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Anthony Albanese MP – Opinion: Labor’s four-step plan to tackle COVID

The Greek Herald
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Anthony Albanese MP – Opinion: Labor’s four-step plan to tackle COVID

One thing Labor has learned from tackling past global crises is that a plan for Australia to get through this crisis has to be more than just a plan in name.

A genuine plan to get us through Covid-19 involves expertise, learning from past mistakes, addressing the problems of the present and anticipating the challenges of the future.

This is what underpins Labor’s four-part approach to overcoming the pandemic: a speedy vaccination rollout, a safe end to lockdowns, protecting our children and, armed with the best expert advice, preparing for what’s coming.

Those preparations mean avoiding own goals such as the one the Government scored when it rebuffed an approach from Pfizer in June last year offering early access to its vaccine.

Scott Morrison talks a lot about hope, but yet when hope came knocking, they locked the door. The first step must be speeding up the vaccination rollout.

Labor’s proposal of a $300 payment to every fully vaccinated Australian would plant a foot on the accelerator.

Experience shows that incentives like this work. It would put a jab in the arms of Australians and a shot in the arm of the economy.

Compared to the costs that lockdowns inflict on our nation every week, the price tag for such a program would be far less. It will be an effective investment in our nation’s future.

As we speed up the initial vaccinations, we also need to be securing booster shots.

Those first two jabs are essential, but they are not the end of the story.

Vaccination leave for those who need it is another crucial ingredient.

We need to remove every conceivable obstacle that might stand between an Australian and their jab.

Speedy vaccinations and fair access to vaccines are the road to the safe ending of lockdowns.

Nobody wants lockdowns to last a day longer than they have to.

That is why Labor is supporting the national plan while seeking to strengthen it. A faster route to the safe ending of lockdowns would be an effective world class national contact tracing COVIDSafe app. Such an app would be one of the practical ways whereby we could ensure our contact tracers are world class and support businesses, which want to protect their customers and their workers.

The third part of our plan is the protection of our children, not least vaccinating 12 to 15-year-olds.

Canada is one country that has treated it as a race and has already fully vaccinated 60 per cent of that age group.

The most effective way for us to emulate their success is through a school-based program and that is something we should be preparing right now.

The Government needs to either include them in national targets or specify vaccine targets for that age group.

Children should be vaccinated quickly, and their parents deserve to know when – not least the great many dealing with the added stresses of home schooling.

We desperately want to see our children back at school, but not if it involves putting them at risk of coming home with COVID.

We also need to secure a paediatric vaccine supply for children aged under 12 to prepare for when vaccines are approved for this age group.

The US Government entered into an agreement with Pfizer in June to ensure doses are available for 65 million children there when approval is given.

We should also make sure our schools are properly ventilated to minimise the risk of COVID spread.

Anthony Albanese.

Fourth, we need to prepare for the future – and part of that has to be manufacturing mRNA vaccines here.

The pandemic has been a wake-up call to us all, reminding us how risky it is for Australia to be the last link in the global supply chain.

We cannot be content pleading for leftovers from nations that did plan ahead.

We have the people, the talent and the resources to stand on our own feet.

We also need purpose-built quarantine.

As the old quarantine station on the North Head of Sydney Harbour reminds us, it is part of our heritage. It was the right idea then, it is the right idea now.

Throughout the pandemic, Labor has made constructive proposals.

In that spirit, let’s learn from the mistakes made with vaccines and quarantine.

Australia needs certainty going forward.

Let’s ensure we have the comprehensive plan that gives it.

ANTHONY ALBANESE MP
LEADER OF THE AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY
MEMBER FOR GRAYNDLER

This opinion piece was first published in The Daily Telegraph on Friday, 17 September 2021.


Edith Piaf and Dimitris Horn: Their Athens meeting and the passionate love letter

Andriana Simos
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Edith Piaf and Dimitris Horn: Their Athens meeting and the passionate love letter

It’s a love story not many know about. France’s great cultural icon, Edith Piaf, meets with Greek stage and movie actor, Dimitris Horn, and later sends him a passionate letter saying she would “give everything up” for him.

Piaf met Horn at a tour stop in Athens in 1946, the year she released her signature song La Vie en Rose. 

Later, in a letter dated September 20, 1946, Piaf, who was then 31 and at the height of her fame, proclaimed her everlasting love for “My Taki.”

“I love you as I have never loved anyone, Taki, don’t break my heart,” she writes to Horn, urging him to visit her in London or Paris.

Edith Piaf wrote a letter to Horn.

“I would like to live very near you, I think that I could make you happy and also believe that I understand you very well. I know that I am capable of giving everything up for you.”

The letter was partially released ahead of an auction by Vergos Auctions in Athens in 2009. It was kept under lock and key in the Greek capital along with a telegram, marked “urgent” and also addressed to Horn.

In the telegram, sent two months later, the clearly infatuated chanteuse again declares her love for the up-and-coming thespian, beseeching him to write to her under the name Mme Bigard at 26 Rue Berry.

But it seems the love affair had waned by that time, as there is no evidence Horn responded in kind and both had other lovers.

Dimitris Horn.

Horn had a longstanding romance with a popular Greek actress and married twice before his death in 1998. He never spoke publicly about his acquaintance with Piaf.

READ MORE: On this day in 1998, Greek actor Dimitris Horn died.

Piaf met the European middleweight boxer, Marcel Cerdan, who, of Piaf’s many lovers, was considered to be her greatest. She died of cancer in 1963, aged 47.

In the end, officials at the Greek auction house told CBC that the handwritten letter and envelope, along with the telegram and a theatre program from a performance Piaf gave in Greece, were sold for $2,702 AUD to a private collector.

“We will never know how Horn felt [about Piaf], but with their blind passion these manuscripts testify that it was clearly a case of love at first sight for Piaf,” Petros Vergos, Greece’s leading auctioneer, said.

Academic Nikos Papastergiadis to analyse Christos Tsiolkas’ work in upcoming event

John Voutos
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Academic Nikos Papastergiadis to analyse Christos Tsiolkas’ work in upcoming event

Nikos Papastergiadis will analyse Christos Tsiolkas’ body of work in an online event on 23 September.

‘Facing the fall: humanism after nihilism in Christos Tsiolkas’ writing’ will run as part of the Greek Community of Melbourne’s Greek history and culture seminars.

“The novels of Christos Tsiolkas provide a powerful portrayal of the hollowing out of radical political ideologies and the disaggregation of cultural bonds,” Papastergiadis writes in a press release. 

“In this lecture, I contrast the ambivalent resort to nihilism (the rejection of religious and moral principles) in Tsiolkas’s work with the theoretical commentary by [philosophers Peter] Sloterdijk and [Slavoj] Žižek’s.”

Nikos Papastergiadis is an alumnus of the University of Cambridge and is currently an academic at the University of Melbourne’s school of culture and communications. 

He is the author of six books, 10 collections, and numerous essays spanning three decades. 

His work often philosophies about migration, displacement, and multiculturalism in the modern world. 

Tsiolkas is the author of nine books, including the novel Damascus about St Saul of Tarsus.  

The event will be simulcasted on YouTube Live, Facebook Live, and Twitter Broadcast and a Q&A session will follow. 

Leading researcher Antigone Kouris explains why Greeks have low mortality rates

John Voutos
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Leading researcher Antigone Kouris explains why Greeks have low mortality rates

With over 50 published papers and 1300 citations, 3 published books, and 35 coauthored chapters in 7 university books, Dr. Antigone Kouris-Blazos is one of Australia’s most well-established dieticians. 

Dr. Antigone Kouris-Blazos is a second-generation Greek Australian researcher who has filled the post of associate professor at La Trobe University’s school of rehabilitation, nutrition, and sport since 2011. 

She is a practicing dietician with over 30 years of experience as a clinician, researcher, author, and educator.

Dr. Kouris-Blazos has been in her post at La Trobe University for 10 years (Photo: latrobe.edu.au)

She is based in Melbourne and says her interest in healthy eating came from her parents who migrated from Athens to Australia.

“Even though we did eat quite a bit of meat, my parents were quite careful. We rarely barbequed meat, they kept sugar dense foods like soft drinks out of the house, and my mum, like most other migrants, made us eat legume-based meals twice a week,” she tells the Greek Herald.

“They had a different outlook and my parents were very well educated. That plays into how you view food and health.” 

Dr. Kouris-Blazos’ landmark PhD was the first study to show that adherence to a Mediterranean diet pattern in old age conferred longevity.

The cross-cultural, international study Diet and overall survival in elderly people, published in the British Medical Journal in 1995, collected the data of 182 elderly residents across three rural Greek villages, including a village 20 kilometres from the capital of Athens called Spata.

Kouris-Blazos was a part of a landmark collaborative study published in the British Medical Journal in the mid-90s (Photo: Andrew Matthews / PA Images via Getty Images)

The study pioneered the first Mediterranean diet score, which classified dietary patterns and allowed them to be analysed statistically, and showed that Greeks had the lowest mortality rate.

“[The score] captures food groups, like how much meat versus fish versus legumes… [not] the cuisine, per se.”

“If it wasn’t for this score that we developed, maybe we wouldn’t have had so much research on the Mediterranean diet…”

Kouris-Blazos takes an epidemiological approach to diet research, looking at food patterns as opposed to cuisines. 

Professor Kouris-Blazos is a staple figure in the field of research into the Mediterranean diet

Professor Kouris-Blazos’ studies have shown time and again that people of Greek descent have their diets to thank for their low mortality rates.

So how do Greek migrants have the highest CVD rates and yet don’t seem likely to die of them? 

“If you have CVD risk factors, it increases your risk of having heart disease, cancer, and so on, but that’s not what we found [with Greek migrants].” 

“We actually found the opposite: that they had these risk factors but had much lower death rates than the slimmer Anglo Australians who had less diabetes, less heart disease, and yet higher death rates from these conditions.” 

Associate professor Kouris says the Meditteranean diet comprises many beneficial food groups (Photo: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

It’s called the Greek paradox. 

Kouris says there are solid and unanimous speculations for this paradox, but admits time is running out to quantitatively confirm it. 

“We look at all possible factors to explain this paradox such as diet, social activities, physical activity, mental health, and more. Following the Mediterranean diet score was the most important factor conferring longevity in our Greek migrants, especially their intake in legumes,” she says.

“Apart from the diet, we suspect it’s also got something to do with inflammation and the microbiome, which are influenced by diet.”

“We don’t have microbiome or inflammatory markers on Greek migrants, unfortunately, and we’re slowly losing this group of people because they’re all in their 80s and 90s and are dying.”

“We’re losing the opportunity to get this information from them.” 

“We need to get more blood and stool samples to look at what it is about this group; why are they so protected from cardiovascular risk factors?”

Research on the Mediterranean diet, however, indicates that the cuisine reduces inflammation in the body and thus lowers the mortality rate of those who live with CVDs. 

This is why the Mediterranean diet forms the basis for Kouris’ practice as a dietician, her own diet, and even her own brand line of Skinnybik lupin biscuits.

After all, who doesn’t love fakes (lentil soup) and some sofrito sauce?

 

Milos voted best island in the world by US travelers

Alex Anyfantis
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Milos voted best island in the world by US travelers

The Greek island of Milos was recognized by the readers of US tourism magazine “Travel+Leisure” as the greatest in the world in the publication’s annual World’s Best Awards. More specifically, Milos received an almost flawless score of 95,50 in the Best Island in the World and Best Island in Europe categories.

The writing staff of the magazine pointed out that this vote of preference from their readers came due to the warm people living on the island, the many beautiful beaches and the unique locations that it gives its visitors the chance to explore:“…Mílos rose from its No. 3 spot last year thanks to friendly locals who welcome visitors to explore the quaint villages (Trypiti is famous for its windmills, Plaka for its sunsets), extraordinary tavernas, and dozens of picturesque beaches that vary in color depending on whether they are formed from shells, stones, or sand. Visitors will find many options for lodging.”

But it wasn’t just Milos that the US travelers seemed to show a preference to, as fellow Cycladic island Folegandros was given second place in the “Top 20 Islands of Europe” category, with Greece dominating the rankings, as Santorini was in fifth place, Paros in tenth, Mykonos in 13th, Crete in 14th, Corfu and the other Ionian islands in 15th and Rhodes alongside the rest of the Dodekanisa completing the white and blue lineup in 17th place.

An image of Folegandros, named 2nd in the Top 20 Islands of Europe category by readers of US magazine Travel+Leisure. Source: liadis

This latest recognition comes only a few days after Greece and Santorini had been named as Favorite Country and Best Island in Europe respectively in the recent FXExpress 2021 Awards and serves to further solidify the US tourist’s preference towards Greece as their ideal holiday destination.

The voting process took place for nearly four months, starting on January 11 and ending on May 10. During that time, over 35 million readers had a chance to submit their votes for the many different categories such as Best City in the World, Best Hotel in the World, but also other more specific rankings like the Top 10 Resorts across various tourist locations.

The award on behalf of Milos was accepted by the Chief of the Hellenic Tourism Services in North America, Mr Konstantinos Charokopos, with the official results expected to be published in the October issue of the magazine.

Greece climbs to 19th position of UEFA rankings thanks to wins by Olympiacos and PAOK

Alex Anyfantis
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Greece climbs to 19th position of UEFA rankings thanks to wins by Olympiacos and PAOK

It was a great night for Greek football as both teams remaining in the European football competitions were able to come through with important victories, starting their respective group stages in the best way possible.

For the Europa League, Olympiacos defeated Belgian side Royal Antwerp 2-1, in front of a “Karaiskakis” stadium that was at 80 per cent capacity. The home side took the lead on the 52nd minute with Youssef El Arabi, but the visitors were able to bounce back thanks to a close header by Mbwana Samatta.

Thankfully for their fans, the “erythrolefki” had the ideal response when Marios Vrousai found himself with the ball inside the box on the dying minutes of the game. Spotting the run of Moldavian winger Oleg Reabciuk, he fed him the ball with the 23-year-old smashing it into the back of the net.

This win puts Olympiacos top of their group, with their next game being in Turkey against Fenerbahce on October 1.

Earlier, PAOK had done their duty in the Conference League against the Lincoln Red Imps, a team comprised of many non-professionals. The club from Thessaloniki took the lead at the last minutes of the first half, when Anderson Esiti made the run from the right, feeding the ball towards Chupa Akpom, who simply laid it to rest in the back of the net.

The final score was written by new arrival Alexandru Mitrija on the 56th with a fancy scissor kick, after the opposition defense failed to deal with a corner kick. PAOK will now look to their next game, which will be against Slovan Bratislava at Toumba on October 1.

These wins gave Greece some breathing space in the UEFA coefficient rankings, with the country rising to 19th place from 20th. The 1000 points offered by PAOK and Olympiacos allowed Greece to put Sweden behind them, while now they will look to move beyond Turkey, who sits in the 18th spot with 23,700 points. Greece currently have 23,450.

Meanwhile, despite putting on a solid performance, Angelos Postecoglou’s Celtic failed to walk away with a good result from Seville against Betis. The Celts took an early 0-2 lead thanks to goals from Albian Ajeti and Josip Juranovic, but by the 50th minute the home side were ahead, 4-2.

All Postecoglou’s men could do was reduce the margin of their defeat with a goal by Anthony Ralston on the 87th. It’s worth pointing out that goalkeeper Vasilis Barkas saw the game from the bench, while new arrival Giorgos Giakoumakis wasn’t included in the lineup.

Paramedic Steven Gelagotis on how COVID-19 presents new challenges for frontline workers

John Voutos
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Paramedic Steven Gelagotis on how COVID-19 presents new challenges for frontline workers

Ambulance Victoria paramedic Steven Gelagotis has been bearing the brunt of Melbourne’s Delta wave. 

He says the COVID-19 pandemic has brought on new challenges for paramedics.

“It’s definitely changed the way we use our personal protective equipment (PPE),” he tells ABC’s News Breakfast, saying it adds to the “physically exhausting” and “draining” work of 14-hour shifts. 

“I always say to my friends, ‘If you came out here and saw the devastating effects [COVID-19] has had on people in their lives, you would totally understand’.”

Steven Gelagotis appeared on the ABC’s News Breakfast program on Friday (Photo: @BreakfastNews on Twitter)

Gelagotis contracted COVID-19 in August last year and implores people to get vaccinated if they hope to avoid that battle themselves. 

“It took me 8 months to get better and I didn’t have the choice to get the vaccine then,” he says.

“If it’s not for you, do it for your loved ones… I wouldn’t want to weigh up those odds.”

Victoria has recorded 510 new cases and one death. 

Gelagotis says his greyhound Lucy has been his “saving grace” through it all. 

“I come home and you know what dogs are like; regardless of what you do, they are always there for you and they greet you with a smile,” he says.

“I think my neighbours probably think I’ve lost it because I talk to her all the time.”

Source: ABC News

Cyprus repatriates 18th century church doors from Japan

John Voutos
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Cyprus repatriates 18th century church doors from Japan

Cyprus’ Orthodox Church have had stolen 18th-century church doors repatriated from an art college in Japan.

The two ornately decorated doors were displayed to the public at the Archbishopric in Nicosia on Thursday following a lengthy legal battle.

(AP Photo/Philippos Christou)

Cypriot communications and works minister Yiannis Karousos says the doors were discovered at the Kanazawa Art College over 20 years ago and their return followed “long and intensive efforts”. 

He says the doors’ repatriation sends the message to antiquities smugglers and “the international ring of crooks that however many years go by, (Cyprus) will hunt them down, because cultural genocide cannot be tolerated anywhere in the world.”

Cyprus’ communications and culture minister Yiannis Karousos (yiannikarousos.com)

The artifacts – painted with religious scenes – originally stood in the central gateway the iconostasis of the 18th century Saint Anastasios church in Peristeronopigi.

They were among hundreds of artifacts stolen in the country’s north after Cyprus’ ethnic split in 1974, but no information has been provided on how the Japanese college acquired them.

Source: AP

AUKUS: France slams Australia over move to ditch $90b submarine deal

John Voutos
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AUKUS: France slams Australia over move to ditch $90b submarine deal

The French government has hit out at Australia’s decision to ditch its submarine contract in favour of nuclear-powered submarines. 

France’s foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian has responded furiously to the cancellation of the contract. 

“It’s a stab in the back. We had established a trusting relationship with Australia, and this trust was betrayed,” he told French radio network France Info. 

He added he was “angry and very bitter about this breakup,” adding that he had spoken to his Australian counterpart Marise Payne days ago and received no serious indication of the move. 

French foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian has slammed the move (Photo: AFP/Stephanie De Sakutin)

In 2016, the Turnbull government announced French company Naval Group (then known as DCNS) had been selected for Australia’s largest-ever defense contract at a cost of $90 billion. 

Naval Group were to construct up to 12 new conventional submarines in Adelaide in a bid to replace the existing Collins-class subs which make up the Australian navy’s defence fleet.  

“The Australians need to tell us how they’re getting out of it. We’re going to need explanation,” Le Drian says.

“We have an intergovernmental deal that we signed with great fanfare in 2019, with precise commitments, with clauses, how are they getting out of it?

“This is not over.” 

Australia announced plans to join the US and the UK for a historic, trilateral national security pact dubbed the ‘AUKUS’ on Wednesday. 

The US and the UK are partners in the Australian navy’s new nuclear-powered submarine fleet project, providing the technology required for Australia to operate its own nuclear submarines in the Indo-Pacific region. 

Prime Minister Scott Morrison says the pact will make the region safer. 

Source: Politico

Giannis Antetokounmpo meets with Kyriakos Mitsotakis as mum, brother handed citizenship

John Voutos
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Giannis Antetokounmpo meets with Kyriakos Mitsotakis as mum, brother handed citizenship

NBA star Giannis Antetokounmpo met with prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in Athens on Thursday. 

The Milwaukee Bucks star attended a ceremony at Mitsotakis’ official residence which bestowed citizenship on his mother Veronica and younger brother Alex.

“We always felt Greek, but now we have an official stamp and we are happy,” Antetokounmpo told reporters after the ceremony. 

“Alex and my mom are Greek citizens now.”

Antetokounmpo, 26, is an Athenian-born Greek-Nigerian who grew up in Sepolia. 

He was born to parents who migrated from Nigeria and was granted Greek citizenship in 2013. 

The citizenship allowed him to travel to the US and join the Bucks later that year. 

“The face of the whole Antetokounmpo family reflects the Greece that struggles, overcomes the difficulties, and keeps its family united,” Kyriakos Mitsotakis later wrote on Twitter. 

Over time, Antetokounmpo has earned the nickname ‘Greek Freak’. 

He led the Bucks to their first NBA title in half a century at the championships in July.

Source: AP

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