New South Wales politicians should not weaponise matters that are yet to be investigated in order to gain attention or political advantage, the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) chief, John Hatzistergos has warned.
According to a Sydney Morning Herald report, in a foreword to ICAC’s annual report tabled on Monday, Hatzistergos said that the matters to the commission have hit a 25-year-high which shows “that the commission is perceived as a relevant body to which people believe they can report suspected corrupt behaviour in the public sector.”
NSW ICAC chief commissioner John Hatzistergos
Hatzistergos also said an increase in the ICAC’s budget, would allow matters to be finalised quickly and the commission would also focus on educating new MPs on their responsibilities.
“It is once again timely to remind candidates for public office that they should act properly in making referrals,” he said, issuing a stern warning to MPs before the election about using referrals to the commission for political advantage.
The ICAC chief commissioner said that “investigations into allegations of corrupt conduct are rarely if ever assisted by premature publicity” and reiterated that “it is inappropriate to weaponise a referral to the commission for attention or political advantage.”
Greece’s Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, met with his Estonian counterpart, Kaja Kallas, on Tuesday in Tallinn and stressed that both countries “face challenges from eastern neighbours.”
During a joint press conference, Mitsotakis thanked Estonia for supporting its position in regards to Turkey at the European Council level.
“There is only one way of resolving differences between Greece and Turkey, that of International Law, and the Law of the Sea,” the Greek Prime Minister added.
“Our difference with Turkey relates to the delimitation of maritime zones. In Greece, we have proven that we can resolve such issues: we signed an agreement of delimiting maritime zones with Egypt. Therefore, there is no reason not to be able to do the same with Turkey.
“But for this to happen, unnecessary provocations, insulting rhetoric against Greece, and challenges against the sovereignty of our islands, all these are absolutely unacceptable actions that must stop immediately.”
After this topic was discussed, the press conference turned to issues of digital transformation and the current war in Ukraine.
“Your country is a pioneer in e-government and we look forward to deepening our cooperation for the benefit of our two countries and of course, to focus on areas of cooperation in the field of digital technology,” Mitsotakis said, drawing agreement from Kallas.
Both leaders also then touched on Ukraine and Kallas commended Mitsotakis’ leadership with regards to Russia and the imposition of sanctions.
“Greece is on the right side of history,” the Estonian PM said, noting that Greece was an equal ally and a strong player on this issue.
In the ring of one of Australia’s largest boxing events of the year on October 16 was an Australian of Greek and Italian heritage.
She was patiently waiting for singing superstar Nikos Vertis to finish singing the Greek national anthem before she could front up before 14,000 people to perform ‘Advance Australia Fair.’
Announced to the people as ‘Marcia Marcalos,’ Maria Maroulis trades places with Vertis to deliver her acapella rendition of the Australian national anthem.
Her performance stirred the thousands of Australians singing along in the crowd, before George Kambosos Jr stepped into the ring for his world title rematch against Devin Haney at Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena.
In an interview with The Greek Herald immediately after the fight, Maria was completely unphased by the mispronunciation of her name, seizing every opportunity to introduce herself from that point on as ‘Marcia Maracalos.’
“You know Nikos Vertis cut my grass,” a plain-spoken Maria adds sporadically.
Equal parts intrigued and impressed I was conducting an interview where grass-cutting was a topic of discussion, I pressed for clarification.
“I was on tour with Giannis Ploutarhos and his kids, and I had just finished singing at the Canberra show when one of the guys there said ‘next week is going to be massive, I’m flying to Melbourne for the Kambosos fight and Nikos Vertis is singing the Greek national anthem’,” Maria says, explaining she had initially been booked in to sing both the Greek and Australian national anthems.
“Look, I understand, if anyone’s going to cut your grass, you’d want it to be Nikos Vertis.
“I really got the best of both worlds though. I got to sing the Australian national anthem and have Nikos Vertis next to me – so, it’s a win-win for me.”
Greek super star Nikos Vertis singing the Greek national anthem at the Kambosos v Haney world title rematch in Melbourne, October 16, 2022. Photo: The Greek Herald / Chris Spyrou.
Having been a touring backing vocalist for Vanessa Amarosi during her ‘Absolutely Everybody’ era and a support act for Greek artists like Nikos Oikonomopoulous, Vasilis Karras and Giorgios Mazonakis over the last 15 years, Maria is no stranger to large crowds.
However, she says singing at the Kambosos fight “hit different.”
“It was amazing, and I felt really proud,” the Melbourne-based singer says.
“Just to be here, to support George who does so much to honour our heritage was incredible and seeing the Greeks in full force gave me goosebumps.
“Even walking in this morning and seeing the Hellas Fan Club banner up, I took a little video and captioned it ‘the calm before the storm,’ because I know us Greeks have such amazing passion and they would create that epic vibe.”
‘The hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life’:
Alongside backing vocalist, supporting act and most recent singer of national anthems, Maria now also adds Greek reality TV star to her extensive resume.
“I was initially booked to perform the anthems at George’s first fight in June but I was overseas filming a Greek reality TV show,” she says.
Maria, alongside 17 others, are taking part in Greece’s first-ever season of Asia Express, a global franchise reality show adapted in over 15 countries around the world.
WATCH the trailer for the Greek adaptation of Asia Express here:
“Nine celebrities in Greece got to pick a partner they wanted to go on a race with across Cambodia, Laos and Thailand,” she explains.
Maria was chosen by singer Christina Koletsa, most known for her 2008 pop song ‘Ekti Esthisi’, who convinced her on the pretence it would be “fun and easy.”
“It was far from easy, it was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life,” Maria laughs.
Maria with Christina Koletsa on Greece’s first-ever season of Asia Express.
“They took our phones and wallets off us. We were given one euro a day to live off and we backpacked and hitchhiked in a race to get to the next destination. We were knocking on people’s doors for food and for places to sleep.
“This is the first season Greece has ever done and I was really shocked to be a part of it, especially because I was the only person not from Greece.
“It was very challenging but you know girl power, we gave it our best shot and it was the most amazing experience!”
As to her singing origins, Maria points to her childhood, telling The Greek Herald she was originally trained as a ballet dancer.
“From ballet I ended up training in classical opera singing and I was meant to go to Italy to pursue that career but from doing cabaret and musical theatre in Sydney, I ended up meeting a Greek band,” she says.
Maria as a ballet dancer. Photo: Supplied to TGH
“They asked me if I knew any Greek songs, I said ‘no I can’t even speak Greek’ but I listened to Anna Vissi, that was my first album, and I learnt her songs.”
Speaking about her mixed heritage, Maria explains that her father was born in Kefalonia and her mother in Puglia, with the pair meeting at a Greek dance in Newcastle after arriving in Australia.
“I grew up in Newcastle and the Greek community there is very close so I did all the Greek dancing, Greek school and going to all the events as a kid. I saw the Greek bands, never thinking one day I would be up there myself.”
Maria grew up in the NSW city of Newcastle. Photo: Supplied to TGH
However, a meeting with Costa Tangalakis from Kinisi Live in Melbourne led to her working at the club for three months, which “turned into six months and here we are 15 years later.”
“I am part of the furniture at Kinisi Live and I wouldn’t have it any other way, I love it. To be able to sing every week here in Melbourne, and to sing for the Greeks here in Australia I am very lucky,” she says.
Photo: Petros Pro Photography
In May this year, Maria released her single ‘Lovers Life’ with a music video shot in the Californian desert.
“Recording is great and it’s fun to be in the studio, but being on stage is where my heart is. And when you add flowers on top of that, how could I ask for more?” she asks with a smile.
“Giving my all up to the crowd, feeling their energy and seeing them having the best time, that’s my true happiness.”
The Special Ks, Nick Kyrgios and Thanasis Kokkinakis, have qualified for the ATP Finals doubles tournament for the first time,ABC News has reported.
They are the first all-Australian pair to compete at the event since Wayne Arthurs and Paul Hanley in 2005, when it was called the Tennis Masters Cup.
Neither player has competed in the season-ending tournament.
Kyrgios and Kokkinakis played seven tournaments together this year, finishing with an 18-5 win-loss record. They claimed their first major at the Australian Open and the Atlanta Open crown, while Kyrgios added a title in Washington alongside American Jack Sock.
The ATP Finals will be held from November 13-20 in Turin, Italy.
The Australian Hellenic Choir (AHC) and the Sydney Jewish Choral Society (SJCS) amazed the crowd with their joint performance of The Ballad of Mauthausen at an event in Sydney on Sunday, October 30.
The concert was held in the Clancy Auditorium at the University of New South Wales and was attended by a number of official guests including the Consul General of Greece in Sydney, Ioannis Mallikourtis; Archbishop Makarios of Australia; Rabbi Dr Benjamin Elton; the Chair of the Ethnic Communities Council of NSW Inc, Peter Doukas OAM; the CEO of the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, Darren Bark; the President of the AHC, Jim Tsolakis; and the Chairperson of the SJCS, Anne Spira; among many others.
Emcee and Non-Executive Director at SBS, Vic Alhadeff, kickstarted the event and welcomed everyone in attendance. Mr Alhadeff then explained how The Ballad of Mauthausen was written to convey the love of a Greek prisoner-of-war for a doomed Jewish prisoner in the Nazi slave labour camp of Mauthausen in Austria.
After this introduction, the AHC and the SJCS emerged onto the stage to perform the famous ballad, which has lyrics by Greek poet Iakovos Kambanellis and music by the world-acclaimed Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis.
The AHC was guided by Musical Director Leon Vitogiannis, whilst the SJCS was under Musical Director Rose Grausman.
There were a number of musical pieces performed including Heal Us Now, The First Words of Christ, and A Russian Jewish Folksong. The Ballad of Mauthausen was the perfect finale to the concert with its four parts – Song of Songs, Andoni, The Fugitive, and When the War is Over.
The concert concluded with a loud round of applause from everyone in attendance.
*Photos copyright Nick Bourdaniotis / Bourdo Photography.
Three Australians of Greek heritage have taken out auctioneering titles at the REIV Awards for Excellence 2022 on October 20.
Woodards duo Luke Banitsiotis and Ashley Maikousis have taken out the REIV Senior Auctioneer and Novice Auctioneer Awards respectively. Jason Vlahos from CBRE also won Property Valuer of the Year at the awards.
26-year-old Maikousis recently stepped into real estate after stumbling across a Seek advertisement. Six months later and with training via the Woodards Auctioneering Academy, she developed the confidence and skills to go up against Victoria’s finest young auctioneers.
Ashley Maikousis.
“Never did I expect to end up in property, fall in love with the industry this much, and then go on to win the Novice Auctioneering Award,” Maikousis said after winning her award.
“The award has inspired me to continue my career in real estate and I hope that I can motivate young women to enter the industry.”
Banitsiotis has won the REIV Novice Auctioneer Award in 2012, REIV Senior Auctioneer Award 2018, 2019 and 2022, as well as REIA/REINZ Australasian Auctioneering Finalist (Top 5 AUS/NZ) 2019 and 2022.
Luke Banitsiotis.
Despite this impressive record, what motivates Banitsiotis is teaching the rookies.
“I’m pleased with my achievements, however mentoring my peers is what I’m proudest of. Providing advice, teaching and training Ashley and seeing what she has achieved in such a short time is amazing,” Banitsiotis said.
These titles not only help aspiring real estate agents by building their skills and confidence, but also acknowledges their passion and motivation within the industry.
Banitsiotis and Maikousis weren’t alone when it came to winning awards at the REIV Awards Night last week. The Woodards Team also took out another 5 awards, making it 7 in total.
At the event, AHEPA NSW President Bill Skandalakis received a set of cast iron keys from emcee and Secretary, Dr Panayiotis Diamadis – a symbol of the Greek organisation assuming responsibility for the site in Bexley North.
In turn, Mr Skandalakis presented the keys to the other driving forces of the Bexley Bowling Club project, Past President John Kallimanis and Properties Committee Chairman, Harry Fandakis.
Mr Skandalakis and Mr Kallimanis spoke about the Club as the new home of AHEPA NSW Inc, as the centre of its activities and as the focal point of its 90th anniversary celebrations in 2024.
“It has been a long time coming, with a number of difficulties,” Mr Skandalakis said in his speech.
The site of the Bexley Bowling Club.
“Today, as we honour the heroes of 1940, we inform our members and friends that while much work remains to be done, we are on track for a bright future for our children and for the broader Australian Hellenic community.”
Mr Kallimanis, during whose presidency the project commenced, said: “We thank all those who believe in and support this project, this dream of a new home for AHEPA NSW Inc. The parliamentarians, the councillors, and especially our members. Today, on the national day of Hellenism, our organisation has turned a page, in its 88th year, opening the next chapter of its history.”
Billy Cotsis’ film Magna Graecia: the Greko of Calabria will debut in Sydney on Sunday, November 13 from 6pm with a special screening at the Palace Norton Street Cinemas in Leichhardt.
This film is the first of Cotsis’ three-part Magna Graecia series and will be screened in cooperation with AHEPA NSW Inc’s Chapter Antigone and the Australian Hellenic Educators’ Association.
Magna Graecia, produced by Cotsis and Basil Genimahaliotis, looks at the Greko communities of Calabria in the southernmost part of the Italian peninsula, a group of people who have maintained their millennia-old links to their ancient and medieval Hellenic past through their language and culture.
While the roots of the Hellenic presence in Calabria and neighbouring regions, which now comprise southern Italy, are lost in time, there were two main phases of migration from the Aegean Basin to these lands – the first during the 8th and 7th centuries BCE, and the second during the gradual Ottoman conquest of Hellenic lands to the east.
The last great wave of Hellenic migration into Calabria was in the 1400s, following the fall of the imperial capital of Constantinople. Tens of thousands of learned – and less so – Orthodox Christians fled Islamic rule for the nearest Christian territories: Calabria and adjoining regions. There they played key roles in what became known as the Renaissance, the ‘rebirth’ of ancient Hellenic and Roman learning.
Calabria was once dominated by Hellenism, where one could not move freely through the entire south of Italian Peninsula without being able to speak some form of the Hellenic language. At their peak, 1,500 Orthodox monasteries and churches adorned Calabria and its neighbours. The political unification of Italy in the 1800s and the imposition of the dialect of Tuscany as modern Italian accelerated the decline of this linguistic dominance.
Cotsis first visited the region in 2002 when he found the language still spoken in the homes and towns that he visited in southern Italy. He has been back a number of times, resulting in this 53-minute-long documentary takes the viewer to Greko-speaking villages.
The screening will be followed by a Q&A with Billy Cotsis, hosted by actress and Australian Calabrian Belinda Maree.
Tickets are $19 for adults and $15 for concessions. To reserve your seats, call Chapter Antigone President Charoulla on 0411 137 266 or info@ahepansw.org.au.
Mayor of Waverley, Paula Masselos, held a Meet the Mayor community session last week in Charing Cross to discuss the Council’s proposed streetscape upgrade of Waverley’s oldest village centre.
Upgraded landscaping, including new trees and street furniture
Safety improvements for all transport modes, including the introduction of a 40km/h area, as part of a wider LGA project
Improved sustainability through new bioretention tree pits which provide stormwater treatment as well as landscape amenity
Widening of footpaths to improve access
Undergrounding of overhead powerlines
New multipoles and upgraded lighting to replace existing Ausgrid poles and will reduce spill lighting onto buildings
Improved stormwater infrastructure
“Our concept design for the Charing Cross streetscape upgrade aims to preserve and celebrate the traditional village look and feel of this much-loved neighbourhood area while making it more sustainable and safer for pedestrians, motorists and those using public transport,” Mayor Masselos said.
“The Charing Cross community is passionate about their village and it was great to talk directly with residents and business owners at our Meet the Mayor session on 26 October to discuss the plans.
“Our proposed concept design for the upgrade will make this terrace-lined village centre even more beautiful while employing sustainability measures that will bring it into the 21st century.
“As part of our commitment to increasing tree canopy cover across the entire local government area, I am also very proud of the fact we’ll be planting a significant number of appropriate tree varieties and size in the village centre and installing bioretention tree pits which help treat stormwater run-off.
“Most importantly, the Council is continuing to work closely with residents and local businesses on all facets of this proposed upgrade, including staging construction to limit impacts of the project when it reaches that phase.”
As part of the concept design, throughout the entire streetscape, only four parking spots will be lost to incorporate a new pedestrian crossing mid-way down the block. The project’s traffic study found that a separated cycleway would result in significant losses to parking and narrowing of footpaths (also reducing space to plant trees) and has been ruled out for this location. The Victoria Street car park remains.
“Turkey thinks it doesn’t need to choose a side as if there is no right or wrong. It seems to be okay for Turkey to be providing arms for Ukraine while accommodating Russia’s economic interests,” Mitsotakis said at a joint press conference after the meeting.
Ευχαριστώ την @IngridaSimonyte για τη θερμή υποδοχή. Οι σχέσεις Ελλάδας-Λιθουανίας γίνονται όλο και πιο ισχυρές καθώς, παρά τη γεωγραφική μας απόσταση, αντιμετωπίζουμε κοινές προκλήσεις, όπως η απειλή του αναθεωρητισμού, η ενεργειακή κρίση, η εργαλειοποίηση του μεταναστευτικού. pic.twitter.com/Z8h3OfJyEN
“We will stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes, and we shall continue to provide not just political aid but also financial, military, and humanitarian support to Ukrainian people.”
