The World Council of Cretans held its annual electoral assembly by teleconference a few days ago, with the support of the University of Crete and members of the Council which include, but are not limited to, the Pancretan Federation of Europe and the Cretan Federation of Australia and New Zealand.
During the Assembly, the Presidents of the members groups, including Tony Tsourdalakis from the Cretan Federation of Australia and New Zealand, gave a rundown of their recent activities over the year.
Later, a new board was elected with Greek Australian, John Nikolakakis, named President.
Mr Nikolakakis thanked everyone for his election and stated his goals and plans for the next three years as President. He also congratulated the outgoing President, Manolis Kougioumoutzis, and Board of Directors for their work in laying the foundations of the World Council of Cretans.
Full list of new Board of Directors and Press Release in Greek below:
Human rights activist, Drew Pavlou, has been the target of Chinese hackers who accessed his private email account and may have obtained the identity of vulnerable Uighurs with whom he has been in contact, The Australianreports.
The breach was confirmed by cyber security experts from Internet 2.0 who laid a trap for the hackers by planting false information in the account – a fake book contract said to be worth $350,000.
According to The Australian, the exact figure soon found its way into a social media post by a pro-Beijing activist group, Critical Social Work Publishing House, which is run by two Australians, Jaqueline “Jaq” James and Milton James.
Drew Pavlou has been the target of Chinese hackers who accessed his private email account.
It is unclear exactly how Critical Social Work Publishing House obtained the figure that was planted in Mr Pavlou’s email. Milton and Jaqueline James did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
Mr Pavlou suspects information obtained from his hacked emails resulted in Chinese authorities detaining the mother of an Australia-based Uighur he had interviewed for a research project.
Shortly after the anti-China activist was initially hacked, she was tracked down and sent to a re-education facility in Xinjiang by Chinese authorities.
Mr Pavlou said when he realised the potential gravity of the situation, he “wanted to vomit… The possibility that a Uighur Australian’s family member may have been taken to one of these incarceration camps because they were friends with me and talking with me is really scary.”
Drew Pavlou is a prominent activist.
“That’s something that weighs on my conscience so much, and I still feel so sick about it.”
Whilst cyber security experts from Internet 2.0 said the attack could not be confirmed to have come from a state-sponsored actor, Mr Pavlou is certain the hacking was undertaken by state-sponsored actors with the information passed on to pro-China activists.
“This is a very clear case of Chinese interference in Australian democracy. They’re deliberately trying to undermine the credibility and genuinely attack and smear anti-CCP critics in Australia,” Mr Pavlou told the newspaper.
Dominic Perrottet has been voted the NSW Liberal leader and will take over as the state’s Premier.
He defeated Planning Minister Rob Stokes in a party room ballot by 39 votes to 5.
Jobs Minister Stuart Ayres will become his deputy leader and Matt Kean, who is the current Environment Minister, is expected to be promoted to Treasurer.
While leaving the party room with his colleagues, Mr Perrottet said it was an “honour and absolute privilege” to be elected.
Dominic Perrottet arriving for the vote with Stuart Ayres. Photo: AAP / Dean Lewins.
“I really appreciate the trust my colleagues have put in me today,” he said.
The party room was forced to vote for a new leader after the shock resignation of Gladys Berejiklian last Friday following an announcement that she would be investigated for alleged corruption.
Mr Stokes was largely considered an outside chance but Mr Perrottet said if he was elected he would be sure to give Mr Stokes a senior position in the ministry.
Former editor of the Australian Soccer Weekly and a long-time family member of Foreign Language Publications and The Greek Herald, John Economos, has passed away at the age of 78.
Mr Economos joined the ‘The Australian Soccer Weekly’ in 1980. The Foreign Language Press publication was a football media institution in its heyday, which Mr Economos contributed to for over 25 years.
Anyone that had the pleasure of meeting and working with Mr Economos knew that he had his own amazing and unique style on how to write and tell his football stories.
He was a walking football encyclopedia and touched so many people in his own special way where he made so many friends in the game he loved.
One friend in particular was the great Johnny Warren. Warren took Mr Economos with him on his football journey, from the famous Canterbury ‘Babes’ of the late 1950s, through to the great St George side of the 1970s.
One of Mr Economos’ fondest memories was interviewing the great Pelé, who is the all-time leading goalscorer for Brazil with 77 goals in 92 games. Mr Economos met Pelé four times in total, including once during Pelé‘s first trip to Sydney in 1972.
For his hard working services to the game, Mr Economos was inducted into Football Australia’s Hall of Fame in 2009 championed by the late and great Mike Cockerill, another one of John’s closest friends.
John Economos was inducted into Football Australia’s Hall of Fame in 2009.
In a statement, Football NSW said they are “saddened” to hear the news of the unfortunate passing” of Mr Economos.
“Football NSW was deeply saddened to hear the news of the unfortunate passing of Football Australia’s Hall of Fame Inductee and one of the nation’s final leading and veteran journalists, John Economos,” the statement reads.
Greece’s conservative government on Monday revised its growth estimate upward for the second time in less than a month, following signs of a faster than expected recovery.
Growth is due to reach 6.1% in 2021 and 4.5% next year, bringing output to above pre-pandemic levels, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told a Cabinet meeting.
The figures were included in a draft 2022 budget submitted to parliament on Monday, and it was due to be finalised next month.
Greece was one of the eurozone economies hardest hit by the pandemic in 2020 when the country suffered an annual slowdown of 8.2%.
Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, told a Cabinet meeting on Monday.
But a partial rebound in tourism and the lifting of most pandemic-related restrictions saw gross domestic product soar by 16.2% in the second quarter from a year earlier.
The new 2021 growth projection — up from estimates of 3.6% and later 5.9% — will ease the national debt ratio to just below 200% of GDP, according to budget figures.
But a continued high level of public spending on pandemic relief measures will further increase the annual budget deficit to an estimated 10% or 7.4% before including debt obligations.
The number of tourists who visited Greece in the first seven months of the year was 4.5 million or 51.4% than a year earlier, but less than a third of the level recorded in 2019, according to Bank of Greece data.
Facebook and its Instagram and WhatsApp platforms have been hit by major global outages.
The social media giants confirmed the outage with messages posted to Twitter.
“We’re aware that some people are having trouble accessing our apps and products,” the official Twitter accounts said.
Users trying to access Facebook in affected areas were greeted with the message: “Something went wrong. We’re working on it and we’ll get it fixed as soon as we can.”
For The Greek Herald readers, while you can’t read our content on Facebook or Instagram right now, we are still on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/greek_herald.
The Foreign Ministers of Greece and Cyprus condemned Turkey’s “illegal actions” in the Eastern Mediterranean after a meeting in Athens on Monday.
“Greece does not pose a threat to anyone, nor will it be bullied by illegal actions,” Greek Foreign Minister, Nikos Dendias, said.
“It will protect its sovereignty [and] its sovereign rights in accordance with international law and the law of the sea,” he said.
I cordially welcomed #Cyprus FM @Christodulides in Athens. Following up on our recent meetings during #UNGA & within the context of close 🇬🇷🇨🇾 coordination, we had a timely discussion on recent 🇬🇷🇫🇷 agreement and developments in regard to Cyprus issue & #EasternMediterranean. pic.twitter.com/6ImeJst8zv
Referring to the 63rd round of low-level exploratory talks that are set to take place in Ankara Wednesday, Dendias rebuffed recurring Turkish calls for the demilitarisation of Greece’s eastern Aegean islands and accused Turkey of “undermining [the contacts] before they even begin.”
The Greek foreign minister also condemned plans by Turkey and the self-declared breakaway state in northern Cyprus to partially reopen the abandoned resort of Varosha, as well as plans to hold military drills inside the Mediterranean island’s territorial sea. Dendias also slammed a recent Turkish announcement regarding energy exploration on Cyprus’ continental shelf.
Σε εξέλιξη #τώρα η συνάντηση του Υπ. Εξωτερικών @Christodulides με τον Υπ. Εξωτερικών της Ελλάδας @NikosDendias στο @GreeceMFA. Αλληλοενημέρωση & ανταλλαγή απόψεων εφ' όλης της ύλης υπό το φως τελευταίων εξελίξεων σε Ανατολική Μεσόγειο, Κυπριακό, ευρύτερη περιοχή και σε θέματα ΕΕ pic.twitter.com/zg5MrqpH9l
“Turkey’s behavior is not acceptable,” he said, while warning of European sanctions.
In his comments, Christodoulides said that Turkey’s recent harassment of the Nautical Geo research ship of the island of Crete, as well as plans to conduct research in an area reserved by the Nautical Geo southwest of Cyprus “demonstrate, even to the most skeptical [observers], that the pleasant-sounding statements that once came from the direction of Turkey are, regrettably, not turning into actions.”
“[Turkey’s] foreign policy is still founded on a revisionist, neo-Ottoman approach, mostly based on the country’s military power,” he said.
US call for de-escalation of tensions in East Med:
This meeting comes as the United States reiterated their support for efforts to de-escalate tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean, including the continuation of talks between Greece and Turkey, following the harassment of a Greek Cypriot research vessel off the coast of Turkey.
A State Department spokesman said the US “encourages all states to resolve maritime delimitation issues through peaceful dialogue and in accordance with international law.”
The Turkish Defense Ministry said on Monday that the Nautical Geo, a Greek-Cypriot research vessel under the Maltese flag, was taken away from the Turkish continental shelf at the weekend after being warned that it was trespassing.
Sources inside the Defense Ministry of the Republic of Cyprus said that the Nautical Geo was conducting research inside the island’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) when it was harassed by Turkish vessels illegally sailing in the area.
A son of Greek migrant milk bar owners was yet to feature as the protagonist of an outback noir novel.
Until now.
Peter Papathanasiou’s crime fiction debut The Stoning shatters this glass ceiling.
It follows Detective Sergeant Georgios Manolis as he attempts to investigate the murder of a schoolteacher in the outback town of Cobb.
Manolis instead uncovers the secrets, trauma, and prejudice of a ‘town gone to hell’ in a ‘dark’ and ‘gritty’ yet honest way.
Greek migrants were central to the development of outback Australia, but The Stoning captures a time when that wasn’t part of the public attitude.
Papathanasiou explains to The Greek Herald why it’s important to stay true to this historical context, why Greek representation is important, and how it helps us feel “more human.”
Q&A with Peter Papathanasiou
Q. Tell us about the “late nights, weekends, sacrifices, joys, and anguish” that went into writing The Stoning.
It doesn’t need to be said that it takes a long time to write a book. And you need to find that time… somehow. Given I’ve a growing family with three energetic little boys and still work a full-time day job, time for writing usually gets pushed to the periphery: late nights and weekends. I’m pretty sure almost all of The Stoning was written after midnight when it was nice and quiet; the words checked that the coast was clear of all distraction, and then gradually crept onto the page. But I’m getting better at multitasking now given that there appears to be even less time for writing, and my sons are probably now used to seeing me perched behind my laptop in different locations around the house.
The sacrifices were in foregoing other things I might’ve been doing when I was instead sitting and writing: going out, socialising, exercising, holidays, and also family time when I needed to focus on a particular chapter. The joy came in seeing each chapter finished, the sense of pride I felt, and of course when the book finally came together as a whole and found publishers. And the anguish was in overcoming writer’s block and also finding the right publisher. But there is now even further joy in seeing such positive reviews, and also in developing a screen adaptation, which is already in the works.
Q. Your second book marks a departure from the nonfiction writing we know you for – what got you into outback noir?
For my Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree from The Australian National University (ANU), I wrote my thesis in criminal law, so I’ve always been interested in exploring the darker side of life, the motivations that people have for committing crimes, the nature of events and investigations and evidence. I’ve also previously worked in criminal intelligence, which was perhaps the most interesting job I’ve had.
Crime writing is also a very popular and marketable genre, both as books and on the screen (TV and films), so the readership is strong. A crime exposes what happens in society, it allows a writer to explore many subjects and themes through the prism of a bad event.
In The Stoning, major themes that I explore include immigration, culture, race, religion, identity, assimilation, masculinity, sexuality, addiction, history, colonisation and nationalism. And when you pair my LLB with my Master of Arts (MA) in Creative Writing from City, University of London, you get a crime writer!
I’ve generally found the outback to be a far more evocative setting to tell a story and create interesting new characters than an urban location, and is particularly amenable to a crime story given how treacherous the environment can be. All the Australian literature I read growing up seemed to be set in the country, so that likely influenced me too.
Q. “Dark” and “gritty” have been used to define The Stoning. How would you define the book?
Dark and gritty are pretty accurate descriptions for The Stoning. I would also describe the book as disruptive, disturbing, confronting, raw, divisive, human and necessary.
Q. How does the story’s setting stay true and accurate to the historical context of outback Australia?
It was difficult to give much more than a flavour of the outback’s history in my novel; the focus stayed more firmly on the crime and current-day story. During the 1950s, local Aboriginal communities were loaded onto tractors, taken from their ancestral lands, and moved to rural communities; many died due to such forced migrations.
Another significant feature of country Australia was the tradition of Greek milk bars and cafés that were the centrepiece of many small towns from the 1930s to 1970s. The businesses gave Greek migrants an economic and social foothold in their new homeland, and the ability to maintain family culture and catering traditions within a shared workplace. More recently, immigration detention centres have been established in remote outback locations to stimulate struggling rural economies.
Q. How does The Stoning portray the prejudice and racism Greeks experience(d) in outback Australia? Georgios Manolis, the book’s protagonist, is the son of a Greek migrant to Australia and milk bar owner. Is this a deliberately realist approach to Greek Australian representation? Why is representation important?
The character of Georgios Manolis draws some characteristics from my brothers in Greece, but I wanted to ground his backstory in that of typical Greek immigrants to Australia post-WWII. It was not uncommon for them to set up businesses in Australia, with milk bars very popular in outback towns. On the one hand, these businesses were very profitable and popular. But on the other, there is always a level of suspicion and prejudice that came with the introduction of an unfamiliar entity; they didn’t even serve Greek food!
The topic of racism in Australia goes well beyond the scope of this interview, but Europeans faced their fair share of such experiences during this time as the “new Australians.” These unpalatable experiences have now been largely transferred to other ethnic minorities, which is something I always find a little funny because the true original Australian inhabitants were Indigenous Australians; everyone else is technically a “foreigner.”
This was also why it was so important for me to have the voice of an Indigenous Australian character in my novel, and why I created Constable Andrew “Sparrow” Smith, who is the main secondary character alongside Manolis. “It doesn’t matter where you came from,” says Sparrow dryly in The Stoning. “You’re all bloody invaders.” Using both the migrant perspective of Manolis and the indigenous perspective of Sparrow, I knew I could more fully and accurately explore the themes of culture, race, and migration in my book.
Q. Does your work generally aim to destigmatise or confront issues, especially in the Greek community? Whether towards topics like adoption, infertility, and even – as you wrote recently in the ABC – left-handedness?
I had a writing mentor who once told me they liked that I wrote about “important things”. It was said simply, almost in passing, but I think reflected the fact they read a lot of things that didn’t attempt to take on confronting issues, and that my writing wasn’t like that. By writing about such topics and sharing our experiences, I think we make more connections, feel more human and less alone in the world, and can hopefully even overcome some of the challenges in our lives. If I can do anything to help that process, and at the same time entertain, it is a very satisfying outcome for a writer.
Q. What can we expect from The Stoning’s successor? Are you currently working on it?
Yes, I am currently working on it! It will see Detective Sergeant Georgios Manolis return for another investigation. Crime novels tend to be amenable to the series format, which is then readily adaptable for the screen, but I am also seeing more standalone crime novels these days.
Q. I know you’ve said before that Little One might not hit our screens for a few years but is there any update you can give us?
Along with my creative team, I have been working hard on the screen adaptation of my debut book, a 2019 memoir about my international adoption called Little One. The project is being directed by acclaimed Greek-Australian filmmaker, Peter Andrikidis, who fell in love with the story. We have prepared a detailed breakdown of the project according to scenes and characters, tone and style, audience and themes, and are now preparing to write the script.
Little One showcases the strength of the Greek culture and the massive contribution to Australian society. The story of the Greeks’ arrival in Australia as post-WWII migrants has never before been seen on screen as drama. Little One is a working-class story about the growth of the labour force in Australia as powered by migrants. It is the story of one family, but it is also the story of the Greeks in Australia and how they helped build the country.
If the Greek generational community do not step up to tell our stories, nobody else will and the Greek immigration story will fade from memory. The story of Greek immigration to Australia has not yet been fully realised; Little One represents a great opportunity to ensure the record is accurate. The project will increase awareness of the contribution of a diversity of cultures to modern Australia by underscoring the significant contribution of migrants to the growth of our society, and reinforce the strong connection between Greece and Australia. We hope the Greek community of Australia can get behind this project and show their support.
At just 18 months of age, Alexander Kakias’ heart had given up and he relied on a Berlin Heart to keep him alive. This machine is a contraption that sits outside the body to pump blood when the heart can no longer do it.
Alex needed this machine as he suffered from Barth Syndrome, a rare condition characterised by an enlarged and weakened heart called dilated cardiomyopathy.
His brother, Elias, also had the condition and passed away at the age of nine months when a clot formed in his Berlin Heart after five weeks on the heart transplant list.
That’s why Alex’s parents, Elizabeth and Nickolas Kakias, feared the worst as Alex was also forced to wait for a transplant.
Alexander with his dad Nickolas, mum Elizabeth and brother Romeo at home. Picture: Sam Ruttyn.
“I could never imagine bringing him home. I thought it would be the same road as Elias where I didn’t get to bring him home,” Elizabeth told The Daily Telegraph.
The Peakhurst family had to uproot from Sydney in June to go to the Royal Children‘s Hospital in Melbourne, the only place in Australia where heart transplants are conducted.
Time and time again Alex got sick or needed more surgery. The months ticked on until the call came that a donor heart was a match for Alex.
“He went in at 10.30am and got out at 8pm. We got the phone call it went really well, he didn’t skip a beat and it went smoothly,” Elizabeth told the newspaper.
The day after Alex’s heart transplant.
“Everyone was so happy but I knew what the other mother was going through, so how could I be happy?
“I was happy for my child but very sad for her because she was going to bed without a child and I know exactly how she felt…”
The change in Alex was remarkable. He was out of ICU in five days and, on the ward, wanted to get back to the business of becoming a toddler after being bedridden for almost five months.
“It was a quick turnaround, he was amazing. Every check they have done has shown the heart is good…” Elizabeth said.
“Alex will grow up and I will remind him how lucky he is. He got the gift of life.”
At 78 years old, Leon Stingas was looking forward to seeing his seven grandchildren after months of lockdown in Victoria, and meeting his eighth due to be born in February.
But according to The Age, this sadly isn’t possible anymore as Mr Stingas, who was apprehensive about hospitals and COVID-19 vaccines, died alone in hospital a week ago after catching the virus from a relative who unwittingly brought it into his home.
Melbourne’s Greek community has been shaken by Mr Stingas’ death, but it has prompted some who were hesitant about getting a coronavirus vaccine to finally roll up their sleeves.
“The phone’s been ringing off the hook,” Mr Stingas’ son, Bill, told The Age.
“People are saying, ‘I can’t believe what’s happened to Leon, I went and got my vaccine when I heard’.”
Bill hopes sharing his family’s story will encourage other Victorian families to get vaccinated.
Bill said he hopes sharing his family’s story will encourage other Victorian families to get vaccinated and avoid the grief he is experiencing.
A stoic man:
Mr Stingas had a host of medical conditions: diabetes, blood pressure issues and nerve damage from a stroke he suffered at the age of 44.
He was a stoic man who had taught himself to walk and talk again after his stroke, but he refused his son’s pleas to get a COVID-19 vaccine due to bad reactions to flu shots in the past and fears about the health system.
“He would say, ‘you go into hospital, you never come out,’ and I would say, ’Dad, this is not a third-world country,” Bill told the newspaper.
Leon Stingas’ death from COVID-19 encourages others to get vaccinated in Melbourne.
Three weeks ago, Bill’s worst fears came true. A family member contracted the virus at work and passed it on to Mr Stingas. He became critically unwell and was taken to The Alfred Hospital, where he was placed into the ICU.
Last Saturday at 7am, Bill received a call. His father was dying and had only hours left. The Stingas family said goodbye to their patriarch through a video call on an iPad.
“We joined a video call with the hospital, myself, mum and brothers, and for the next 28 hours we sat with Leon all day, night and morning until he took his last breath on Sunday morning,” Bill said.
Now, Bill must go through his grief alone. His family can’t gather to mourn together because some are still in isolation due to exposure to the virus.
“I hope this will make people help their elderly parents, their brothers, sisters, relatives and work colleagues [by getting vaccinated],” he said.
