Rugby league boss, Peter V’landys, has confirmed the NRL Grand Final 2022 will be held at Sydney’s Accor Stadium on Sunday, October 2.
The decision comes after months of tense negotiations with the NSW government and following a bid from the Queensland government.
Queensland made a desperate late surge and were rated a “60-40” chance of stealing the grand final after tabling a proposal that included hosting up to three NRL deciders as a preamble to the Brisbane Olympics in 2032.
Sydney’s Accor Stadium will host the 2022 NRL grand final.
But Queensland’s bold bid for consecutive deciders at Suncorp Stadium has failed.
Having navigated the COVID-19 crisis, the NRL has opted to return the grand final to rugby league’s traditional home in Sydney after Penrith and Souths played last year’s decider at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium.
Numerous councils and state MPs are lobbying the NSW government to go without shark nets this summer for the first time in almost 100 years.
Waverly Council Mayor, Paula Masselos, is one of the people calling for the removal of the sharks nets on Bronte and Bondi beaches because they “aren’t very effective.”
“The nets are only 150 metres long, they are six metres high and they are put at a depth of about 10 metres. So sharks in fact can swim around, under and over them,” Mayor Masselos said in an interview with Sky News Australia.
“The reality is that Bondi is 1000 metres, Bronte is 220 metres, so shark nets really aren’t actually very effective I don’t think in actually stopping the sharks from coming in.”
Mayor of Waverley Paula Masselos is leading calls to remove shark nets across popular beaches in New South Wales despite only one fatal attack occurring since the measure was introduced in 1937. https://t.co/Jo8CILmej5
The Mayor also stressed that the local community was “very concerned about the bycatch” in shark nets, with statistics from 2019 showing that “only 19 sharks that were actually dangerous to humans were caught in the nettings.”
“There were more than 140 non-target sharks and other marine species such as dolphins, dugongs and turtles that were actually caught in these nets,” she added.
The state government’s shark net program aims to deter three species of sharks – the tiger, white and bull shark – but the nets’ efficacy has been debated for years.
Mayor Masselos said Waverly Council favoured other shark mitigation options and would be introducing drones for lifeguards to have more comprehensive surveillance of beaches.
Very soon our professional Waverley lifeguards will be using shark spotting drones to keep swimmers & surfers safe in the water. At last night's Council meeting I was thrilled my Mayoral Minute calling for the development of Waverley Lifeguards Drone Shark Patrol was supported. pic.twitter.com/bNqdoJBJu3
“The use of technology to monitor shark movements is a much better option to keep our swimmers and surfers safe while protecting threatened marine species,” she told The Sydney Morning Herald.
“The reality is we are in a marine environment and we share it.”
The push to remove nets comes six months after diving instructor Simon Nellist, 35, was fatally mauled by a shark at unprotected Little Bay in NSW.
Optus has launched Call Translate, which translates calls between different language speakers in real time on a standard voice call, to all customers. Call Translate helps break down language barriers and empowers customers to connect, even when they don’t speak the same language as the person on the other end of the line.
Built on the Optus Living Network using Google Cloud technology, customers can pick what language they want to translate ‘from’ and ‘to’ from a selection within the My Optus App and then make their calls in real time just like normal.
Connecting people across Australia and the world, Call Translate launches with support for 19 languages – Arabic, English, Filipino, French, German, Greek, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Mandarin, Portuguese, Punjabi, Russian, Spanish, Thai, Turkish and Vietnamese.
Matt Williams, Optus Managing Director, Marketing & Revenue said:
“The Optus Living Network delivers for our customers powerful new network experiences in the moments that matter to them. Optus Call Translate is the latest Living Network feature that truly delivers on that goal.
“Optus Call Translate enables our customers to break through language barriers – making two languages become one conversation. This service enables live, real-time translation from one language to up to 19 others through a standard voice call on the Optus network.
“So, Optus customers can now call anyone else in Australia or someone around the world and have that translated into another language, and back again, making two languages become one conversation.”
Antony Passemard, Head of Product for Conversational AI, Google Cloud, added, “The goal of Conversational AI technologies is to create hyper-personal engagement between people, so we’re thrilled to support Optus who are leveraging our advanced machine learning models in speech and natural language processing to bring people closer together.”
Call Translate is built, owned and operated by Optus using Google Cloud translation technology to power the translation element within the Optus application.
Call Translate will be available to Postpaid mobile customers for $5 per month. Customers are also able to try out Call Translate for free for 7 days. For customers wanting to find out more info on Call Translate please see here: http://www.optus.com.au/calltranslate.
The European Parliament will cooperate with Greek authorities to investigate the “intolerable and inexcusable” phone tapping of PASOK leader, Nikos Androulakis, by the nation’s intelligence service (EYP).
“Illegal surveillance of members’ communications is intolerable and inexcusable,” said Juri Laas, spokesman for EU Parliament President Roberta Metsola.
Nick Androulakis’ phone was tapped.
“Such infringements of the principles and values which form the basis of our democratic system cannot be tolerated, irrespective of the member state where they occur.”
The EU Parliament already has a committee investigating the use of the Pegasus spyware in the 27-nation bloc. According to the spokesman, Metsola now wants the committee to look into the Greek case as well.
Roberta Metsola wants the EU Parliament to investigate the Greek phone tapping scandal. Photo: AP.
The EU Parliament has already received an initial request for information from the Greek authorities and will share its findings “in the coming days,” he added.
The phone tapping scandal broke earlier this month amid growing concern in the EU about the use of spyware software and has sparked uproar amongst opposition parties in Greece.
Greece’s Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, has since said he was unaware of the phone tap, describing it as a mistake that should have never occurred.
The Greek Foreign Ministry has accused Turkey of trying to turn migration into a political tool following the recent incident at the Greek-Turkish border where dozens of refugees were stranded for days until Greek police rescued them.
In a statement, the Ministry said the recent incident in the Evros region “is yet another attempt by Turkey to instrumentalise the migration-refugee issue and, possibly, to create a border issue at the same time.”
“In the face of this new attempt against our national interests, prudence and responsibility are required of all political forces in our country, rather than an attempt by part of the opposition to turn the issue into a field of partisan confrontation,” the statement continued.
Το περιστατικό της προώθησης αιτούντων ασύλου από την Τουρκία προς την Ελλάδα στην περιοχή του Έβρου, αποτελεί μία ακόμη απόπειρα της Τουρκίας να εργαλειοποιήσει το μεταναστευτικό-προσφυγικό & ενδεχομένως να δημιουργήσει παράλληλα συνοριακό ζήτημα (ανακοίνωση @GreeceMFA).
On Monday, Greek police found 38 refugees, among them one pregnant woman and seven children, who had been hiding in Greek territory after crossing the river from Turkey.
The positive outcome came after the refugees said they were forced on the Evros islet by Turkish authorities on August 7, according to AlJazeera.
Greek authorities had been notified of their location and activists had made emergency calls on their behalf to police, but officials said in their statement at the time that the refugees were located at a point “outside Greek territory.”
The refugees prior to being rescued. Photo: Handout / The Guardian.
After they were located in the Lavara area, approximately four kilometres south of the coordinates of their initially reported position, they were taken to a Reception and Identification Centre.
The incident has again put Greece in the national and international spotlight, with opposition party SYRIZA and aid groups criticising the government’s response time.
The Kastellorizian Association of Victoria announced Lilliane Gomatos as the Kastellorizian of the Year on Monday.
In a Facebook post, the association said: “Lilliane epitomises the importance of grassroots welfare of Kastellorizians and Greeks in Darwin, personifying the spirit of the original Kazzie philotimo – brotherhood.”
In 2019, Lilliane received a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list, for her contribution to Australia’s vibrant multiculturalism and the Greek community.
“She has been instrumental in preserving and embedding Greek heritage in Darwin,” the association said.
Lilliane and her husband Theofilis arrived in Darwin in 1967, where her passion for welfare and community support flourished.
In 1974 she became a member of the Greek Women’s Philanthropic Society where she raised funds for the Northern Territory’s elderly community, the Greek Orthodox Church and Greek Orthodox School.
In 1987, she became the first female president of a Greek community in Australia when appointed the position with the Greek Orthodox Community of North Australia (GOCNA).
As president of GOCNA, her main accomplishments were completing the third stage of the Greek Orthodox School, the upgrade of the church and the co-founding of the Greek Glenti in 1988.
Speaking to the example and roadmap for charity and service Lilliane has shared, the Kastellorizian Association said: “Her work and values live on through younger generations in their support of the welfare of the wider Greek community.”
Restauranters across Australia, are seeking creative ways to overcome staff shortages, with Sydney Restaurant Group offering a $5000 sign-on bonus to all new team members, from dishwashers to managers.
The group, founded in 2000 by Bill Drakopoulos is a family operation that includes high-end restaurants across Sydney from Aqua Dining at Milsons Point, Ormeggio at The Spit and Ripples Chowder Bay.
Speaking with Financial Review, Bill’s son and co-owner of the group, Daniel said: “A lot of companies are doing $1000 to $2000 sign-on bonuses, but we are willing to get the best, and we’re willing to pay.”
Daniel is hopeful the financial incentive will see the group employ the additional 100 to 150 staff they require and will be available to people willing to work full-time for six months on a regular shift roster.
Waiter pouring wine. Photo Unsplash User Stefan Schauberger
According to the latest ABS data, Australia’s unemployment rate is at a 48-year-low of 3.5% with inflation hitting 6.8% in June, the highest price growth since late 1990.
“We’re copping the brunt of price increases, wage increases, cost of goods increases, we inevitably had to put up our prices ever so slightly, not to be profitable, but to stay afloat,” Daniel said.
“There are a lot of unforeseen costs that people don’t realise, like increasing gas prices, increasing rents, increasing cost of goods.”
Chair of the NSW inquiry into teacher shortages, One Nation MLC Mark Latham, is promoting a plan that will see teachers paid 10 per cent more if they work on school grounds from 8am to 5pm on school days and during school holidays.
Latham said the public wrongly believed teachers worked “cushy’’ hours from 9am to 3pm, with 12 weeks a year of annual leave and the proposed plan will clarify those misconceptions.
“Teachers are working well outside those parameters, so wouldn’t it be better to formalise an arrangement where teachers get four weeks of holiday a year like everyone else, and the other eight weeks are pupil-free for lesson preparation and the like, and that teachers work eight to five as work hours?’’ he said at an inquiry hearing in Sydney on Tuesday.
One Nation MP Mark Latham. Photo: Hollie Adams
President of the NSW Teachers Federation, Angelo Gavrielatos said teachers should not be forced to stay on school grounds while they worked.
“Teachers are working up to 60 hours a week and they don’t have to be supervised when they’re doing their work,’’ he said.
“Where teachers choose to undertake that work is a professional decision.”
Speaking with The Australian, Latham said teachers should not be allowed to “work from home where there’s no supervision.”
“I’m sure those working hard might feel others are bludging,’’ he said.
At 82 years of age, Melbourne grandfather Chris Tsalikis is preparing to walk from September 20-29 and raise funds for the National Breast Cancer Foundation.
“I have always been active but for the last 18 months I have been doing a lot of walking. I walk five days a week and I do 15-16 kilometres every day,” Chris tells The Greek Herald.
“I thought I might use that for a good cause instead of just doing it for fun.”
His goal is to walk from ten of Melbourne’s major hospitals, one every day, to his home in East Brighton.
“My daughter, Ellise, went through cancer five years ago and she had a mastectomy and chemotherapy so I am also doing it for her,” Chris says explaining that his daughter is also a breast cancer survivor.
Chris Tsalikis with his family
According to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, breast cancer is the second most commonly diagnosed cancer in Australia with over 20,000 people diagnosed each year.
Through this challenge, apart from raising awareness and much needed funds for cancer research the Greek Australian also hopes to motivate people to make lifestyle changes.
“Maybe I can be an inspiration to some people to make the effort and get out, take a few steps, take a big breath of some fresh air and it will do them good”.
But it looks like this is not the first time Chris Tsalikis has become a source of inspiration.
Since the day he migrated to Australia in the early 1950s from his village in Kozani, northern Greece as a 15-year-old he’s made great achievements both in his personal and professional life.
In the 1960s as an actor he participated in a film titled ‘Clay’ that made it to the Cannes Film Festival. Later on, he owned an art studio selling art pieces to galleries around Mornington Peninsula and after that he started his own restaurants where he also was the head chef.
And this is not the end.
“Dad is an amazing man and an inspiration to say the least,” says Ellise, Chris’ daughter.
“Once he retired, he loved to fish and play tennis, which he did 3-4 times a week up until the age of 80. Around five years ago he climbed to base camp of Mt Everest with my brother.
“He never ceases to amaze.”
Two days after the conclusion of his ten-day walk Chris is also organising an art exhibition in East Melbourne where he hopes to sell his art and raise funds for the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute.
Chris’ sculpture exhibition will be held on Saturday October 1st and Sunday October 2nd. Proceeds from sales will be donated to the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute.
“Throughout the pandemic he rediscovered his artistic side and made around twenty wooden sculptures from large pieces of wood he would find on his progressively longer, daily walks,” explains Ellise.
The family now hopes that the community will support the initiative and that no woman will have to suffer from the disease anymore.
“I am one of the lucky ones. I am now five years cancer free but my dream is that no person should ever have to go through what I did,” Ellise says.
Greece’s Antigoni Ntrismpioti has won a gold medal after winning the women’s 35km race walk at the 2022 European Championships in Munich this morning.
Ntrismpioti’s victory put Greece on the tallyboard, marking the nation’s first gold medal in this year’s championships which was then followed by record-breaking long jumper Miltiadis Tentoglou.
For the 38-year-old who fits in her training around working as a waitress in her family’s restaurant, this morning’s medal is her first in a major championship.
— Consulate General of Greece in Chicago (@GreeceInChicago) August 16, 2022
In 2 hours and 47 minutes, Ntrismpioti outperformed Spain’s Raquel Gonzalez, who came second (2:49.10) and Hungary’s Victoria Madaraz (2:49.58) who came third.
During the race, she appeared to be chatting to a television camereman, revealing afterwards she was speaking to her husband who was following the race on a scooter.
“I told him I was confident. I said, ‘Don’t worry. I have it,'” she said.
The confidence was fully justified. Ntrismpioti crossed the line with a 2 minute 10 second lead draped in a Greek flag and heralded by loud bouzouki music ringing around Odeonsplatz square in Munich.
