Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew met with King Charles III at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday.
The private meeting between the spiritual leader of Orthodox Christianity and the nominal head of the Anglican Church of England lasted for half an hour, the Ecumenical Patriarchate said in a statement.
This afternoon at Buckingham Palace, His All Holiness Bartholomew I, the Ecumenical Patriarch was received by The King. pic.twitter.com/KJf4GVFzJP
During their brief exchange, Bartholomew once again offered his condolences for the death of the King’s Mother, Queen Elizabeth II, as well as his prayers and best wishes on behalf of the church “for a successful and fruitful reign.”
The Patriarch also mentioned the centenary anniversary celebrations of the Holy Archdiocese of Thyateira and Great Britain, as well as other topics of mutual interest.
At the conclusion of the private meeting, His All-Holiness presented the venerable members of the Patriarchal delegation: Their Eminences Archbishop Nikitas of Thyateira and Great Britain, Metropolitan Theodoritos of Laodicea, and Metropolitan Athenagoras of Belgium.
Also present were Ioannis Raptakis, Ambassador of the Hellenic Republic to the United Kingdom and Matthew Lodge, His Majesty’s Ambassador to the Hellenic Republic.
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew with King Charles as well as the Ambassador of the Hellenic Republic to the United Kingdom, Ioannis Raptakis; His Majesty’s Ambassador to the Hellenic Republic, Matthew Lodge; Archbishop Nikitas of Thyateira and Great Britain; Metropolitan Theodoritos of Laodicea and Metropolitan Athenagoras of Belgium. Photo: Nicholas Papachristou / Ecumenical Patriarchate.
Στις 28 Οκτωβρίου 1940, η Ελλάδα εί των Δυνάμεων του Άξονα, παρά το γεγονός της συντριπτικής υπεροχής τους σε στρατιωτικό και σε επίπεδο υλικοτεχνικού εξοπλισμού.
Η απόφαση αυτή στιγμές της Ιστορίας τους, είναι θάρρος, ηρωισμό, ανδρεία και αποφασιστικότητα, αντιμετωπίζουν κάθε κίνδυ την εδαφική ακεραιότητα και την εθνική κυριαρχία της πατρίδας.
Συγχρόνως, με συμβολικούς εκφράζει την πάλη του δικαίου με το άδικο, τον αγώνα της ηθικής, της αρετής και του δικαιωμάτων απέναντι στην προσπάθεια της ισοπέδωσης τους και της βάναυσης καταπάτησής τους.
Το Ελληνικό έθνος διαχρονικά επιδεικνύει σθένος και δύναμη στην αντιμετώπιση και των πιο αντίξοων καταστάσεων και μια διαρκή έφεση προς την πρόοδο, την ευημερία διατήρηση και την μετάδοσή στις νεώτερες γενεές των βωμών και των αξιών πάνω στις οποίες εδράζεται.
Διατηρώντας μέσα μας το προγόνων μας και τιμώντας τις θυσίες στις οποίες για να παραδώσουν σε εμάς μια ελεύθερη, δημοκρατική ευημερούσα και μοντέρνα Ελλάδα, τιμούμε την επέτειο της 28 Οκτωβρίου 1940 και, μέσω αυτής, της προσήλωσης μας στα εθνικά ιδεώδη και τις πανανθρώπινες και αδιαπραγμάτευτες αξίες της ελευθερίας, της δικαιοσύνης και της αξιοπρέπειας.
The Albanese government has unveiled its first budget, promising to make life “easier for Australians.”
Treasurer, Jim Chalmers, who delivered Labor’s first budget in nearly 10 years on Tuesday, said the budget would provide cost of living relief “responsibly and not recklessly” without adding to inflation.
The key winners and losers are as follows.
Winners
Aged care residents and workers
Labor has promised aged care reform costing $2.5 billion over the next four years, with the bulk of the funding going towards paying staff.
As of July 1 2023, all facilities for the elderly must have a registered nurse on-site at all times. From October 2024, each resident must receive 215 minutes of care every day.
$540.3 million will also be spent responding to the final report of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety. This includes $68.5 million which will go towards supporting the implementation of aged care reforms in regional areas.
Families
One of the centrepieces of the government’s budget is its $4.7 billion spend on child care over the next four years, with a goal of providing universal child care to 90 per cent of all families.
Additionally, from July 2023, the government will start to increase the amount of government Paid Parental Leave to reach a total of 26 weeks by 2026. The policy comes with a price tag of $530 million.
There’s also an allocation of $39 million to be spent over four years, to increase and improve the consistency of screening programs done on newborns.
The government will provide $13.9 million over three years to support bereaved parents.
Students
The government will pay for 20,000 students from under-represented backgrounds to study university courses including nursing and engineering. The budget includes $159 million to train an extra 4,036 teachers as part of a national action plan to solve the country’s dire shortage of educators.
Charles Darwin University, the University of Wollongong, and Curtin University are the higher education institutions receiving the greatest funds for extra enrollments. With an expenditure of up to $485.5 million over the following four years, the extra spaces will be for students beginning in 2024.
Additionally, the government will pay for 180,000 fee-free TAFE and vocational education spots in 2023, with additional assistance for participation by women and other disadvantaged groups. The places will be made up of 60,000 additional places and by dropping the fees of 120,000 existing paid TAFE spots.
The Environment and Renewables
In this financial year alone, $2.3 billion will be spent on the environment and climate change projects.
Over $600 million will be spent protecting threatened species over five years and up to 1,000 Landcare rangers will be trained at a cost of $90 million dollars.
$102 million will be used to establish community solar banks, so as to improve access to solar power for people typically unable to access it.
Another $224 million will help establish 400 community batteries to reduce reliance on fossil fuels.
Women
The government will invest $1.7 billion over six years to implement the new national 10-year plan to end violence against women and children.
There’s also funding for 500 frontline community workers ($169.4 million over four years) and $100 million for crisis and transitional housing options for women and children fleeing violence, along with older women on low incomes at risk of homelessness.
The federal government says it will work with the states and territories to end violence against women and children within “a generation.”
The treasurer also said Labor agreed that full employment, productivity growth and equal opportunities for women should be core objectives of government policy.
Housing
Between 2024 and 2029, the government has set a goal of building one million new homes.
The government also expects there will be around 180,000 housing completions each year in 2022, 2023 and 2024 before the goal kicks in.
The budget also includes $350 million for the Federal Government and States and Territories to build 10,000 new homes each year.
The government will invest $10 billion in the newly created Housing Australia Future Fund, to deliver 30,000 social and affordable homes over five years and allocate $330 million for acute housing needs.
Labor will spend $324.6 million over four years to establish its Help to Buy shared equity scheme to assist people on low to moderate incomes to purchase a new or existing home.
Neutral
Healthcare
The government announced $787.1 million over the next four years to reduce the cost of buying medicines.
People on the autism spectrum will benefit from more than $5 million in funding over 2022-23 for research, early intervention services, and a national autism strategy.
Cancer patients are winners too with a massive $450 million for two new comprehensive cancer care centres in Adelaide and Brisbane, and additional funding towards newborn screening and women’s health during and after pregnancy.
But there’s still uncertainty surrounding how the government will address Medicare funding.
It’s investing $750 million in the Strengthening Medicare Fund, with the Strengthening Medicare Taskforce determining how best to spend to improve access and care for patients.
For the purpose of easing the burden on public hospitals and enhancing access to healthcare, the government is investing $235 million in the expansion of urgent care clinics. But public hospitals receive no new funds.
Mental health also hasn’t received a huge boost with only $24.3 million over four years for more Headspace centres and a boost to preventing suicide in the manufacturing sector.
Losers
Motorists
Motorists have missed out on “responsible” cost of living relief included in the budget.
The Albanese government has not reinstated the fuel excise discount, which will save it $30 billion over six months.
The federal government’s fuel tax for motorists was halved to 22.1 cents a litre until September 28, when the discount expired. The former Coalition government temporarily cut the excise in late March as inflation started to spike, meaning Australians were partly shielded from soaring petrol prices.
Renters
Rental costs are expected to rise considerably in the next two years.
Nationally advertised rents have risen sharply over the past year, by 10 per cent to September 2022.
As new rental agreements are made and existing contracts are renegotiated, overall rental costs as reflected in the CPI are expected to rise, albeit to a lesser extent.
Despite these warnings, the budget doesn’t include any plan to contain rental prices in the short term or to provide relief to tenants who are struggling with the cost of living.
Wage Earners
With inflation expected to reach 7.75% in December, workers’ pay is expected to continue to go backwards until 2024-25.
In the year to the end of the June quarter, wages grew 2.6%, whilst there was a 6.1% jump in the cost of living.
There is a sliver of good news: The government says wages are growing faster now than they were before the election. However, that is tempered by rising electricity prices and grocery bills eating into pay packets.
When that inflation moderates, real wages are expected to start growing again in 2024.
Tax Avoiders
While the government ruled out raising income or other taxes, it has made its tough stance on multinational tax avoidance clear.
The budget contains an extra $200-million-a-year funding boost to the ATO for the next four years to extend its Tax Avoidance Taskforce.
The government says the extra cash will bring back an estimated $2.8 billion over four years in otherwise unpaid tax.
It’s also going to introduce a few new reporting requirements for Australian companies, including the number of subsidiaries they have and where they’re registered for tax purposes.
Unlike Homer’s hero, Stuart McLennan does not tie himself to a mast but rather indulges in the enjoyment of a Freddo Espresso in his favourite neighbourhood in Athens – Koukaki.
“From the first moment I tried it I was excited and since then it is the first thing I do every time I come to Athens,” the Australian coach of Greece’s women’s rugby league team tells The Greek Herald.
Rugby is a sport now developed in Greece and recently recognised by the Greek Ministry of Sports. Under the guidance of the Canberra-grown coach and journalist, the newly-formed women’s rugby team recently achieved the first two victories in its history against Turkey and Serbia.
The year 2023 will also see the team play its first qualifying games for the Women’s Rugby League World Cup. So the future of the team is bright in the hands of McLennan, who first arrived in Greece in 2016.
“In 2016, my wife, who is a diplomatic official, was transferred to the Australian Embassy in Athens,” McLennan says.
“We both stayed in Athens for about 3.5 years and during this time I was looking for permanent employment. The fact that I didn’t speak Greek made it more difficult, of course.
“I was lucky at the time because the President of the Greek Rugby Federation, George Stylianos contacted me. I was following the news of the group on its Facebook page and I was noticed by George, who realised my base was in Athens.
“He asked me if I wanted to watch some of the team’s matches, which I gladly accepted. So I started to get to know people who are involved in rugby in Greece and especially the Greek Australian community.
“I started to promote the sport, I was writing texts about the effort that is being made in Greece and I started to become better known.”
The difficulties of persuading women to play rugby:
Although McLennan had coaching experience in Australia, his daily life in Greece with the Federation gave him an important opportunity.
“I was asked to help the Aris Eagles team. I had previously coached teams in Australia and it was something familiar to me. So I immediately accepted the challenge,” McLennan said.
“At first I coached the men’s team but soon I suggested the idea of creating a women’s team as well. It was the time when women’s rugby was becoming very popular in Australia. So it happened.”
But how difficult was it for women to compete in a sport that wasn’t popular in Greece?
“The first women who came were the companions of the players of the men’s team. Then they brought their friends and so we managed to create a full team,” the coach explains.
“At first there was a fear that they would get injured but when we started talking about the sport, they started playing, then we found that they enjoyed it. Some of those women who first came to the team are now members of the national team. They are very brave, they play with their hearts and they are excellent.”
Optimism for the future of the sport:
In Greece, the dominant sport is football. Rugby league is at the frontier of fans’ desires. How difficult does McLennan think developing the sport will be?
“The Federation was recognised by the Greek government and this was a very important step in the development of the sport. This practically means that there will be government funding, which can be channelled into making the sport better known to the general public,” he says.
“But you know what? I see people watching the sport and enjoying it. A few weeks ago the women’s team played in Aspropyrgos and we had about 700 spectators. Some of them watched a rugby match for the first time and I think they enjoyed it.
“The biggest challenge is funding. It is difficult to develop the sport in Greece but nevertheless, I am quite optimistic.”
“The best teams in the world are competing in the World Cup. The biggest success was that they qualified for the final stage. The games at the World Cup will be very difficult. Qualifying was very important for us,” McLennan says.
“The games will be enjoyed by the players. They will go out on the field, they will hear the national anthem, it will be a very proud moment for them.”
The coach currently lives in Seoul with his wife. However, he has created a technical staff in Greece and coaches the team with videos and messages. New technologies play an important role in improving the female national team.
‘I’m living a dream in Greece’:
Growing up in Canberra, Greek voices were familiar to McLennan.
“As you know, there are many Greeks in Australia. I grew up with Greek Australians but I can’t say that I knew so much until I came to Greece in 2016,” he sayd.
“Here, I loved the people, the food, everything. My attempt to learn Greek has not been very successful so far but I feel a special intimacy with the Greeks and I love kleftiko.”
Many Greek Australians are involved with the Rugby Federation in Greece, such as the President, George Stylianos. He and McLennan will try to bring success to the women’s team.
“In the middle of next year it will be the next match of the women’s team and in October the World Cup qualifiers, where we will try to succeed,” McLennan concludes.
“It is a great honour for me to coach the women’s national team. Rugby is my passion and I’m lucky to work with these people. I think I’m living a dream in Greece.”
The 2022 Greek Film Festival came to an end in Sydney on Sunday, October 23 with the world premiere of Gregoris Karantinakis’ film Smyrna My Beloved.
The Greek Film Festival was presented by the Greek Orthodox Community of NSW and the Greek Festival of Sydney.
Due to popular demand, four cinemas were sold out at Leichardt’s Palace Norton Street Cinema for the movie screening on closing night.
The film followed Filio, an elderly Greek American woman whose family diary recounts the turbulent history of Smyrna, shaped by international developments, and brings the past and present together.
It was a fitting end to this year’s festival, which was dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Asia Minor Catastrophe.
Due to popular demand the Greek Film Festival in association with Kalavryton Society (NSW) Aghia Lavra Inc has released additional Encore Screening of Echoes of the Past in Sydney.
This is the final chance to get to see this powerful film. A fictional drama inspired by a true event, the massacre committed by invading German troops at Kalavryta, Greece in December 1943.
As a traumatic past comes to light, its painful echoes grow stronger than ever. The Kalavryta Massacre is remembered as one of the darkest moments in Greek history. An extraordinary must-see film for all.
This is the final weekend to be able to see these much talked about and highly acclaimed films ending the 2022 Greek Film Festival.
Encore Screening for Eftihia – Fri 28 Oct, 6:15pm | Winner of 12 Academy Awards Eftihia is the biggest Greek Film production of a film inspired by the life of Eftihia Papagiannopoulou, a lyricist who created a massive volume of timeless popular songs, set to music by Tsitsanis, Kaldaras, Hiotis and Hadjidakis among others.
Encore Screening for Smyrna my Beloved – Sat 29th Oct, 2:15pm | This Award-Winning film is based on the historical incidents and facts that preceded and occurred during the occupation of Smyrna in 1922 by the Turkish army are recounted through the lives of the Baltatzis family members. “These encore screenings are an excellent last chance for Sydneysiders to catch some of the most talked-about titles at this year’s Festival” says Festival Chair, Nia Karteris
66-year-old construction company owner, Michalis Protopsaltis, was honored in Athens on Monday for his invaluable efforts in saving the lives of the 80 refugees during the Kythera shipwreck earlier this month.
In a ceremony officiated by the Greek Minister of Maritime Affairs, Giannis Plakiotakis, Protopsaltis alongside others involved in the search and rescue operation, received awards from the Ministry of Maritime Affairs.
In a tweet, Plakiotakis wrote: “A big thank you to everyone involved in the search and rescue at Kythera. Thanks to their courage and solidarity, dozens of people were saved from certain death. This is Greece, which saves lives.”
Ένα μεγάλο ευχαριστώ σε όλους όσοι συμμετείχαν στην έρευνα και διάσωση στα #Κύθηρα. Χάρη στο θάρρος και την αλληλεγγύη τους, σώθηκαν δεκάδες άνθρωποι από βέβαιο θάνατο. Αυτή είναι η #Ελλάδα, που σώζει ζωές, απέναντι σε μια #Τουρκία που αδιαφορεί για αυτές.#Πλακιωτάκης@naftiliaspic.twitter.com/7WDUZ38auy
In the incident, a vessel carrying 95 refugees had left Turkey on Monday, October 3, and was headed through Greek waters for Italy. Due to gale-force winds, the ship veered off course and eventually struck rocks, sinking off the Greek island of Kythera.
At the time, residents and emergency services rushed to help, using ropes and improvised slings to rescue 80 refugees, 13 of whom were taken to Kythera’s hospital.
Protopsaltis was pivotal to this effort, having dispatched a crane to the Kythera cliff top where he began saving, one by one, the 80 Afghan refugees scrambling for their lives in the choppy waters below.
Three hours passed before the last refugee was hoisted to the top.
When the last man was rescued, Protopsaltis told The Guardianthat felt a pang of relief but also nausea at what he had seen: the men, women and children who had not been saved, who were screaming and shouting as they tried to scale the jagged cliff face.
Since the incident which occurred three weeks ago, the 66-year-old has been contacted by the Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who telephoned to thank him personally.
“What we witnessed that night was hellish, absolutely frightful, something I never thought I would ever see,” Protopsaltis told The Guardian.
Michalis Protopsaltis on the Kythera cliff top. Photo: Roula Karagianni.
“Neither I, nor anyone else who was there, and there must have been around 100 of us, thought twice,” he said, adding that with the aid of ropes at least 20 had also survived.
“Nobody forced us to help. All this talk about Greeks letting migrants die in the sea has infuriated me because it’s not true.”
Protopsaltis’ heroism has nabbed global media attention, with his sisters, who live in Sydney, telling him they’ve seen him on CNN.
“All this talk about heroism is overblown. What we did was only human,” he said.
“In Kythera we always help people in need. From America and Argentina to South Africa and Australia there are Kytherians and, so, all of us have lived the experience of migration. I don’t know what has been happening further afield [in Greece] but we’d never let people drown.”
Cities are made from more than buildings and roads. They are also made by the people – and with over one out of six residents claiming to be of Greek heritage, there is no doubt that West Torrens is where Greece’s heart beats in Adelaide.
“It was back in 2019, prior to the pandemic, when I first visited Kalamata, personally met with His Worship at his chambers and had a short dialogue acknowledging our common ties,” said City of West Torrens Mayor, Michael Coxon, in the civic reception held on Monday in honour of the visiting Mayor of sister city Kalamata, Athanasio Vasilopoulo.
“We both share cities of similar size, population and demographics. However, I think Kalamata may just have a few more Greek residents than West Torrens,” Mr Coxon said.
“It is almost impossible to allude to West Torrens without making some kind of reference to our local Greek community. With 62,000 residents we have around 10,000 residents or 1 in 6, claiming to be Greek or part Greek -and that includes our significant Messinian community.”
Mayor Coxon also acknowledged the City’s three Greek Australian Councillors and those like himself “who claim to have some kind of honorary status”.
Also attending the event among others were Bishop Silouan of Sinope, St George Parish priest Fr Diogenis Patsouris, representing the Premier Peter Malinauskas was Irene Pnevmatikos MLC, Member for Badcoe Jayne Stinson, Shadow Minister for Multicultural Affairs Jing Lee, Connie Bonaros MLC, Chair of SAMEAC Adriana Christopoulos, GOCSA’s Peter Gardiakos and other community organisation representatives.
“The most important contribution that our Greek community have made is the living and the sharing of their values like philotimo, philoxenia and philantropia,” Mayor Coxon said.
Addressing the attendees, Kalamata Mayor Athanasios Vasilopoulos, reiterated the strong ties between the two countries and said that during his short visit in Australia he found a “more powerful and vibrant Greece outside of Greece”.
Before visiting Adelaide, Mr Vasilopoulos was in Melbourne where he attended the official launching of Kalamata Place in Thornbury and the Antipodes festival.
“What brought our cities together are also the ANZACs who fought in Kalamata during WWII. We owe gratitude to the Australian people,” Mr Vasilopoulos said. “I stand here in front of you and want to honour the generations of Greeks who have contributed to this country.”
Speaking to The Greek Herald, Mr Vasilopoulos said that since he resumed his duties, part of his strategy has been not only been to create a city that is attractive to the diaspora but also to encourage initiatives for young Greeks and Greek Australians.
“Education is the only way to achieve our goals and this should be our priority. This is where we need to invest in. Tourism, trade and technologies will follow,” he said.
Centenarian Dionysios Vassilogiannakopoulos (Vassos) with his daughter Helen. Photo: TGH/Argyro Vourdoumpa
Centenarian Dionysios Vassilogiannakopoulos, the event’s most senior attendant and founding members of South Australia’s Messinian Association who migrated to the country in the early 1950s, was there to attest to that.
“It is important to keep our heritage alive and encourage young people to get involved in our cultural associations or we will disconnect from our roots,” he said.
Current President of the Messinian Association, Martha Ioannides echoed his words.
“It’s important to keep the relationship and the bridges of communications open. It’s emotional to see people from the homeland feeling humbled that we have safeguarded our language and culture through generations.”
The reception concluded with exchange of presents between Mayor Coxon and Mayor Vasilopoulos who also enjoyed a private tour of the City of West Torrens council chambers.
During the two-day Antipodes Festival in Melbourne over the weekend, Victoria’s Premier, Daniel Andrews, renewed his calls for the return of the Parthenon Marbles to Greece.
After unveiling a completed frieze of the marbles on the Greek Community of Melbourne’s Greek Centre on the corner of Lonsdale and Russell street, Mr Andrew’s, whose government funded the monument, demanded their return to Greece.
“I again call upon the United Kingdom government for the immediate return of the Parthenon Marbles to Greece,” he said on Saturday.
The completed Frieze of the Parthenon Marbles on the Greek Community of Melbourne’s Greek Centre. Photo: The Greek Herald / Chris Spyrou.
The frieze’s Greek creators, Kostandinos Vousis and Panagiotis Vasilakis from The Art of Marble and Stone, told The Greek Herald about the initiative of the GCM, the Victorian Government and the Greek Ministry of Culture.
“It is a huge work for all Australia,” Mr Vasilakis said.
“Australian culture is richer because of it and the Greek community has been pivotal in its creation.”
The emblematic work took one and a half years to complete, and under difficult circumstances due to COVID-19, he said.
The frieze’s Greek creators, Kostandinos Vousis and Panagiotis Vasilakis.
Also speaking with The Greek Herald about the frieze was the President of the GCM, Bill Papastergiadis, who said: “The replicas of the Parthenon Marbles that adorn our 15-storey cultural centre are a direct link with our cultural heritage.”
“The frieze is a strong symbol of the Hellenic culture in Melbourne. We thank the State Government, the Greek Ministry of Culture and the kind donations and support by the Tsalikidis family, the Koukouvitakis and Karamitos families, as well as Merkon Constructions. Importantly we thank the Greek sculptors,” Mr Papastergiadis said.
President of GCM Bill Bill Papastergiadis seated next to Victoria’s Premier, Daniel Andrews and Federal Immigration Minister, Andrew Giles. Photo: The Greek Herald / Chris Spyrou.
In his official speech, the Mayor of Kalamata, Athanasios Vasilopoulos said: “A few minutes ago, the Parthenon frieze was unveiled at the Greek Centre.”
“Two pieces are missing because they are not at the Acropolis Museum, and they need to return there, but it is worth mentioning that the sculptors are from Kalamata,” the Mayor added.
“I can’t describe in words what I have felt the last few days. In Melbourne I saw a Greece outside of Greece but more vibrant, more creative and more humane.”
The Mayor of Kalamata, Athanasios Vasilopoulos speaking at the 2022 Antipodes Festival. Photo: The Greek Herald / Chris Spyrou
Over the weekend, Melbourne’s Lonsdale street played host once more to the Antipodes Festival – the largest celebration of Greek culture outside of Greece.
The two-day festival, organised by the Greek Community of Melbourne (GCM), featured 80 pop-up market stalls alongside face-painting, competitions, giveaways, traditional shadow puppet shows, and a series of traditional music and dance performances.
During the official speeches on the Saturday, Victoria’s Premier, Daniel Andrews, opened with a boisterous “yiasas!”, which was met with loud applause and a reciprocating “yiasas.”
President of GCM Bill Bill Papastergiadis seated next to Victoria’s Premier, Daniel Andrews and Federal Immigration Minister, Andrew Giles. Photo: The Greek Herald / Chris Spyrou.
“It is great to be here in one of the great, Greek cities of the world,” Premier Andrews said, placing the Victorian capital city alongside Athens and Thessaloniki.
“We of course gather here to celebrate all that the Greeks have given us in Melbourne, in Victoria, in Australia and across the world.”
The Victorian Premier then announced that if re-elected, his government would commit $800,00 over the next four years to support the Antipodes Festival “so it can be bigger and better than it has ever been.”
This promise was followed by Opposition Leader, Matthew Guy, who said: “Tonight Melbourne is Greek and this festival has been a wonderful part of our city’s multicultural foundation.”
“Whatever happens at the end of the year at the election, this committee who runs this wonderful event will receive $800,000 to keep it going,” Mr Guy added.
Victorian opposition leader, Matthew Guy speaking at the 2022 Antipodes Festival. Photo: The Greek Herald / Chris Spyrou.
