Friends of the Paragon cafe in Katoomba, New South Wales are calling on people to take action to save the iconic 102-year-old state heritage listed building from disrepair.
A planning panel approved a $360,000 repair and restoration development application in July 2020 but work has not yet started.
A petition has since been put forward by ‘Friends of the Paragon’ asking state government to protect the building under the Heritage Act and ensure the property is adequately maintained to keep it protected. So far, it has received over 2,000 signatures.
“The cafe has historical and cultural significance and holds special memories for the Greek community and the great many who have worked in it, visited it, or enjoyed its hospitality over the 102 years that it operated prior to closing in May 2018,” the petition states.
The Samios family taken in the Paragon Café in Dalby in 1936, epitomises the café phenomenon.
In 1975, the Paragon was listed by the National Trust in NSW and in 1977, it was placed on the Australian Heritage Commission’s Register of the National Estate.
Jack died in 1976, but Mary continued to manage the business for another 11 years. She passed away in 2001.
In 2003, the business and building were sold separately. In 2018, the business was closed and the building vacated following failed negotiations between the building and business owners.
The Greek Student Film Festival returns this year to offer once more to students the opportunity to use the Greek Language in creative and innovative ways, promotes group participation and confidence, and may even inspire a few filmmakers of the future.
The project in Sydney is presented by the Greek Festival of Sydney, the Greek Film Festival and the Greek Orthodox Community of New South Wales (GOCNSW).
Entries will be screened at Palace Norton Street, Leichhardt, during the last day of the 2023 Greek Film Festival on October 29.
The topic for this year’s competition is: “Mirror.” Students are encouraged to delve deep and explore what lies beyond the looking glass. What does the reflection reveal about oneself? What secrets lie within?
Submissions are open for the Greek Student Film Festival in Sydney.
Participants are encouraged to interpret the topic as creatively as they wish, and each short film should not exceed 5 minutes.
This year’s “signature item” which we would like to see included in each film will be an HOURGLASS. You can include the signature item any way you like, and it can form part of your main story or simply added in the background of a shot.
Short films can be submitted in any of the following genres but must use Greek as the main language.
Short Film Animation.
Short Film Documentary.
Short Fiction.
The competition will be divided into two categories, with three prizes (1st, 2nd, and 3rd) awarded in each category. As of this year, a new award will be included, the “Best short film – Audience Award.”
Primary School students.
Secondary School students.
Short films will be evaluated based on the following judging criteria:
Creativity.
Use of the Greek language.
Originality.
Production values, including picture and sound quality.
The deadline for submissions for the 11th Greek Student Film Festival is Wednesday, August 30, 2023.
Students and groups wishing to participate in this year’s competition are invited to express their interest by submitting the attached online form by Friday, August 18, 2023 to education@goc.com.au.
The Western Australia police are calling people to come forward with any vital information regarding the murder of John Tzellaidis who went missing in 1978 in the Pilbara region of Dampier.
Mr Tzellaidis was last seen alive at the Dampier Shopping Centre precinct leaving with an unidentified male and was found on 7 August 1978 with a gunshot wound to the head.
Police believe he was deceased for approximately one month when his body was discovered.
According to The West, Mr Tzellaidis’ unsolved case reward was increased from $250,000 and is among 64 open investigations with a $1 million reward for information which directly leads to an arrest and conviction.
Police Minister Paul Papalia. Photo: The West Australian.
“The financial incentive will hopefully ensure those responsible for these heinous crimes are brought to justice and assist grieving families in finding closure,” WA Police Minister Paul Papalia said in a statement.
“The State Government will continue to support the WA Police Force and give it the necessary tools to catch criminals.”
John Tzellaidis.Dampier, construction sites in the 1960’s and 1970’s. [John Tzellaidis site unknown].Photos: The West.
Details of John Tzellaidis’ cold case:
John Tzellaidis was born in Greece in December 1936 and had lived in Australia for about 14 years before he went missing.
A labourer by trade, Mr Tzellaidis lived at a construction camp in Dampier, a major industrial port near the city of Karratha. He moved out on Thursday, 29 June 1978.
On Tuesday, 4 July 1978, Mr Tzellaidis had left his employment and was paid out a total amount of $600, approximately $3,000 in today’s money, before driven to the Dampier Shopping Centre where he was last seen.
According to Crime Stoppers WA on the police investigation, Mr Tzellaidis was with an unidentified, male at the shopping centre.
Witnesses have described the unidentified person as “George the moneyman” with a thick Greek accent. The male is described as 42 to 45 years old, 165cm tall, thin to medium build with dark ‘scruffy’ hair, well dressed and confident.
Investigators believe Mr Tzellaidis and the unidentified male travelled from Dampier to Tom Price in a brown HR Holden utility vehicle to seek employment.
Mr Tzellaidis was not seen alive again after leaving the shopping centre.
Witnesses saw a brown Holden utility, much like the vehicle Mr Tzellaidis was in, heading along the Dampier/Tom Price access road. This road intersects the Dampier/Karratha Road, which is in close proximity to Seven Mile Creek.
The HR Holden utility vehicle police believe Mr Tzellaidis and the unidentified male travelled in from Dampier to Tom Price.
The next day on Wednesday, 5 July 1978, money was withdrawn from Mr Tzellaidis’ bank account in Port Hedland, which is approximately 260.1 km from Dampier.
A further two withdrawals were made, with one in Darwin in the Northern Territory on Thursday, 13 July 1978, and the second in Hughenden, a rural town in the Flinders Shire, Queensland, on Tuesday, 18 July 1978.
At the time Mr Tzellaidis was found, he was wearing dark blue trousers, an open neck T-shirt and a light blue zip front cardigan. There was no identification with his body and the only item that may have been of value was a well-worn white metal ring on the little finger of his left hand.
Close to where Mr Tzellaidis was located were a pair of desert boots.
The murder has remained unsolved and person or persons responsible for Mr Tzellaidis’ death have not yet been identified.
If you have any information about the death of John Tzellaidis or his movements around 4 July 1978, please contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or make an online report. Please remember that you can remain anonymous if you wish and rewards are offered.
A truck with no number plates deliberately dumped materials containing asbestos at a medical clinic driveway in Melbourne’s southeast on Saturday afternoon.
The three men in the truck were caught on CCTV video and can be seen checking the premises before dumping the toxic materials wrapped tightly in plastic on the driveway between medical centres.
Specialist GP Doctor Billy Stoupas, a practitioner at one of the medical centres where the asbestos was dumped, said in an interview with A Current Affair: “There’s three blokes that get out of the car, prepare it and then just dump a whole bunch of stuff in the middle of the driveway.”
“Little did we know at the time it was a truckload of asbestos,” Stoupas said.
The medical clinic was temporarily forced to close down and cancel 60 patients’ appointments due to the toxic waste.
Specialist GP Doctor Billy Stoupas shows CCTV capturing the moments of truck dumping toxic waste.
The local council was unable to help with the removal of the dumped materials on the private property, leaving a $2500 bill to the owner of the driveway.
Environment Protection Authority (EPA) Victoria CEO, Lee Miezis, said in the interview with A Current Affair: “It’s shocking and we will throw all our resources into catching these people.”
EPA Victoria said the fines for polluting are up to $800,000 for an individual and $4 million for a company.
Greek-born, Melbourne-raised, Ange Postecoglou, recently made history as Australia’s first ever coach to manage a Premier League club, and has hopes of ending Tottenham Hotspur’s long trophy drought with some tough decisions.
Mr Postecoglou is the new manager of Tottenham Hotspur FC in London, the United Kingdom, after signing a four-year contract in June this year.
“I will do things my way to achieve big success,” Postecoglou said in his first Spurs press conference in Enfield, north London, on Monday.
Ange Postecoglou at Spurs press conference in Enfield, north London, on Monday. Photo: beIN Sports.
“The more people buy into that the more we will get there quicker because when there is resistance it just slows down the whole process but what I will make clear is that it won’t change the process.”
The coach further added the process might “derail” a bit but hopes it will lead to lasting change that is promising.
The 57-year-old coach replaced Antonio Conte, who left Spurs on March 27. He was a longtime defender in 193 games for South Melbourne Hellas and played four games for the Australia national team in the late 1980s.
Australia and the European Union (EU) have again failed to reach an agreement on a free trade deal, according to the European Commission.
“We regret it was not possible to conclude our talks with Australia this week. We made progress but more work is required to address key outstanding issues,” a Commission representative said on Tuesday.
A sticking point in the trade talks is the EU’s objection to Australian food producers using terms such as feta and prosecco.
Names such as feta and prosecco are under scrutiny.
Australia’s trade minister, Don Farrell, said he was “confident” an agreement will come, but maintained that “Australia needs meaningful agricultural access to European markets.”
Minister Farrell said officials on both sides would continue negotiations and try to meet again in August.
The President of the United States, Joe Biden, will move forward with the transfer of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey in consultation with Congress, Ekathimerini has reported.
The news was confirmed by US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan on Tuesday ahead of a NATO Summit in Vilnius, Switzerland.
Mr Sullivan said Biden “had been clear that he supports the transfer.”
“He has placed no caveats on this… He intends to move forward with that transfer,” Mr Sullivan said, without giving any details on the timing.
US Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez.
This comes after the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez said on Monday that there was a temporary “lull” in Turkey’s “aggression against its neighbours,” and was is in talks with the Biden Administration about the hold he has on future US sales of F-16 fighter jets to Ankara.
Menendez said that while he still has concerns about Turkey, he could make a decision within the next week about the status of that hold.
Turkey requested in October 2021 to buy from the US $20 billion of Lockheed Martin Corp F-16 fighter jets and nearly 80 modernisation kits for its existing warplanes.
The sale has been the topic of heated debate within Greece and the US ever since.
Some members of Australia’s Greek community have raised concerns around the necessity of a ‘Certificate of death and funeral service’ being issued by the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia (GOAA).
According to an encyclical issued by the GOAA and seen by The Greek Herald, the certificate was first introduced on July 1, 2022, after Archbishop Makarios of Australia and bishops under him unanimously decided:
“To issue, after each funeral service, a funeral certificate, at the request of many of our faithful, for cases relating to inheritance for which there must be proof of identity (especially, when the name has changed for the Australian state).”
To date this encyclical has not been publicly announced by the GOAA despite its active website and social media presence. Churches and funeral homes were informed and are now responsible for explaining the certificate to the Greek Orthodox community.
Archbishop Makarios of Australia and bishops under him unanimously decided “to issue, after each funeral service, a funeral certificate, at the request of many of our faithful.”
The certificate costs $250 and is additional to the $650 now required for a funeral service to be conducted at a local Greek Orthodox church.
It is issued by the priest after the burial of a loved one to confirm the death, funeral and burial of an Orthodox Christian, and enters their name in the death register of the GOAA.
Use of the certificate:
Probate solicitors in Australia and Greece told The Greek Herald the GOAA’s ‘Certificate of death and funeral service’ is not an officially recognised document to prove identity for inheritance.
The ‘Certificate of death and funeral service’ issued by the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia.
The certificate is not recognised by Greek Consulates around Australia, as they require a death certificate from Australian state authorities to register the death of an individual with Greek citizenship.
This has raised concerns for some members of Australia’s Greek community, who have questioned why they need to pay $250 for a certificate which is not officially recognised in Australia nor Greece.
Others have asked what happens to those Greek Orthodox people who died prior to the introduction of the certificate on July 1, 2022, and whether they will also be recognised by the GOAA. Currently, the Archdiocese does not hold any formal records of Greek Orthodox deaths prior to that date.
Louise Mileto, a primary school teacher from Sydney, recently managed funerals costs for her late father. In an interview with The Greek Herald, Louise said she was confused when she saw the certificate added to funeral costs.
“I was shocked. I’m like, ‘Why? What is this?’” Louise said. “What’s that going to do for me?”
A source from the funeral home industry in Australia, who conducts numerous Greek Orthodox funerals, said many families share Louise’s sentiment.
“All of our families have that sideways look like, ‘What’s this all about?’ and I don’t blame them,” the source said.
‘I feel robbed’:
A further concern raised by members of the Greek community is the price of the certificate itself. In some cases, the $250 is five times the amount compared to a government-issued death certificate in Australia and Greece.
A Greek death certificate is similarly inexpensive, costing 30 euros which is roughly $49.10 AUD.
A comparison of costs of death certificates.
There is also no other religious group in Australia which charges families for a ‘Certificate of death and funeral service,’ with the United Church of Australia, the Catholic and Anglican churches all relying on state government death certificates.
Louise said she “feels robbed” and the GOAA’s certificate was unjustified and unfair.
“All these families who can’t afford everyday groceries for their families, now can’t even afford to bury their loved ones,” she said.
Funeral home directors explained how in instances where families have questioned the certificate, they have been directed to refer them to their local parish priest. In most of these cases, the price of the certificate has been waived.
According to the 2021 census by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, there are currently 390,961 Greek Orthodox faithful in Australia.
Based off this official government data, the GOAA is estimated to earn approximately $1.2 million in revenue from the certificate in a period of 15 months. This figure could be higher as the data from the report only included deaths of Greek Orthodox people from two government datasets.
“Well, there’s only one explanation for it – to build revenue,” a funeral director said.
Louise said she wanted to speak out against the certificate because people “don’t have a voice.”
“How they are going about with everything, in general, is turning the younger generation away from the church,” she concluded.
*The Greek Herald has contacted the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia for comment on these community concerns. At the time of publication, there had been no response.
The senior dancing group of the Cretan Association of Sydney & New South Wales made a lasting impression on the Greek island of Crete this month.
The dancing group, along with their teacher Paul Spanoudakis and Cretan Association President Emmanuel Vitetzakis, were on Crete from June 30 to July 7 as part of a special trip.
During the week, the Cretan youth drew large crowds at iconic spots on the island as they performed traditional Cretan dances in their new ‘stoles’ (dancing costumes).
Local band Viglatores Chania organised for the dancing group to perform at the Old Harbour in Chania, at Anogia Rethymno, Elafonissi, and Seita Limani, as well as during numerous panigiria, music shows and even a traditional strata.
Mr Spanoudakis wrote on Facebook that he was incredibly proud of his students.
“I know how much effort they put in each and every week and it definitely showed in each of their performances in Crete as they mesmerised all that watched,” he wrote.
The group has now joined the Cretan Federation of Australia and New Zealand on a 14 day tour of Athens and Crete.
So far on their tour, the youth have travelled to Salamina – one of Greece’s largest naval bases – and enjoyed a concert by Greek singer, Konstantinos Argiros.
In Athens, they have also had a private tour of the Hellenic Presidential Palace, where they met with Greece’s President Katerina Sakellaropoulou.
Later, the group visited the Hellenic Presidential Guard Evzones headquarters, followed by a visit to the Acropolis Museum, the Parthenon and Panathinaiko Stadium.
Greek Australian, Theo Loizou, is one of four chefs who will go head-to-head during this weeks final of MasterChef Australia: Secrets and Surprises on Channel 10.
With $250,000 on the horizon for the winner of the cooking show, Theo’s eyes are on the prize.
“Top four doesn’t seem as important—my eyes are on winning now,” Theo revealed in an interview with TV WEEK.
The 37-year-old said he owes his motivation to French partner, Laure. The pair met in France and recently relocated back to Melbourne.
“The hardest part of MasterChef was leaving Laure alone after just arriving in the country,” Theo said.
“She’s been my number-one supporter, so I feel guilty and am forever in her debt.”
Theo also gives appreciation to his parents who migrated to Australia – his mum from Greece and dad from Cyprus – and worked hard to give him and his sister a great life.
The baker cherishes fond childhood memories when his dad would bring home a loaf of freshly baked bread by his yiayia. The love for experimenting in the kitchen started young for Theo, where he learned cooking from his parents and grandparents.
Leaving behind his trade as an electrician to pursue a culinary career, Theo moved from Australia to France to follow his dream of baking bread in 2019, where he worked in a Parisienne boulangerie.
With plans to stay in France for a short six months, meeting his now-partner extended his stay for three years before the pair returned to Australia.
