this month.
"As an antidote to that virus I intend to write my resignation letter and keep it in my inside pocket, ready to submit it the moment I sense signs of losing the commitment to speak truth to power."
Professor Frank Stilwell, who taught alongside Varoufakis at Sydney University, said he is a "steely character" able to demolish economic positions he has no taste for.
"Yanis is first and foremost a critical intellectual, always applying his intellect to economic theory," said Stilwell.
"That's why it's so interesting he's now in the hot seat of practical political economy."
At Sydney University Varoufakis taught economic game theory, which explores strategic interactions between individuals. He later became "economist-in-residence" at the American video gaming company, Valve Corporation, and advised the firm on the "social economies" that developed among multi-player games.
Varoufakis' expertise in game theory may come in handy as he negotiates with Greece's powerful creditors.
But his first priority is tackling the "humanitarian crisis" caused by Greece's sharp economic contraction and soaring jobless rate. Varoufakis has started with a symbolic flourish. One of his first ministerial acts was to reinstate hundreds of Ministry of Finance cleaners who had been sacked in 2013. He was cheered by a crowd of cleaning ladies when he arrived for his first day in at the office.
