In a recent meeting between the Federal Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs, the Hon Alex Hawke, and Greek Community of Melbourne (GCM) President, Bill Papastergiadis, a number of important matters were discussed including the opening of international borders and the status of the much-muted vaccination passport.
Despite this being his first meeting with the GCM, Minister Hawke said, “I am aware of the GCM’s outreach and programs and I commend the GCM for its work.’
Minister Hawke welcomed the GCM’s interest in community affairs and invited the GCM President to continue to advocate and reach out to him and the Government on all matters of relevance. The GCM’s advocacy on the recently announced negotiations with Greece on a tax treaty is a pertinent example.
The Minister then spoke of the great vaccination program across the nation that had picked up speed and expressed confidence it would hit targets in the coming weeks and months.
Minister Hawke (left) met with Bill Papastergiadis. Photo supplied.
The Minister empathised with the stress being felt by many over the international border closures noting, ”I understand the dislocation that the border closures have had on the Greek and other ethnic communities, not only with cancellations of travel but in particular with the disruption of family re-unions, but I believe that there is light at the end of the tunnel.”
Minister Hawke noted that, “the Government was working hard on both international borders and vaccination passports.”
On vaccinations, Bill Papastergiadis briefed the Minister about the successful hub the GCM ran in Thornbury recently and that the GCM was working with Minister Hunt on further instituting more of these in the next few weeks.
Bill also congratulated the Minister on his work to allow a larger partner immigration intake this year given the downturn in skilled migration due to the pandemic. Minister Hawke reiterated the Governments keenness to make it to pre-pandemic migration levels as soon as was safely possible.
Finally, the Minister who spoke of his Greek heritage, responded to an invitation to visit with the GCM at its landmark Greek Centre in the near future with an undertaking to try and make it his first trip out of lockdown.
Aftershocks continue to rattle Greece’s largest island Crete two days after a strong earthquake that killed one-person, damaged hundreds of buildings and left many homeless.
The strongest tremor was measured at 5.3 magnitude at 7:48 a.m. (0448 GMT) on Tuesday, the Athens observatory said, as Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis prepared to visit the area.
A preliminary inspection has shown around a thousand buildings were damaged in Monday’s quake, which struck at a depth of just 10 kilometres (6.2 miles).
The epicentre was near the agricultural town of Arkalochori, where a man was killed inside a church that collapsed and nearly a dozen other people were injured.
Authorities have put up tents to host hundreds of people whose homes are deemed unsafe to return to at present, and have also made dozens of hotel rooms available.
‘A very difficult night’
Iraklio resident and tourism small business owner Dimitris Marathianos said that “it was a very difficult night.”
“The situation is better here compared to Arkalochori in terms of damages but the aftershocks are strong and keep us awake all night. People spend the nights outside of their homes because they don’t feel safe,” Marathianos told The Greek Herald.
Mr Marathianos also expressed concerns that the quakes might affect the tourism industry.
“Most tourists are terrified. The hotels are busy and I hope this nightmare ends soon so we can keep working to make up for the lockdowns we went through and the reduced traffic we experienced this summer,” he said.
Iraklio resident, Iraklis Zografakis
Another Iraklio resident and coffee shop owner Iraklis Zografakis said that the government mechanism was mobilised quickly and tents have been set up in the area for the families who lost their homes.
“The earth shakes and we can’t relax here at Iraklio. Our children are safe because schools are closed but we are on high alert.”
Local residents Maria Liondou and Katerina Kalaitzaki say that “they hope the worse has passed.”
Message of support from the Cretans of Australia and New Zealand
In a letter to their fellow Cretans who are going through difficult times Cretan Federation of Australia and New Zealand say they will support their home country.
“The President Mr. Antonis Tsourdalakis and the Board of Directors of the Cretan Federation of Australia and New Zealand express their full support to the people of Crete for the recent earthquake that hit our island,” reads the letter.
“The Cretan Associations of Oceania and all the Cretans of Australia are on the side of the earthquake victims and will support our compatriots in any way requested. We pray to God to protect the inhabitants of the island, to keep them well and give them strength to face the current situation.
“We hope that there will be no further seismic vibrations and that the wounds left by the eclipse will be dealt with immediately by the state.
France and Greece on Tuesday announced a defense deal worth around 3 billion euros ($3.5 billion), including Athens’ decision to buy three French warships as part of a strategy to boost its defense capacities in the Eastern Mediterranean amid recurring tensions with longtime foe Turkey.
French President, Emmanuel Macron, and Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, announced a defense and security strategic partnership in a joint news conference in Paris.
“This partnership expresses our will to increase and intensify our cooperation in the defense and security sector based on our mutual interests,” Macron said. It will “help protect the sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity of both states.”
Greece will purchase three French frigates to be built by defense contractor Naval Group in Lorient, in western France. The deal includes an option for the acquisition of a fourth frigate.
Η σημερινή εξέλιξη αποτελεί και μία πρωτοβουλία που ανταποκρίνεται σε αιτήματα των καιρών στην ήπειρό μας. Γιατί Ελλάδα και Γαλλία κάνουν σήμερα ένα πρώτο τολμηρό βήμα προς την ευρωπαϊκή στρατηγική αυτονομία. pic.twitter.com/mm9HzYN1yO
Mitsotakis said it comes “out of national motivation to shield our country,” but also has “a European motive as it strengthens our common defense industry.”
“Greece and France are today taking a bold first step towards European strategic autonomy,” he added, saying it’s paving the way towards “a Europe that … will be able to defend (its interests) in the wider region, in the eastern Mediterranean, in the Middle East.”
Mitsotakis and Macron gave a joint press conference.
When asked whether this deal risked raising tensions in the eastern Mediterranean, Macron said the accord did not target a country specifically, but Greece, as the outer border of the European Union needed to be protected.
In response to the deal, Greece’s main opposition party, SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance, said on Tuesday the agreement “is strategically sound” but the country will “pay dearly” for it due the Conservative government’s delays in completing the talks that had started in 2018.
“We wonder, beyond the Navy’s needed frigates and the Air Force’s upgrade of F-16s, whether other defense choices are of such priority, and whether they exceed our economy’s expenditure capacities,” SYRIZA said.
‘Stop being naive’:
During the press conference, Macron also said Europe needs to stop being naive when it comes to defending its interests and build its own military capacity.
French President Emmanuel Macron. Photo: Ludovic Marin/Pool via Reuters.
France was plunged into an unprecedented diplomatic crisis with the United States, Australia and Britain earlier this month over a trilateral nuclear security deal which sank a multi-billion dollar French-designed submarine contract with Canberra.
That has caused much soul searching in Paris over its traditional alliances. Speaking for the first time on the issue, Macron on Tuesday seized the opportunity to urge for more European autonomy as Washington increasingly reorientates its interests towards China and the Indo-Pacific.
“The Europeans must stop being naive. When we are under pressure from powers, which at times harden (their stance) , we need to react and show that we have the power and capacity to defend ourselves. Not escalating things, but protecting ourselves,” Macron said.
“This isn’t an alternative to the United States alliance. It’s not a substitution, but to take responsibility of the European pillar within NATO and draw the conclusions that we are asked to take care of our own protection.”
Fronditha Care is excited to announce that it has opened its new 90 bed residential facility in St Albans, with more than 60 residents already enjoying their new rooms and luxurious, surrounds.
Faye Spiteri-Tsolakis OAM, Fronditha Care CEO, noted:
“The team went to great lengths to guarantee the new building was ready for residents as soon as practicable. Despite ongoing lockdowns and imposed restrictions, it has delivered the $22M project before its due date. The completion of the St Albans facility, during the global COVID -19 pandemic is a real testament to the team and Fronditha Care’s commitment to ensuring residents have the best care in the most wonderful accommodation and environment possible.”
The main entrance of Fronditha Care St Albans.
Fronditha Care’s St Albans residential facility will offer an environment where residents receive a high standard of professional, individual, and respectful care with lifestyle services designed to benefit everyone. Residents will also be able to enjoy movies in a private theatre, a great library, a charming chapel, private function rooms, hair salon services and several garden and courtyard areas.
Spiteri -Tsolakis OAM added: “We are absolutely thrilled with the new building and our staff are very much looking forward to welcoming new residents.”
A 30-bed-memory support unit, designed in consultation with Dementia Australia, will cater for elderly living with dementia. The memory support wing is proudly named after Evangelos and Elli Ioannou, who generously bequeathed $850,000 to Fronditha Care.
Fronditha Care’s President Jill Taylor (Nikitakis), with CEO Faye Spiteri- Tsolakis OAM, EGM Residential Care Jim Scantsonihas, Fronditha Care St Albans management and residents during the ribbon cutting in St Albans.
Fronditha Care’s President, Jill Taylor (Nikitakis), added “I want to thank the Fronditha Care family and the community for their ongoing support. It’s a big milestone for all of us, and the resident’s joy, seeing the delight on their faces in their new home is so touching. I am very proud of what we have achieved through our collective efforts.”
Fronditha Care looks forward to celebrating this great milestone with residents, families, supporters and the community once restrictions in Melbourne have eased.
Fronditha Care opened its first facility in St Albans in 1997, caring for 30 residents. An additional 30 beds were added in 1999, bringing the total number to 60, which included a 13-bed memory support unit. Following a successful ACAR bid another 30 beds were allocated to Fronditha Care by the Federal Government in 2017.
Mari Velonaki is a researcher in the field of robotics and she shares with The Greek Herald how machines can be applied to many everyday life scenarios to make things much easier and help us move towards a more inclusive society.
Mrs Velonaki is a highly distinguished expert in the area of human-robot interaction. She is one of the co-founders of the Centre of Social Robotics and the Director of the Creative Robotics Lab. She was also a major contributor of the “Fish-Bird: Autonomous Interactions in a Contemporary Arts Setting” project in 2003. And these are but a few on the long list of her achievements.
Speaking to The Greek Herald, Mrs Velonaki tells us why she first got into the field and what it was that attracted her interest:
Robotics researcher Mari Velonaki is working to create a society where robots help people live better lives. Photos courtesy of UNSW.
“My undergraduate degree was in responsive systems, it was in a cultural context in media. So, after doing that for quite some time, I moved to robotics. Post my PhD, I was interested in working with physical agents that share the same space (with people),” she says.
“I started working in robotics, I designed the first robot Fish-Bird in 2003 and my first academic position was at the Australia Centre for Field Robotics at the University of Sydney in the same year.
“So that was my transition from designing interactive systems to designing physical systems. I started social robotics in Australia in 2003. Up to that point, social robotics as a terminology didn’t even exist and now it’s become mainstream and that’s wonderful.
“What we identify as “social robotics” are robotic systems, designed with the public as a user. Not for experts, not for factories, but systems that are designed to interact with people, to interact with society in their daily activities and hopefully enhance those activities. Hopefully. We’re not there yet.”
These are just a few of the robots that Mari Velonaki and her team have been working on. Source: UNSW
But in what ways can robots further enhance our daily lives? According to Mrs. Velonaki and the work she’s doing with her team, there are many things that machines could help us with.
“Of course this is filtered by my own personal belief system but the three areas that we’re working on and we think robotics could be useful [in], are assistive technologies, culture and education, for example in museums [but not replacing teachers as part of learning] and the third one would be in human futures, which is a much bigger area,” she says.
“A near future robot, for me, would be an autonomous car for example. Because an autonomous car would have an agency, not now that we’re still in semi-autonomy, but the next generation that could scan outwards in order to understand how to move on its own, but also inwards, to see if people are comfortable in the car. I think transportation is one (area) within the human futures (field) which is also assistive.
Mari Velonaki. Photos courtesy of UNSW.
“But assistive technologies could expand to other areas such as rehabilitation and that’s something that can be applied for all people. Again though, I would like to point out that I don’t believe that robots should replace people, so the model of an anthropomorphic robot that is your nurse or the neighbour that you don’t have is not the one that I believe in. Replacing humans is not what we set out to do, unless there’s a special reason for it, like safety for example.”
In order to move closer to such a scenario, where robots comprehend human emotions to such an extent that they operate in response to them, there’s a fear within some people that these machines may begin to gain their own level of consciousness.
But the robotics expert doesn’t put much weight on such a hypothesis.
“I don’t think that robots are becoming more responsive to human emotions. When we talk about human emotions and social robots, emotions are with double quotation marks. Machines don’t have emotions,” Mrs Velonaki says.
Mari Velonaki with some of her robots. Photos courtesy of UNSW.
“I know there’s all these other fields of technology and people who are asking “are they learning?” Look, everyone has a preference but, realistically, I don’t believe a machine can have emotions. That’s why I don’t believe in “evil” AI or “evil” robots.”
As for the one thing that she hopes to achieve by the end of her career, Mrs Velonaki has a very important goal in mind:
“My vision with the national facility is to create systems that enhance our experiences, that are playful, not strictly utilitarian, that embrace our humanity, what it means to be a person. Even when you use machines that are creative,” she says.
“But I would also like to see an expansion of what we presume as a public space by making room for people from various areas such as different age groups, different disabilities, etc, to partake and feel that they belong, that they’re not the ones with the difficulty and get that sense of inclusion from these spaces. Because all of us have abilities and disabilities and things we can and cannot do and that’s where the field of robotics comes in and helps to fill that part in.”
Emerging Sydney fintech, Avenue Bank, has been granted a restricted banking licence by the financial regulator APRA.
Avenue was founded by entrepreneurs, Colin Porter and Dale Hurley. In July last year, it recruited former Commonwealth Bank executive, George Confos, as CEO.
Avenue proceeded to raise $37 million in a Series B funding round, which closed last February.
The digital bank is backed by Sherman Ma’s Liberty Financial Group and is looking to push into the small-medium business lending territory currently dominated by Judo Bank and fintechs such as Prospa.
The APRA approval means Avenue can offer short-term working capital lending to SMEs. The neobank is hoping for a full licence by mid 2022.
Avenue will also use the Series B money to build its core banking technology and activate its launch plans.
Avenue co-founders Dale Hurley and Colin Porter with CEO George Confos.
Avenue CEO, George Confos, said the impacts of the pandemic lockdowns had improved the company’s value proposition and their mission remains the same – to explore more ways to leverage the company’s position as a bank and offer unique services in the market.
“Avenue’s innovative and digitally enabled product suite will deliver a much-needed cash injection to help Australian businesses. We’re solving real problems for real people, focusing initially on small and medium-sized enterprises,” Mr Confos said.
The company, he added, had the potential to inject some “much-needed competition into the underserviced SME sector.”
“It’s time small businesses had access to a new kind of bank which finds more ways for small businesses to access valuable cash flow,” Mr Confos said.
“We have fresh ideas to solve an age-old problem SMEs continue to face.”
On September 28, 480 BC, the Battle of Salamis, which is one of the most famous naval battles of antiquity, took place. During the battle in the straits of Salamis, the Greeks, under the leadership of Themistocles, defeated the mighty Persian fleet.
Before the Battle:
After the fall of Thermopylae, the Persians of King Xerxes advanced on Athens and easily occupied the city because the Athenians had abandoned it.
The Athenians had heard from the Oracle of Delphi that only “wooden walls” would save them and they considered their ships as such, to which they resorted for battle.
Only a few elders who did not believe the “wooden walls” were the ships, stayed in Athens, locked themselves in the Acropolis and built real wooden walls around them. When the Persians arrived, they killed them and burned Athens.
The Battle of Salamis begins.
Meanwhile, the Persian fleet was anchored in the bay of Faliro, having sailed to Evia and Sounio.
The Athenians, after transporting their women and children to Aegina for more safety, boarded their ships and prepared for confrontation with the Persians.
The war council of the Greeks, which took place at Salamis, was stormy. The Spartan, Eurybiades, suggested the naval battle be fought in the Isthmus of Corinth, with the main argument that in case of failure they could take refuge inside the Peloponnese and continue the fight from there. The Corinthians supported him.
The Athenian, Themistocles, insisted that the naval battle be fought in Salamis and the Megarians and the Aeginians joined him. He believed that if the small Greek forces fought on the high seas with the huge Persian fleet they had no hope of victory. On the contrary, it was an ideal place for naval battle in the Strait of Salamis, where the numerous Persian ships could not grow in number.
The plan for the Battle of Salamis.
The Battle of Salamis:
Eurybiades may have been formally the leader of the Greek forces, but Themistocles was the mastermind of the operation.
In order to speed up the naval battle, he used the following trick: He secretly sent Sikinos’ teacher to the Persians to tell them that the Greeks were supposedly preparing to leave Salamis and if they wanted to defeat them, they would need to rush to catch them.
Xerxes fell into the trap and ordered the Greek fleet to be surrounded and to block its retreat to the Isthmus of Corinth.
The Persians lined up around 1,200 warships, although newer sources estimate them at 600 to 800, while the Greeks had about 371 triremes, according to Herodotus.
At the dawn of September 28 or 29, 480 BC the two fleets found each other facing each other, ready for naval battle. Xerxes, confident of his victory, sat on a golden throne on Mount Egaleo to enjoy the spectacle of war.
The Battle of Salamis, being watched by Xerxes, King of the Persians.
The Greeks were the first to rush. Their war songs, the trumpets, the war cries, the fires aimed at the Persian ships, the smoke, but above all the bravery of the Greeks, saw victory begin to lean towards them.
The battle continued all day, until at night the sea was full of wood and Persian bodies. The Persians had been defeated. Diodorus of Sicily reports that the Persians lost 200 ships and the Greeks 40.
During the naval battle, Aristides in a parallel operation landed in Psyttalia with a group of select Athenian hoplites and destroyed the Persian garrison.
After the Battle:
Xerxes, ashamed of the defeat, took refuge with the remnants of his fleet in the Hellespont. In Greece, his general Mardonios remained with 300,000 men to continue the fight. The Persians had not yet had their last word.
The glorious victory of the Greeks is largely due to the strategy of Themistocles and the superior naval art of the Greeks. The Athenian politician and general was awarded exceptional honours.
When he once attended the Olympic Games as a spectator, all those present adored him as the saviour of Greece.
Greek authorities set up tents for the homeless residents of the village of Arkalohori in southern Crete on Monday evening, after an earthquake registering 5.8 on the Richter scale killed one person and injured 20.
The majority of the old buildings in Arkalohori sustained heavy damage and were deemed unsafe. Tents were also set up at villages along the municipality of Minoas Pediadas, where hundreds of homes have been damaged.
Tents have been set up in the village of Arkalohori. Photo: Intime News.
The Athens Geodynamic Institute said the 5.8 magnitude quake struck at 9:17 a.m, with an epicenter 246 kilometers south southeast of the Greek capital, Athens.
The quake sent people fleeing into the streets in the city of Iraklio, and schools were evacuated. Repeated aftershocks — described by witnesses as feeling like small explosions — rattled the area, adding to damage in villages near the epicenter.
Aftermath of an earthquake in Arkalochori, eastern Crete, Greece, 27 September 2021. Photo: Nikos Chalkiadakis/EPA.
“The earthquake was strong and was long in duration,” Iraklio mayor, Vassilis Lambrinos, told private Antenna television.
Of the 20 people treated for injuries, ten of them received first aid according to hospital officials.
Greece’s Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Ministry said one man had been killed. He was pulled from the rubble of a partially collapsed church in Arkalochori, authorities said.
Firefighters stand next to a demolished Greek Orthodox church of Profitis Ilias after a strong earthquake in Arkalochori village. Photo: AP Photo/Harry Nikos.
Local media said the victim was a 65-year-old builder who had been working inside the church when the roof collapsed on him.
Government spokesman, Giannis Oikonomou, said there were no reports of people missing or trapped under rubble.
Climate Crisis and Civil Protection, Christos Stylianides, arrived at the area on Monday afternoon, heading the team that oversees the reconstruction work. He declared a state of emergency in the area.
An elderly man stands inside his house after a strong earthquake in Roussochoria village, Crete. Photo: AP Photo/Harry Nakos.
The fire department said it was flying 30 members of its disaster response units with sniffer dogs and specialized rescue equipment to Crete, while all its disaster response units and the fire department services on Crete were placed on general alert.
Numerous aftershocks struck the area, with the EMSC giving a preliminary magnitude of 4.6 for the two strongest.
Greece lies in one of the most seismically active parts of the world, but strong quakes that cause extensive loss of life or widespread damage are rare. In 1999, an earthquake just outside Athens killed 143 people.
France and Greece will sign a major defense deal on Tuesday — a signal Paris is cementing military ties within Europe after a diplomatic falling out with Australia and the US over a canceled submarine contract.
The new deal will include commitments from Greece to purchase roughly €5 billion worth of French warships and fighter jets, as well as a clause on mutual defense assistance, according to three Greek government officials.
Greece’s Prime Minister (right) and France’s President met in France on Monday.
“We are heading towards a substantial deepening of the strategic cooperation between Greece and France,” Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, told semi-official broadcaster ERT in an interview from the French capital on Monday evening.
The partnership occurs in the shadow of a diplomat blow for France. Nearly two weeks ago, Australia, the US and the UK unveiled a surprise military pact, known as AUKUS, that prompted Canberra to rip up a €50 billion submarine deal with Paris.
For Greece, the agreement is the latest step in a military buildup for the country, spurred on by growing tensions with Turkey in the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean Seas.
Greece has already agreed to buy 24 Rafale warplanes from French planemaker Dassault Aviation.
Greece has already agreed to buy 24 Rafale warplanes from French planemaker Dassault Aviation, 12 of them used.
The deal will likely include six warships — three frigates and three corvettes set to start arriving in 2025 — with the option of two or three more ships in the future, according to Politico. Greece is also expected to purchase six more Rafale fighter jets.
The mutual defense clause contents were not available on Monday, leaving open the big question of whether or how France will commit to backing Greece if tensions flare up again with Turkey.
Au Musée du Louvre pour l’inauguration de l’exposition Paris-Athènes. Merci cher @KMitsotakis pour ta présence aujourd’hui. Un lien unique et intime unit la France et la Grèce. De nos racines, de nos imaginaires, de nos repères, nous partageons beaucoup. pic.twitter.com/y7TYwwEtDE
This news comes as Mitsotakis was returning from the UN General Assembly in New York and stopped in France on Monday to meet French President, Emmanuel Macron. The two leaders inaugurated the exhibition “Paris-Athens: Birth of Modern Greece” at the Louvre Museum.
On Tuesday, Greek Foreign Minister, Nikos Dendias, and Defense Minister, Nikos Panagiotopoulos, will be in Paris, where they are expected to sign the deal, according to government officials.
A strong earthquake with an initial magnitude 6.0 rattled the Greek Island of Crete on Monday morning, the European Mediterranean Seismological Center (EMSC) said.
An elderly man has died while he was doing maintenance works on the church of Profitis Ilias in Arkalochori, Heraklion. Another worker who was with him in the church escaped unscathed.
Local media report that two people are trapped in buildings and nine are injured.
The dust in the distance is from the 5.8R #earthquake that just hit #Crete this morning.
At only 10km depth, we REALLY FELT this one.
All good over here – just a few shattered picture frames.
According to the Fire Department, out of the nine injured, seven are minor and were transported for first aid to the Health Center, while two have fractures and were taken to hospital.
The EMSC initially reported that the quake had a magnitude of 6.5, adjusting the magnitude to 6.0 shortly thereafter, with a depth of 6.2 miles (10km). The epicentre was reported to be 16 miles south south east of the city of Heraklion.
A number of aftershocks have also struck the area, with the strongest one registering a magnitude of 4.6 according to the EMSC.
Local media in Crete have reported that some old buildings had experienced structural damage, with walls collapsing in villages near the epicentre.
Vassilis Lambrinos, the mayor of Heraklion, told Greek Skai television that all schools had been evacuated to check for structural damage.
Holidaymakers were also evacuated from their hotels in Crete.
