Due to COVID-19 restrictions, this is the first time in three years the event has been held.
In attendance at the event were the Victorian Minister for Multiculturalism, Colin Brooks MP, and the Federal Minister for Immigration, Andrew Giles MP. They spoke of the need to work with the Chinese community.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese also attended and announced to the public that this year, being the Year of the Rabbit, was of great relevance to him given he also was born in the Year of the Rabbit.
Language, dance, music and humour was all part of the opening ceremony.
“Celebrating and supporting these events is not only a vital learning experience for all of us but equally these events richly enhance our cosmopolitan community,” Mr Papastergiadis said in a statement.
“They remind us of the need to continue to respect diversity and in this conversation it’s heartening to see the continued presence of the Victorian Multicultural Commission.”
Applications for Multicultural Affairs’ Celebrate Together Grants for 2023 – 2024 are now open giving the opportunity to multicultural organisations to host festivals and events in South Australia.
Through a $1 million funding program, the Malinauskas government is committed to supporting multicultural communities share their cultures, customs and traditions with all South Australians.
There are two categories of grants under the Celebrate Together Grants:
Large Grants from $5,001 to $30,000 are available for festivals and events that can be delivered within 12 months, commencing in July 2023.
Small Grants (Round 1) of up to $5,000 are available for festivals and events to be held between 1 July 2023 and 31 December 2023.
Multicultural Affairs (DPC) will accept one application for each round of the Celebrate Together Grants per organisation per year.
Organisations with regional offices can submit one application per regional office.
Key multicultural service providers, who have a direct responsibility working with culturally and linguistically diverse communities, can apply up to two times per round, as a lead agency in partnership with one or more multicultural community organisations.
The Celebrate Together Grants invests in multicultural organisations to achieve one or more of the following outcomes:
increase understanding of the culturally diverse community in which we live
celebrate and showcase the culture and customs of South Australia’s diverse multicultural communities with the wider community,
build a visible profile to highlight the unique cultural brand of South Australia,
support new and emerging communities to increase their skills and experience through delivering events,
foster partnerships (financial or non-financial) between culturally diverse communities and other sectors through shared hosting of festivals and events.
To be eligible for funding, multicultural organisations must:
be non-government, not-for-profit and incorporated under the Associations Incorporation Act 1985, or
an Australian Public Company Limited by Guarantee under the Corporations Act 2001, or
a Statutory Authority established through an Act, or
registered with the Australian Charities and Not-for-Profit Commission with a comparable legal status,
have a registered Australian Business Number (ABN),
provide satisfactory evidence that their core purpose is to deliver initiatives, services or support for culturally and linguistically diverse communities in South Australia,
be South Australian based.
Funding can be used for eligible expenses that directly relate to the coordination, management and delivery of the festival or event.
The following can be funded:
Venue hire (hall hire fees)
Equipment hire (lighting/ sound/audio visual equipment hire or catering equipment hire)
Staging hire
marquee / stall / table / chair hire
traditional costumes for performances
security guards
event advertising and marketing such as flyers, booklets and posters
framed certificates and trophies for presentations
cleaning materials
Online application forms and guidelines are available at www.multicultural.sa.gov.au. Applications close on March 31st, 2023, at 11pm.
A number of new appointments to the South Australian judiciary to fill a series of vacancies were announced on Thursday.
District Court Judge Julie McIntyre is being elevated to the Supreme Court, ahead of the retirement of Justice Kevin Nicholson.
Magistrates Nick Alexandrides and Michelle Sutcliffe will be appointed to the District Court to fill both Judge McIntyre’s vacancy and the vacancy created by the imminent retirement of Judge Paul Cuthbertson.
“Judge McIntyre, Magistrate Alexandrides and Magistrate Sutcliffe have all served with distinction in their time with the District and Magistrates Court respectively, and I’m sure their fine work will continue in their new roles,” Attorney-General, Kyam Maher, said in a statement.
Attorney-General Kyam Maher. Photo: Kelly Barnes/AAP
In addition, Kristopher Handshin KC has also been appointed to the District Court to fill a vacancy created with the elevation last year of Justice Kimber from the District to the Supreme Court.
Michael Barnett and Joanna Martin have been appointed to the Magistrates Court and in a historic South Australian first, Lana Chester and Natalie Browne become the first Aboriginal magistrates in history with their appointment to the judiciary.
Mr Maher said this is an exciting moment in South Australia’s state history with Ms Chester and Ms Browne taking on their appointments as the first Aboriginal magistrates in history.
“Both are exceptionally qualified, experienced appointees with a wealth of knowledge and experience that I’m sure will serve them well during their time in the Magistrates Court,” he added.
Judge McIntyre commences with the Supreme Court next week; while Judges Alexandrides, Sutcliffe and Handshin will take up their new roles throughout February; as will Magistrates Martin and Barnett.
“It is great to see the elevation of some exceptional judicial officers while simultaneously welcoming some new minds to the judiciary,” Mr Maher said.
Greece’s Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has told members of his cabinet on Thursday that the main opposition party has returned to “the streets, populism and unbridled lies.”
“This unacceptable decision of not participating in parliamentary votes essentially declares the SYRIZA’s accession to the politics of the street,” the Greek Prime Minister said.
“It is a return to the populism of slogans and rampant lies, instead of rationality and arguments. The country does not want to relive these disastrous experiences under any circumstances.”
Mitsotakis emphasised the importance of replying to such extreme behaviour by focusing on New Democracy’s policy platform and not following SYRIZA in its downhill slide.
The 29-year-old’s funeral service was held at the Profitis Ilias Church while he was laid to rest at the Agios Ioannis Pikerniou cemetery later that day.
The Lieutenant’s family.
The coffin was draped with the Greek flag and an Air Force contingent was outside the church. After the service, attendants shouted “Immortal!” as the coffin was transferred for burial to the cemetery.
The service was attended by Greece’s President Katerina Sakellaropoulou, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and the head of the main opposition Alexis Tsipras, as well as the leadership of the Armed Forces.
(L-R): Opposition leader Alexis Tsipras, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, and President Katerina Sakellaropoulou. Photo: Vasilis Papadopoulos/ EUROKINISSI.
After the burial was completed, an Air Force salute fired shots into the air followed by the playing of the National Anthem.
Sakellaropoulou laid a wreath at the grave, while the head of the General Assembly handed over the sword and the flag.
When The Greek Herald first spoke to Chris Minns MP in November 2021, he had just completed five months as the NSW Labor Leader. At the time, the Member for Kogarah hit the ground running, working with multicultural communities and small businesses across western and south-western Sydney to help them navigate life after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Flashforward to 2023 – a state election year – and Mr Minns has his party within reach of forming a Labor government in NSW after 12 long years in opposition. That is, according to a recent Resolve Strategic poll which shows Labor ahead of the NSW Liberals with a primary vote of 37 percent.
But despite these results pointing to a victory for Mr Minns at the state election on March 25 this year, he doesn’t plan on becoming complacent.
In fact, as The Greek Herald sat down with the NSW Labor Leader for a second time, he said he will continue to actively re-engage with the state’s Greek community.
Chris Minns pictured here in 2021 with Greek Australian Members of Parliament. (L-R) Steve Kamper MP, Courtney Houssos MP, Chris Minns MP and Sophie Cotsis MP. Photo copyright: The Greek Herald / Andriana Simos.
“I don’t see all Greek voters voting the same way,” Mr Minns told The Greek Herald seriously.
“Obviously it’s a big, diverse, sophisticated group. Greek Australians make up nearly every senior position of politics, the law, government and business.
“Our approach to getting that community on side would really have to be comprehensive and I think that if you look at our plans to grow the economy, to invest in frontline public services – that’s our pitch to Greek Australians right across NSW.”
Mr Minns has consistently stuck to a deliberately narrow platform focused on public services, in particular health and education, as well as cost of living relief. This focus on soaring living costs comes as no surprise. Resolve Strategic research found 93 percent of voters listed rising prices for fresh food and groceries as their top concern ahead of the election.
As the son of a teacher, I won't just be a Premier that talks up our schools and teachers, I'll act.
Investing $400 million in an Education Future Fund – that will get more resources into schools.
Apart from these priorities, the NSW Labor Leader said he’s also focused on ambitious policies such as a ban on privatisation, and scrapping the controversial public sector wages bill.
“We really fear privatisation of government utilities, particularly monopoly assets, has meant higher prices for NSW families, so we want to stop privatisation in the state,” Mr Minns said.
“Secondly, we believe we can build transport infrastructure right here in NSW and that means bringing back domestic manufacturing.
“We’ve got an ageing population. We need the kind of healthcare that’s required in the state and I’m worried the government is not focused on it enough and doesn’t have a plan to fix it.”
When we asked Mr Minns what his own plan is to tackle these important issues, he said there is “no silver bullet” solution but points to a number of election promises made recently by NSW Labor. These include a $400 million ‘Education Future Fund’ to end the “underfunding of public schools,” upgrades to Canterbury, Fairfield, Mount Druitt and Blacktown Hospitals, as well as the establishment of a multicultural domestic and family violence centre.
We’ll create a multicultural domestic violence support centre – the first in NSW.
Speaking of this multicultural centre, Mr Minns said he will work with independent multicultural media to ensure vital election announcements get to the communities and individuals who need to know about them.
“We really relied in particular on independent multicultural media to get the message out to communities across western and south-western Sydney around vaccinations and restrictions that were in place to keep people safe during COVID-19,” the politician explained.
“It was a reminder of how important those communication pathways are… so I want to work closely with those outlets.”
With that being said, Mr Minns stressed he wanted to send a special message to the Greek Australian community via The Greek Herald.
“Being the Member for Kogarah and growing up in the St George community, I have been in and around Greek culture my entire life… and in a small way, I think that thousands of years of the values of democracy, philosophy and cultural relics, have imprinted themselves on the Australian community – which I’m deeply grateful for,” Mr Minns said.
“So thank you for the richness of [Greek] culture that you have brought to Australia. The imprint you have left on the Australian landscape is incalculable.”
Both the tantalising scent of Greek food and the sound of live Greek music will filter across Sydney’s Darling Harbour on Sunday, February 19 from 10am with the return of the annual Greek Fest.
Greek Fest Darling Harbour is set to return to Tumbalong Park with a bang, as thousands of people are expected to turn up and enjoy the proud display of Greek culture.
The annual festival is organised by The Greek Festival of Sydney and the Greek Orthodox Community of New South Wales (GOCNSW).
On the day, attendees will have access to free local and international music talents, food and drinks, as well as a number of market stalls selling homemade products such as jewellery and candles.
Traditional Greek dancing performances from local dancing groups will be showcased.
The Chair of the Greek Festival of Sydney, Nia Kateris, welcomed Protopsaltis’ visit and said her concert on the day is not to be missed.
“Her last visit to Australia was in 2002 and we are excited to have her back on our shores and part of the Greek Fest Darling Harbour,” Ms Kateris said.
Greek Fest Darling Harbour is one of three major events being held by the Greek Festival of Sydney this year to celebrate their 40th anniversary.
Greece opened its first-ever pharmaceutical cannabis production plant in the Greek town of Examilia near Corinth on January 26 this year.
According to AMNA, Greek Development and Investments Minister, Adonis Georgiadis, welcomed the inauguration of the cannabis production plant as “a historic day.”
He said that although cannabis has “a difficult history due to its nature as a narcotic,” the new production plant will greatly benefit Greek patients.
Greek officials inaugurating Greece’s first ever cannabis plant.
The medicinal cannabis production plant, invested by Tikun Europe – a subsidiary of Israel Tikun Olam, is worth 40 million euros and is in a privately owned area of six hectares.
It includes modern hybrid greenhouses and can produce medicinal cannabis in multiple pharmaceutical forms.
At the age of 96, Esther ‘Naki’ Matathia Bega has recounted her harrowing story about being a Jew in Greece and how after being caught by the Nazis she faced a 14-month fight for survival at the Auschwitz II-Birkenau and Bergen-Belsen concentration camps, as well as the long march to liberation across Germany.
On March 1944, the Germans started rounding up the Jews where she had been living with her brother’s father in Volos near Trikala, Greece.
“They dragged us to the square, packed us into cars and took us to Larissa… Then the Germans put us in the train cars, with one tiny window and box where we did our business, and 13 days later, we arrived at the camp,” Esther said in her interview.
Bega was taken to Auschwitz II-Birkenau camp. She detailed the horrific scenes and tormenting smells she endured at the time.
Esther ‘Naki’ Matathia Bega shows the tattoo of her number, 77092. Photo: Ekathimerini
“When anyone tried to escape, they were killed and their bodies were propped up with shovels along the road so we could see them. No one could leave,” Bega explained and added that with time, prisoners came to understand what was happening at the gas chambers as well.
By January 1945, the Nazis began evacuating the site and Bega would begin a 22-day march in Germany’s freezing cold.
“We’d walk all day and at night they’d put us in some field so we could rest and then we’d start walking again in the morning,” she said.
With Germany under attack, Bega’s group, which included five Greek women, were released by the Nazis. She remembers begging for clothing at nearby houses. Eventually, she returned to Greece on August 15, 1945.
“I remember that day, because there were flags everywhere.”
Greece was celebrating the feast day of the Mother of God, Panagia.
Alex Xinis, along with James Klapanis, is set to open a new Greek eatery called Orlo on Oxford Street in Collingwood, Melbourne this March.
“I always had that dream to open my own restaurant… and I’m at that stage of my career and life where I’m ready for it — I’m really excited,” Xinis said in an interview with The Herald Sun.
The new restaurant will feature Xinis’ famous flatbread, alongside traditional Greek food with a “veg-forward” spin.
Alex in the kitchen.
“Orlo’s menu will be veg-forward but there’ll be a spattering of seafood and meat,” he said.
“We’ll have those flatbreads as a mezze for starters, as well as hand rolled leek pies, whole-roasted cauliflowers and grilled leeks with a simple dressing.”
The restaurant will include 150 seats, a street-level front bar, dinning room, courtyard and mezzanine.
