There are renewed calls for a probe into why one of Sydney’s most prized public pools closed up shop for two years after a series of restoration bungles.
The saga at Balmain’s Dawn Fraser Baths, an icon on the inner west harbour, has seen staff previously referred to the Auditor General by their own mayor and resulted in a council general manager quitting over the furore.
Now independent councillor John Stamolis has issued a “please explain” to the council over the extended delay.
Thousands of locals successfully campaigned for the state government to offer a grant to save the pool. Picture: AAP/Flavio Brancaleone
Cr Stamolis is moving a motion at a council meeting next month to call for an investigation into the costs and reasons why the Balmain institution sat behind closed gates for almost two years.
“I’m asking these questions to make them public,” Cr Stamolis said.
“Our community were greatly impacted with two seasons of swimming lost as well as a host of other activities that were not able to be done for two years.
“We were promised 10 to 12 months and 24 months later we’re still talking about this. Look at Telstra Square (in Balmain) two years to build the smallest square in Australia, what is going on there.”
The baths are home to the oldest swimming club in Australia. Picture: AAP/Jordan Shields
Last week Inner West Council said it had to undergo $8 million worth of works after it discovered there were no foundations to one side of the pavilion among other structural issues it had not anticipated.
That coupled with other discoveries like the risk of flooding due to rising sea levels meant more works had to be completed before it could re-open.
Mayor Darcy Byrne announced last week the pool would re-open when the Greater Sydney lockdown is lifted and entry will be free for the first two weeks.
Bronte Halligan opened up the scoring for Australia in the first quarter after sending the ball with speed directly at the keeper, who parried it into the net.
The two sides went goal for goal in the first quarter which ended 3-3.
Lea is goalkeeper at the Aussie Stingers. Photo: Balazs Czagany.
There was a goal-fest to kick off the second quarter with three goals scored in the first 90 seconds, including one from 20-year-old hot-shot Abby Andrews.
A Rowie Webster double prevented an increasing Spain lead as Australia finished the second quarter only one goal down.
Spain’s hot form continued into the third and fourth quarter with three goals in rapid succession, preventing another potential Stingers comeback win.
Back-to-back goals by Judith Forca sealed Australia’s fate, with the Stingers losing the match 15-9.
Despite Aussie goalkeeper Lea Yanitsas making crucial saves, she couldn’t stop the rockets sent by Bea Ortiz and Maica Godoy Garcia, who scored four and three goals respectively.
Spain fielded a handful of left-handed players unlike most teams this tournament, also playing 16-year-old Elena Ruiz Barril.
Spain’s Roser Tarragó also spent the 2019 season in Australia with the Drummoyne Devils.
Greek authorities warned the public against unnecessary work and travel on Friday as temperatures hit 40 degrees Celsius (104 °F) in Athens and the ancient Acropolis, its most visited monument, was briefly forced to close.
Temperatures have been high in much of the country in recent days and are expected to reach 44 degrees on Monday and Tuesday, the National Meteorological Service said, warning of a high risk of wildfires during a “dangerous” heatwave.
“We are constantly recording maximum record temperatures all these years, which means that climate change is here,” said Stavros Solomos, researcher at the Centre for Atmospheric Physics and Climatology of the Academy of Athens.
“We are expecting to have more frequent, more intense heatwaves,” he said, as well as “tropical nights” – where temperatures do not fall below 25 to 30 degrees.
The Parthenon temple is seen atop the empty Acropolis hill archaeological site, closed to the public during a heatwave in Athens, Greece, July 30, 2021. REUTERS/Costas Baltas
The Acropolis, which looks out over the capital, closed for a few hours as it does when temperatures rise, to protect tourists from the heat.
The heatwave was characterized as dangerous because it was expected to last several days – at least until next Friday, with the peak expected on Monday and Tuesday, said Theodoros Kolydas, head of the weather service.
Citizens’ Protection Minister Michalis Chrysochoidis warned of “extremely high temperatures” and urged people “to show the highest degree of responsibility and cooperation”.
He added: “I also want to appeal to our fellow citizens to avoid unnecessary travel in the heat but also unnecessary work.”
A man fishes during a heatwave in Alimos suburb, south of Athens, Greece, July 30, 2021. REUTERS/Costas Baltas
Earlier this month, Athens Mayor Kostas Bakoyiannis appointed a chief heat officer, the first in Europe, to help tackle extreme heat.
“Welcome to global warming! It’s very hot, it’s very oppressive,” said George Papabeis, a Greek-American tourist, as he made his way through central Athens.
More than 1,000 people died in 1987 in Greece’s deadliest heatwave, with scorching temperatures for over a week.
Firefighters have tackled more than 40 wildfires in the last 24 hours, the fire brigade said, fanned by winds and high temperatures. A raging blaze north of Athens on Tuesday burned at least a dozen homes before being brought under control.
The Milwaukee Bucks is becoming the new home for Greek players in the NBA after selecting Greek player Georgios Kalaitzakis in the NBA draft on Thursday.
Also selecting Sandro Mamukelashvili of Seton Hall, the Bucks made these moves a week after their parade that celebrated their first NBA title since 1971.
Milwaukee started the night with the 31st overall pick, the first selection of the second round. The Bucks selected 6-foot-10 forward Isaiah Todd but traded his draft rights to the Indiana Pacers. Todd, who played for the NBA G League Ignite this past season, later got traded to Washington.
Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) reacts during the second half of Game 6 of basketball’s NBA Finals against the Phoenix Suns in Milwaukee, Tuesday, July 20, 2021. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
The Bucks got two of the last seven picks in this year’s draft – No. 54 and No. 60 – as well as two future second-round picks. Mamukelashvili went 54th. Kalaitzakis was taken with the 60th and final pick in the draft.
Kalaitzakis is a 6-7 forward who spent the 2020-21 season with Panathinaikos of the Greek Basket League. The 22-year-old averaged 2.6 points, 1 rebound and 8.2 minutes in 27 games in the Greek Basket League and EuroLeague.
Haralambos ‘Harry’ Corones M.B.E was a “perennial”, “exuberant”, and “impish” hotelier, businessman, and freemason and is known as “the uncrowned king of the West”.
His career extended from cafés, silent-picture cinemas, vaudeville shows, all the way to hotels, but he’s best credited for naming Qantas’ first five aircrafts – Hermes, Atlanta, Apollo, Diana, and Hippomenes.
Corones also opened the first cinema in the remote suburb of Charleville in south-west Queensland.
His extensive legacy in the town is survived by the 90-year-old heritage-listed Hotel Corones.
Hotel Corones opened in 1929 and stands in Charleville today (Left: Hotel Corones) (Right: Fay Fordham on Pinterest)
Early life and career:
Haralambos ‘Harry’ Corones was born in Frylingianika, Kythera, Greece to fisherman Panayiotis Coroneos and Stamatea Freeleagus on 17 September, 1883.
Corones completed his military service as a first aid orderly at 21 years old. He emigrated to Sydney, Australia three years later and arrived on 10 August, 1907.
Six weeks later he moved to Brisbane to be with his mother’s relatives and work in the Freeleagus brothers’ oyster-saloon in George Street.
He moved to Charleville in 1909 where he bought and ran the Paris Café and a silent-picture cinema and vaudeville show with performers across New South Wales and Queensland in remote south-west Queensland.
He became an Australian citizen in June 1912 and married Eftehia, daughter of Father Seraphim Phocas, at the Holy Trinity Church in Sydney’s Surry Hills on 29 April, 1914.
His involvement with Qantas began when he bought 100 original shares in the company in 1922. He catered for the airline, supplying picnic hampers and sit-down meals for transit passengers in a converted hangar at Charleville airport.
Harry Corones and aviation pioneer Nancy Bird in Charleville, Queensland, 1935 (Photo: State Library of Queensland)
Hotels remained his focus, however. He leased and demolished the Norman in Charleville in July 1924 to begin construction of the 50,000 euro luxury Corones Hotel.
Hotels and aviation went hand in hand for Corones. Charleville was a stop-off point for the aviation industry and hosted a suite of visiting celebrities, including the Duke of Gloucester, Gracie Fields, and Peter Dawson.
In 1929, after five years of planning and construction, the new hotel contained a lounge and writing room, a dining-room for a hundred and fifty people, a private and a public bar, a barber’s shop and a magnificent ballroom seating 320 people at a banquet. Upstairs were ornate bathrooms, 40 rooms and a private lounge. It was “the best equipped and most up-to-date hotel outside the metropolis”.
There are now daily tours through the Hotel Corones celebrating the grand vision of architect William Hodgen and Corones himself.
Legacy:
Poppa and Nana Corones with three of their children (Photo via SBS Greek)
The Charleville Hospital nurses’ quarters were named the Harry Corones Block.
He served on local fire-brigade board along with the hospital’s board and was member of the original committee of the ambulance centre into his later years.
He was appointed as a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 1965.
Harry Corones died aged 88 on 22 March, 1972, at his resident hotel in Charleville.
His wife died two years later.
He is buried with Anglican rites in the local cemetery.
NSW Health’s Dr. Jan Fizzell and NSW Minister for Multiculturalism Natalie Ward fronted a weekly conference with multicultural media on Wednesday.
Australia’s vaccination rollout remained the primary topic of discussion as the state’s daily cases of COVID-19 continue to climb.
Dr. Jan Fizzell reminded the Greek Herald that people who would like to protect their families from COVID-19 can get the AstraZeneca vaccine now with or without a booking.
“Some workers (including border workers and health care workers) have had their families invited to come forward and be immunised because they’re at high risk,” Dr. Fizzell says.
She adds that the “small risk with the AstraZeneca vaccine” pales in comparison to “the very definite risk of COVID-19 infection”.
“If you are offered the vaccine and over 18, the best vaccine to get is the one that you can get in your arm.”
Minister Natalie Ward added that there is “no greater endorsement” of the AstraZeneca vaccine than from the state’s chief health officer Dr. Kerry Chant.
The pair went on to say they were “heartbroken” and “disappointed” at anti-lockdown protests in Sydney last weekend, with Dr. Fizzell taking the opportunity to remind the risks it posed in overwhelming the health care system.
“The equivalent of one of our big hospitals would have their entire intensive care unit full at the moment if we put all the COVID cases in one place,” Dr. Fizzell says.
“That’s a whole lot of beds that aren’t available for a whole lot of people who may need them.”
“There were more than 10,000 calls to Crime Stoppers about people who attended the protests, which is proof that the community absolutely rejects the actions of those people, Minister Ward added.
Minister Ward went on to promote the state’s pilot program of live interpretation of the daily COVID-19 public heath conferences in languages other than English and the NSW government’s $6 million funding package for asylum seekers in need of emergency support.
Ward says she is open to the idea of an elderly bubble, similar to the singles bubble, to facilitate care for elderly family members, with Fizzell reiterating NSW Health’s preference for a single designated carer.
Staff at one of South Australia’s biggest ‘super-spreader’ sites were recently moved to hotel quarantine for their final week of quarantine.
Joseph Vaccaro is a chef at the Greek on Halifax and says he was a week into his isolation period at home when he was contacted by SA Health on Monday.
“We were more than happy to do everything required from our own home, which is exactly what we were doing,” Mr Vaccaro tells Adelaide Now.
He was told he would be transferred to medi-hotel, the Pullman Hotel, despite testing negative for COVID-19.
“It was awkward, but it wasn’t unpleasant. Now it is totally unpleasant.”
A cleaner deep cleans the Greek on Halifax (Left: ABC News/Michael Clements) (Right:Picture by Emma Brasier)
Mr. Vaccaro worked in the kitchen at the Greek on Halifax on the night of July 17 when a positive case of COVID-19 visited the restaurant.
A staff member later tested positive.
Mr. Vaccaro describes SA Health’s move as an “absolute over-reaction” and a “complete farce” and says conditions inside the hotel are poor.
““I’ve been locked in this airtight room since Monday.”
He tells Adelaide Now that the kettle in his room was also replaced multiple times after it tripped the power.
He says the situation has also stressed his mother, who has Parkinsons and for whom he provides care.
About 100 people were moved to medi-hotels on the basis that they had been at high-risk “super spreader” sites.
72-year-old Pauline has been a resident of the Liverpool Local Government Area (LGA) for many years and was shocked when NSW Premier, Gladys Berejiklian, first announced her region would be subject to tougher stay-at-home orders during the current state lockdown.
She wasn’t alone. People from the seven other LGA’s of Canterbury-Bankstown, Fairfield, Cumberland, Blacktown, Parramatta, Campbelltown and Georges River have also joined a growing list of areas subjected to tougher restrictions of mandatory masks and a 5km travel limit, as well as an Authorised Workers Order. This means non-essential workers are prohibited from leaving their local area.
Add to this the other hundreds of thousands of residents across Greater Sydney, but outside the eight LGA’s, who are also still only able to leave their homes for essential shopping, medical care, exercise, or essential work and education, and it’s no surprise that morale is low and frustration with the lockdown is growing.
A higher police presence is expected across south-west and western Sydney today to enforce the tighter restrictions.
“I don’t go out that much and for me it was more about staying at home, keeping safe and keeping my daughter safe,” Pauline, who lives with her daughter, tells The Greek Herald exclusively.
“I am lucky because my daughter does everything. She does the shopping and I mean we’ve cut down on a lot of things. We only go and get the essentials. I say to her, ‘go in and get out and come home’ and that’s it.
“We haven’t seen any family members at all either. We just ring everybody up. I’ll get phone calls from sister-in-laws, from brother-in-laws, my granddaughter and grandson and he writes, ‘I miss you yiayia, I miss you’.”
Separation from family and friends:
This form of separation from family and friends is not uncommon during the recent lockdown in NSW.
In fact, according to Elfa Moraitakis, who is the CEO of SydWest, a leading multicultural organisation servicing Greater Western Sydney, feelings of isolation amongst communities are growing.
“The City’s steadily growing population of older people finds a lot of seniors – especially the ones with no families – totally isolated,” Ms Moraitakis, who is also a Director of Settlement Services International and of the NSW Council of Social Services (NCOSS), tells The Greek Herald.
“At SydWest we run 15 language specific seniors social support groups. Why do we assume that they are all digitally connected and with families? They are suffering.”
Ms Moraitakis stresses there has also been a rise in instances of domestic violence, and more people are experiencing financial distress.
“A large number of individuals cannot access disaster payments because they are receiving some form of Centerlink benefit to supplement their low income,” she says.
“There are frontline workers that need to come in and out of the LGAs in lockdown to look after seniors and people with disabilities, people with severe mental health problems, homeless or at risk of becoming homeless, and they are not entitled to assistance.
“This is the reason why recently we joined ACOSS in urging the government to lift the bar in accessing these payments.”
‘It was a little community effort’:
And what about her thoughts on the recent COVID-19 vaccination messaging by the NSW and Federal Governments?
Ms Moraitakis says a recent survey undertaken by SydWest and NCOSS showed how multicultural communities find public health information “confusing” and they don’t go to government websites for their information. Rather, people are turning to their trusted community leaders for accuracy of information and sharing of knowledge.
“These community leaders are our priests, the leaders of our ethno-specific organisations, GPs and high-profile members of the communities,” she explains.
Some people say they have been confused by the NSW and Federal Government’s vaccine messages. Photo: AAP Image/Mick Tsikas.
“Government and government bodies can utilise organisations such as ours to filter through the messages to community. Our connections on the ground are very strong and our relationships trusted.”
In Pauline’s case, she’s about to book in for her AstraZeneca vaccine at her local GP and she says she heard all about the government’s vaccination program through “word of mouth.”
“Neighbours were ringing me and telling me where I could get it done. It was mostly by word of mouth. All the neighbours go to the same doctor here… so it was a little community effort,” Pauline says.
“My doctor… gives out the AstraZeneca so it’s just a matter of ringing and making a booking, but I’m all for it. I have to get vaccinated.”
If you have symptoms or questions about COVID-19, call the National Coronavirus Health Information Lineon 1800 020 080. If you require translating or interpreting services, call 131 450.
You can also check for your vaccine eligibility here.
Victorian Police are continuing to investigate the disappearance and suspected murder of an Adelaide bikie associate one year on.
Hells Angels bikie associate Kerry Giakoumis, aged 29, was last seen attending the Hells Angels Nomads headquarters in Thomastown on the morning of 10 June last year.
Adelaide Hells Angels associate Kerry Giakoumis in Melbourne four days before he went missing, presumed murdered. Picture: Victoria Police (Photos: Victoria Police)
“It is understood that there are mixed feelings about the disappearance and the issue has caused conflict among high-ranking officials of the club in both states,’’ Victorian homicide squad Detective Inspector Andrew Stamper said.
Mr. Giakoumis regularly spoke with his family in South Australia over these five days after he told them that he was moving with the intention to work as a concreter.
His mother had booked a flight for him to return to South Australia on the day he went missing.
A former gang associate and close friend of Mr Giakoumis urges Adelaide Hells Angels members to assist police.
“Kerry has lifelong friends in the north crew that aren’t happy about it. It’s time for them to step up,’’ the friend said last month.
“If they were his real mates, they would want him found and closure for his family … They call each other bros but if you leave one behind, that’s not cool. You don’t do that to someone.’’
Police execute a warrant at the Thomastown clubhouse of the Hells Angels (Photo: Victoria Police)
What do we know about the investigations?
Victoria Police continue to treat Mr. Giakoumis’ disappearance as ‘suspicious’ and ‘out of character’, with intensive investigations indicating he may have been lured to Melbourne.
Victoria Police believe it is almost certain Kerry has met with foul play following ‘some kind of dispute’ but have so far been unable to establish a motive for murder.
In June last year, detectives from the Homicide Squad and Echo Taskforce executed warrants at a number of properties including what’s known as the Hells Angels’ enforcement arm in Thomastown.
Detectives are yet to locate Kerry or charge anyone in relation to his disappearance despite their efforts over the past 12 months.
They understand that Kerry was not a patched member of the Hells Angels at the time of his disappearance.
Victorian detectives are appealing for anyone who may aid their investigation to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or make a confidential report at www.crimestoppersvic.com.au
