Drug dealer Peter Kezikoropoulos will serve time for his role in a cross-border syndicate that tried to supply Perth with $21 million worth of methamphetamine.
Kezikoropoulos and his business partner Anastasis Siskopoulos, former owners of Baklava Café in North Perth, schemed to firstly bring in $4.6 million worth of meth into WA via a member of a Chinese drug syndicate in prison.
Kezikoropoulos’ sentencing hearing this week heard that his 13-year prison sentence at Casuarina Prison has not deterred him from reoffending.
District Court Judge Charlotte Wallace slammed Kezikoropoulos for his “entrenched pro-criminal attitude and ongoing disregard for the law”.
Wallace says she accepted Mr. Kezikoropoulos and Mr. Siskopoulos were “partners on a relatively equal footing”.
The Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) first became suspicious of their dealings in late 2017 and police began secretly recording 21 conversations between the pair between December 2017 and June 2018.
In these conversations, they organized to make contact with a supplier of meth, discussed potential customers, transporting the drugs, and how they would charge for a kilo of meth, according to The West.
The ACIC sting found the pair were discussing, in Greek, how to set up their distribution network plan.
Organized crime squad officers finally arrested Siskopoulos on July 5 with Kezikoropoulos questioned on July 18.
Kezikoropoulos is serving 13 years on appeal after he was caught with 11kg of meth in the boot of his wife’s BMW. His original sentence was 17 years.
The delayed 16th Summer Paralympics kicked off its opening ceremony in the National Stadium in Tokyo on Tuesday.
President of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Andrew Parsons told athletes they were the “best of humanity”.
“I cannot believe we are finally here. Many doubted this day would happen,” said Parsons in his Opening Ceremony speech.
“Many thought it impossible. But thanks to the efforts of many, the most transformative sport event on Earth is about to begin.”
”We want to change the entire world.”
The opening ceremony was based around the theme of ‘We Have Wings’ to raise awareness of the courage of Paralympians who are trying to spread their wings “no matter which way the wind blows”.
The countries were led out by six athletes of the Paralympic Refugee Team.
Volunteers and athletes carried cherry blossom-inspired torches to ignite the first-ever hydrogen-fuelled cauldron at the Games.
The flame was left roaring as the ceremony was brought to a close.
Meanwhile, protestors outside the stadium jostled with police as the ceremony took place.
Tokyo will remain in a state of emergency until September 12 as the city records surging cases of COVID-19.
Over the next 13 days, there will be 1,617 medals awarded across 539 events in 22 sports.
Around 1,500 from 162 nations are taking part, with the IPC estimating that 4.25 billion people will tune in during the Games.
Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar has criticised a decision by Cyprus’s government to rescind his expired passport on Tuesday.
Cyprus’ government announced on Monday that it would cancel or refuse to renew passports held by some Turkish Cypriot officials involved in a breakaway administration in northern Cyprus.
“The decision by the Greek Cypriot side to revoke some of the passports of the Turkish Cypriots is another proof that the ‘Republic of Cyprus’ has been transformed into an entirely Greek Cypriot state and that respect is not being shown to the legitimate rights of the Turkish Cypriot side in any way,” Tatar told Reuters in a statement.
The move targets 14 figures of the de facto enclave, including Tatar and its prime minister Ersan Saner.
Cyprus says the move is in retaliation against Turkey’s advancements in Verosha in July.
Turkish Cypriots in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus held or hold Republic of Cyprus passports.
Turkish Cypriots on the island have a right to a Cypriot passport.
Cyprus has been run by Greek Cypriots since the Turkish invasion and coup in 1974 and their relations with Turkish Cypriots are now at their lowest point in years.
As of next month, all indoor eateries, bars, clubs, and entertainment venues will be off-limits for Greek citizens who have not been vaccinated against COVID-19.
Health Minister Vassilis Kikilias announced the new restrictions as the obligation of a “responsible state” on Tuesday.
“These measures aren’t punitive,” Kikilias says.
“They are our duty to all those who went through 18 months of the pandemic carefully, those who lost their shops, jobs and had to work from home to protect themselves.”
The new rules are projected to be in place for 199 days between 13 September and 31 March.
Greek citizens will have to provide proof of inoculation or recovery from the coronavirus, in the form of a COVID-19 certificate, to access these venues, including indoor and open-air sports stadiums.
Other venues including theatres, cinemas, museums, and archaeological sites, will allow access to those who are unvaccinated but only if they provide proof of a negative rapid test conducted within 48 hours.
Rapid tests, which are currently free of charge, will cost €10 for all those who have not been vaccinated – except for school pupils – under the new regulations.
The regulations favor those who are vaccinated, who will continue to enjoy free COVID-19 tests, as well as people who have recovered from coronavirus, who will be granted access to establishments that range from tavernas to upmarket restaurants, late-night clubs, and bars.
Both public and private sector workers who are not vaccinated will be subject to weekly tests.
Workers in academia, tourism, hospitality, and other forms of entertainment, as well as school and university students, will have to test twice a week.
Just over half of Greece’s population are fully inoculated but vaccinate hesitancy has seen fatalities, hospitalisations, and intubations rise in recent weeks.
On Tuesday, health authorities announced 4,608 new cases – the highest daily case number since the pandemic began – and 32 deaths.
What would be a big family celebration for great-grandmother Dimitra, who turned 98 on August 15th, became a mental health check-up, a serenade through the closed car window and a bunch of flowers from her great-grandchildren outside the gate of her West Footscray home in Melbourne.
“It’s heartbreaking to try and explain to someone of her age what is going on and the reasons we are in lockdown again and all the restrictions,” Andrea Floros, Dimitra’s grand-daughter, small business owner and mother of four, told The Greek Herald.
“On the day of yiayia’s birthday I called to apologise for not being able to be there and celebrate with her, for the second year in a row. I said I can only check on her to see if she’s ok and she replied ‘How is that ok?’” said Andrea.
“I asked how has she made it this far and she replied ‘You just keep going.’”
Dimitra migrated to Australia from Kalamata in the 1950s, aboard the Patris with her husband and three kids.
“She has been through a lot. She lived through World War II and during the civil war in Greece and in the last ten years she’s lost her husband and two of her kids. She is a strong and very independent woman but it’s so unfair to not be able to enjoy quality time with her family at this stage of her life,” Andrea said.
Yiayia Dimitra with her late husband
“She watches TV but doesn’t speak English and although we try to explain to her what the situation is, she is unable to comprehend and starts crying.”
Yiayia Dimitra in happier times with her great-grandchildren
Despite growing evidence that older people are handling lockdown better, mentally and emotionally, than their younger counterparts due to their life experience, Andrea says that the mental health burden the pandemic has placed on the community’s most vulnerable -the elderly and children- is not to be overlooked.
“For whatever happens in our family, if someone for example is sick, we don’t tell yiayia because we feel like we want to protect her. She can’t meet with the family nor can she attend church like she used to and her world has changed,” Andrea said.
“There is fear, a lot of doubt and uncertainty. People in Melbourne are upset, they are judging each other, businesses are suffering and this is a really stressful situation that also has an impact on our kids. This pandemic is dividing people and I don’t think it should be this way,” Andrea said as she’s holding on to her yiayia’s advice to keep going.
Australian innovation is at an inflection point. The next generation of founders and companies are coming through, and they’re bringing our economy and Australia’s future along with them.
The Australian, alongside a world-class panel of experts, has named its top 100 innovators today and among the list are two Greek Australians.
Here’s a rundown of who they are and what they’re being recognised for:
Daniel Danilatos:
Neara CEO and co-founder, Daniel Danilatos (front), with chief product officer, Karamvir Singh, and chief commercial officer, Jack Curtis. Photo: Louie Douvis.
Ex-Google software engineer, Daniel Danilatos, has been named in The Australian‘s list in the ‘Building and Infrastructure’ category for his business Neara.
Neara is a utilities infrastructure startup founded in 2016 (then called Power Lines Pro). It has found a way to create a 3D twin of infrastructure networks that is so accurate it can be used for engineering-grade analysis, as well as aid in real-time decision-making and maintenance of services during natural disasters such as storms, bushfires and floods.
Following $7.25 million in Series A funding earlier this year – which includes investment from Square Peg Capital, Scott Farquhar and Kim Jackson’s Skip Capital, and Mike Cannon-Brookes’ Grok Ventures – and with most of Australia’s electricity distributors and transmitters already signed up, this little-known Aussie startup is looking to become a leader in the utility space.
George Peppou:
Co-founders of Vow, Tim Noakesmith (left) and George Peppou.
George Peppou and Tim Noakesmith have made an impact in the ‘Food’ category for their business, Vow.
A real contender in the animal-free food space, Vow, a Blackbird-backed startup that creates real meat from cells, is turning a lot of what we think we knew about meat on its head.
The startup has attracted multiple investments since 2019 (after being awarded a $25,000 grant from the NSW government for creating the first ever cell-cultured kangaroo meat grown from stem cells), including $7.7 million in seed funding from Blackbird, Grok Ventures and Tenacious Ventures.
Vow has also grown its meat cell library to 11 animals, with one of Australia’s best known chefs, Neil Perry, trying out six of them in 2020. While a commercial product is still some time away (no labgrown meat has made its way to a table as regulations are still being developed) judging by Perry’s enthusiasm it sounds like it could taste as good as the real thing.
Childhood Dementia Initiative (CDI) has selected eight highly respected leaders, researchers, academics and clinicians to front its world-first Scientific and Medical Advisory Committee (SMAC).
This Australian committee will help guide the strategy to urgently disrupt the impact of childhood dementia on children and families.
“This is a world first. A committee of this calibre has never before come together to focus on childhood dementia. It will be key to positively changing the landscape for childhood dementia in the lab and the clinic,” Megan Donnell, CEO of Childhood Dementia Initiative, says.
The following accepted positions on the Initiative’s SMAC are:
Professor John Christodoulou AM MB BS PhD FRACP FFSc(RCPA) FRCPA FHGSA FAHMS
Tiffany Boughtwood BSc MBA
Professor Marcel Dinger PhD GAICD
Associate Professor Michelle Farrar MBBS FRACP PhD
Associate Professor Kim Hemsley PhD
Associate Professor Leszek Lisowski PhD MBA
Professor Peter R Schofield AO FAHMS PhD DSc
Dr Nicholas J.C. Smith MBBS(Hon) DCH FRACP PhD(Cantab)
The initial focus of the SMAC will be the formation of a National Collaborative Research and Clinical Care Network.
This network will break down the silos in childhood dementia research, bringing together experts from diverse areas to collaborate and accelerate the development of new therapies and improve clinical care.
‘She’s fading away’: Niki Markou fights to save teen daughter after childhood dementia diagnosis https://t.co/3YGyh5gvmS via @Greek Herald
— Lafora Initiative (@laforainitiativ) July 5, 2021
What is childhood dementia?
Childhood dementia is progressive brain damage that starts before the age of 18. There are over 70 types of the disease, each caused by changes in the DNA because they are genetic diseases.
In August, Head of Research at CDI, Dr Kristina Elvidge, told The Greek Herald that 1 in 2800 babies born will develop dementia in childhood.
That’s 129 babies born each year in Australia, one every three days. It is estimated that almost 2,300 Australians are currently living with childhood dementia, which adds up to 700,000 people worldwide.
The signs and symptoms themselves are similar to those you might have seen in an elderly relative suffering from dementia. They include for example, lack of concentration, memory loss, personality and behavioural changes, and even loss of speech and mobility.
The Greek Community of Melbourne (GCM) will launch a pop-up vaccination hub at its Greek Orthodox Church of St George in Thornbury to help the local community get their COVID-19 vaccine.
The GCM has partnered with DPV Health to administer COVID-19 vaccines from Friday 27 August until Monday 30 August.
The GCM has been working with health authorities who will administer age-appropriate COVID-19 vaccines of both the Pfizer and AstraZeneca across the four days. Walk-ins will be accepted from the early morning, and bookings accepted into the late afternoon.
The Church Hall will accommodate ample space for six booths, with plenty of street parking in the area.
Pop-up vaccination hubs are all around Melbourne right now.
GCM president, Bill Papastergiadis OAM, was enthused by the Government’s response to the Community’s offer of support saying: “I am pleased that we are working with the Victorian Department of Health to bring the vaccination closer to people in a setting that’s familiar to them. COVID-19 vaccines are free, safe and voluntary. Choosing to get vaccinated helps protect our family and our community.”
The GCM Treasurer and President of the Hellenic Medical Society of Australia, Assoc Professor Marini Pirpiris, was also enthusiastic of the initiative saying: “I encourage everybody in the Greek community and in the neighbourhood to get vaccinated as it will help keep you and your family safe.”
There will be Greek speaking doctors, as well as translators on site if people wish to seek out advice around the COVID-19 vaccine and any safety concerns they may have.
Community members are encouraged to bring their family and friends along to get vaccinated.
Executive Director and Board Member of Enterprise Greece, Betty Alexandropoulou, discussed the issues of trade and a double taxation agreement between Greece and Australia during the ‘Greek Australian Dialogue Series’ on Monday afternoon.
The conference was attended by over 50 people and was hosted by Katia Gkikiza, the Trade Commissioner of Greece in Australia and Paul Nicolaou, Director of the Business Leaders Council, Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
‘Potential for further trade’:
Ms Gkikiza kicked off the digital talk by introducing Ms Alexandropoulou and outlining the growth in export trade between Greece and Australia in recent years.
“Last year, the year 2020, they [exports] surpassed 200 million euros for the first time. In fact, Greek exports to Australia grew by almost 7 percent last year despite the pandemic and this year, in the first six months for which we have data, Greek exports to Australia increased by a further 7.9 percent compared to the same period last year,” the Trade Commissioner of Greece in Australia said.
These statistics were later touched on by Ms Alexandropoulou who stressed that Enterprise Greece is working towards further digitalisation and the promotion of Greek products globally.
“At Enterprise Greece, we help our companies go global by tapping into the most promising markets and finding new business partners abroad,” Ms Alexandropoulou said.
Executive Director and Board Member of Enterprise Greece, Betty Alexandropoulou. Photo: Andriana Simos / The Greek Herald.
“We strongly believe that the potential for further trade development between our two countries [Greece and Australia] is much bigger… if we consider other strong export sectors for Greece, such as industrial, consumer, technology and services.
“In this capacity, I would like to invite you all, as fellow diaspora Greeks, to stand alongside with us on this mission [of global growth].”
Double Taxation Agreement between Greece and Australia:
The issue of a non-existent double tax agreement between Greece and Australia was also on the agenda, with Ms Alexandropoulou explaining that such an agreement would be ‘an important step’ for both countries.
“I would like to mention the recent request by the Greek Orthodox Community of Melbourne and Victoria for a double taxation agreement between Australia and Greece,” Ms Alexandropoulou said.
“Such an agreement would be a positive step in increasing transactions of capital, goods, services and peoples moving between our two countries.
“Commercial and financial transactions in general between Greece and Australia will be facilitated with further stability and security. The possibility of such a double taxation agreement will contribute to the expansion of mutually beneficial synergies.”
Katia Gkikiza, the Trade Commissioner of Greece in Australia.
Ms Gkikiza confirmed to The Greek Herald earlier this month that moves towards a double taxation agreement are being “coordinated” between Greece, the European Union and the Office for Economic and Commercial Affairs of Greece in Australia, and “there have been positive developments.”
Greece’s ‘brain drain’:
One of the final topics touched on by Ms Alexandropoulou was the issue of ‘brain drain’ in Greece, whereby many talented Greek people migrated during the economic crisis in search of better jobs and quality of life.
Ms Alexandropoulou said Enterprise Greece and the Greek Government are ‘trying to address’ brain drain in three ways: (1) by creating a robust environment in which somebody is comfortable to return to, (2) creating a good job environment, and (3) taxation adjustments.
“This is a long process. It’s not something that happens over one year, but it’s something that we see that there are Greeks returning,” Ms Alexandropoulou said.
“But we love having Greeks everywhere around the world as well. I think it’s one of the biggest communities that is basically widespread around the world and it’s one of the advantages when we’re talking about investments to some of the companies.”
Independent MP Sam Duluk is an unpleasant, insensitive, disrespectful and drunken pest who owes fellow politician, Connie Bonaros, an apology but is not guilty of assaulting her, a court has ruled.
According to The Advertiser, the Adelaide Magistrates Court today formally acquitted Mr Duluk of assaulting Ms Bonaros at a parliamentary Christmas party due to “irreconcilable incongruities” in evidence about the night.
Magistrate John Wells said Ms Bonaros was “unequivocally an honest witness” who neither exaggerated nor embellished her evidence, and praised her courage in coming forward about the events of the night.
However, he said he could not find Mr Duluk guilty beyond reasonable doubt because the account of a second witness – who he found as reliable and as honest as Ms Bonaros – significantly differed from hers.
Standing in the dock, Mr Duluk bowed his head as Mr Wells found him not guilty, The Advertiser reports.
“Your behaviour towards Ms Bonaros does not in law amount to a criminal offence but it was rude, unpleasant, insensitive and disrespectful – you owe her an apology,” he said.
