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AHEPA court battle: Which side was vindicated by the NSW Court of Appeal?

The Greek Herald
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AHEPA court battle: Which side was vindicated by the NSW Court of Appeal?

The NSW Court of Appeal announced on Friday, 6 August 2021 its decision in the Lianos V AHEPA NSW Inc case. Surprisingly both sides welcome the decision, one stating that the Court of Appeal decided in favor of the eight-chapter application to review an earlier decision, and the other that the application was not accepted in general terms and simply repealed one of the six paragraphs of the decisions.

However, the issue of court costs will be considered by the Court of Appeal later and will probably judge which side can welcome the decision of the Court of Appeal and which can not…

The press release issued by Order of AHEPA NSW Inc signed by the president Mr. Vasilios Skandalakis, states:

“The judgment is in respect of an application by eight Chapters as intervening parties in the appeal proceedings, which was supported by Order of AHEPA NSW Inc, that the Court partially granted. In summary, the judgment is to the following effect:

– Order of AHEPA NSW Inc is recognised as an independent organisation, separate from “AHEPA Australia” or “AHEPA Australia Limited” and not subordinate

– ‘AHEPA Australia Limited’ is not the successor body to the ‘Unincorporated Association’;

–  in order to become a member entitled to vote at any General Meeting of the Order of AHEPA NSW Inc a person must have been a qualified financial member on the 30th of June of the last financial year of one of the thirteen Chapters referred to in the judgment;“

****

The press release issued by AHEPA Australia, Grand Lodge of NSW, signed by Press Officer Mr George Lianos, states:

“This judgement was an appeal from orders made by the Court on 26 November 2020, and substantially upheld these orders. Key orders made by the Court of Appeal were:

–              declaring that resolutions purported to be passed at the Special General Meeting held on 13 November 2018 are invalid and that proceedings at that meeting were void. At this critical meeting AHEPA attempted to pass a new Constitution overturning the previous approach to running the Association, which involved all members in major decisions (such as whether to buy or sell property). Despite the current leadership of AHEPA operating under this Constitution for the past 2 ½ years this Constitution was held to be invalid and the NSW Department of Fair Trading were ordered to remove it from their register;

–              that the specific resolution purported to be passed at the General Meeting on 28 February 2019 authorizing the Committee of Management to borrow up to $7 million to fund the Bexley development is invalid and of no effect;

–              there is a single pathway for membership rather than the “alternative pathway” proposed by the current AHEPA leadership;

–              the application to re-open the case was dismissed and all other orders made by the Court in November were upheld.

Yesterday Mr. B. Skandalakis issued a press release. He simply forgot to put the decisions of the court and especially what concerns them personally. As for declaring the end of the courts he forgot about the next one that will be heard on December 4, 2021.

Vitsentzos Kornaros: Influential Cretan poet

Alex Anyfantis
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Vitsentzos Kornaros: Influential Cretan poet

On 12 August 1617, Greece lost one of its greatest lyricists as the Cretan poet, Vitsentzos Kornaros, drew his final breath. He was considered to be one of the most important representatives of Hellenic literature.

Here are five things you need to know about the bard:

1. Some of the most important information regarding his life, like where he was born or where he got married, have been gleaned from one of his own poems, in which he mentions his first and last names, his place of birth (Sitia of Crete) and the location where he got married (Castro).

2. Born on March 26, 1553, he was raised “…living the life of the land-owner, within a multicultural world of servants and slaves, who were all Greek-Orthodox.”

3. Once he reached 35 years of age, Kornaros moved to the area that was then known as Castro (which today is called Iraklio) to study at the Stravaganti Academy in Handakas, which was founded by one of his two elder brothers, Andrea.

4. On September 8, 1590, he married the woman of his life, Marietta Zeno, at the Temple of Agia Ekaterini in Castro. They would go on to have two daughters, Katerina and Eleni.

5. Kornaros gained such high recognition after the release of his two greatest works, the narrative poem Erotokritos and the religious drama I Thisia tou Avraam (Abraham’s Sacrifice), which as critics have pointed out, required great artistic technique by the author in order to give such believability to their characters.

Sources: Wikipedia and Erotokritos

Westpac takes aim at new figures connected to Forum and Bill Papas scandal

The Greek Herald
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Westpac takes aim at new figures connected to Forum and Bill Papas scandal

Fraud allegations of almost $400 million against Forum Finance boss, Bill Papas, have widened to include his business partner in Greece and dozens of transactions in New Zealand, worth more than $40 million.

According to The Australian, Westpac Banking Corporation allege Anastasios Giamouridis also benefited from fraudulent transactions involving a string of businesses headed and owned by Mr Papas, including Forum and food waste digester firm Iugus.

The bank has been pursuing Mr Papas and Vincenzo Tesoriero in the Federal Court alleging the two used their position at Forum to defraud Westpac of almost $300 million through hundreds of illegitimate loan transactions.

READ MORE: NSW Police push ahead with probe into Bill Papas and Forum Group.

In a new statement of claims lodged by Westpac in the Federal Court on Wednesday and seen by The Australian, the bank alleges Mr Giamouridis received about $10.7 million across 20 transactions between June 2019 and December 2020 from a Forum entity, Forum Group Financial Services, that he was not entitled to.

The bank is conducting detailed funds tracking and tracing work and was scoping out whether others could be added as defendants to the domestic Federal Court action.

Wednesday’s filing marks a move to combine the New Zealand and Australian matters into one case, the bank alleging it was defrauded at least $40.22m in losses.

READ MORE: ‘Extreme anxiety and panic attacks’: Bill Papas breaks silence on Westpac fraud allegations.

Full Story: The Australian.

Calls grow for Multicultural Taskforce to help with Sydney’s COVID-19 crisis

The Greek Herald
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Calls grow for Multicultural Taskforce to help with Sydney’s COVID-19 crisis

Western and South Western Sydney Multicultural community leaders have today called for a special
Taskforce to be established to help resolve the Covid lockdown crisis.

The Taskforce would have representatives from multicultural organisations assisting in the decision making process alongside NSW Health, the police, and local, state and federal MPs from the impacted areas.

“Calling for a greater police presence and crack down is not the answer,” SydWest Multicultural
CEO, Elfa Moraitakis, whose organisation represents the multicultural communities in Western Sydney, said.

“You have to remember that many of our residents come from countries at war where police and the
military are feared and mistrusted. There is a better way.

SydWest Multicultural CEO, Elfa Moraitakis.

“We have consistently said that the best way to communicate with people from a broad array of
language groups is through community leaders who are known and trusted, such as doctors, priests or sheiks.

“These community leaders are doing what they can to help get the word out about the COVID-19
lockdown rules and the importance of vaccinations and stand ready and willing to do more.

“I know the Premier has addressed the multicultural leaders and I applaud that; however, we need a
regular seat at the table, using our expert knowledge of multicultural communities and our deep
community connections. After all, this is what the state and federal governments fund us to do.”

Ms Moraitakis also congratulated NSW Health for increasing the availability of translated materials,
which community leaders are using to push out to their communities.

Calls grow for Multicultural Taskforce to help with Sydney’s COVID-19 crisis.

“This is a great start but together we can do more,” she said.

“I acknowledge that in every area there are people who will knowingly do the wrong thing, but I’m
confident that most people in our multicultural communities want to do the right thing, but they need to know what the right thing is.

“As a proficient English speaker, it is hard enough to understand the changing landscape and stay
across all of the different rules, imagine how hard it is if English is not your first language.

“We need a seat at the table and we need to be regularly consulted if we are ever going to get out of lockdown.

“We do not profess to have all the answers, surely though, we understand multicultural communities
both in the West and Southwest as we have been working with them for the past 35 years.

“This authoritarian approach only widens the division between the east and the west of our city and that goes against all of our hard work in building a cohesive Australian society.”

Sydney Olympic FC rises to third place in NPL standings after football rivals penalised

The Greek Herald
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Sydney Olympic FC rises to third place in NPL standings after football rivals penalised

By Takis Triadafillou.

Following an extensive investigation into incidents which arose during and after the NPL match between Rockdale Ilinden FC (RIFC) and Sydney United 58 FC (SUFC) at Rockdale Ilinden Sports Centre on 25 April 2021, Football NSW has laid a number of charges against both clubs for alleged breaches of the Football NSW Grievance and Disciplinary Regulations (Regulations).  

These charges were heard before the Football NSW General Purposes Tribunal (GPT) on 19 July 2021 and the GPT released its determination on 10 August 2021.

In summary, both clubs were found guilty of a number of offenses, including defamatory conduct in relation to their spectators’ involvement in the post-match uprising, and were given the following total penalties:

The brawl which broke out at the Sydney football match.

1. Penalties in the form of fines for both clubs.

2. Subtraction of 6 points from the current championship.

With this decision, Sydney Olympic FC rises to third place in the league standings. 

This news comes just hours before Football NSW announced the cancellation of the NPL season, citing the current COVID-19 lockdown in the state.

On this occasion, we remind all clubs of the importance of providing a safe environment for spectators, players and managers and that NSW Football has a policy of zero tolerance for violent behavior. The sanctions imposed reflect how seriously NSW Football treats such incidents.

Three more LGA’s enter lockdown as NSW records 345 new local COVID-19 cases

The Greek Herald
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Three more LGA’s enter lockdown as NSW records 345 new local COVID-19 cases

NSW recorded 345 new locally acquired COVID-19 cases in the 24 hours to 8:00pm yesterday. Two men in their 90s with COVID have died. One of them had been fully vaccinated, the other had one jab.

The Sydney local government areas (LGAs) of Bayside, Burwood and Strathfield will be subjected to extra COVID-19 lockdown restrictions from 5:00pm today.

There are now 12 LGAs of concern in Sydney.

People in these LGAs must only obtain food or other goods and services, and exercise, within 5 kilometres of their home.

They cannot travel to other areas for work unless they are an authorised worker.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian said Fairfield and Canterbury- Bankstown were still generating the most cases but seem to be stabilising.

She said the new areas of concern have been added based on health advice.

“In relation to Bayside, the suburbs of particular concern are Bexley, Banksia and Rockdale where additional cases have been identified overnight so if you live in though suburbs in particular, please come forward and get tested,” the Premier said.

“But also of course in Strathfield and Burwood, which are geographically smaller areas but we are noticing relative to the population an increasing number of cases and as a precaution, those additional council areas have been brought into those areas of concern.”

There were a record 151,830 tests completed in the reporting period.

ACT to enter lockdown for seven days:

The ACT will go into lockdown for seven days from 5pm today, after the territory recorded a positive case of COVID-19.

A statement from the Chief Minister’s office said the confirmed case had tested positive to the virus and had been infectious in the community.

But the statement said the source of the infection was unknown and have not yet said where the confirmed case had travelled in the community.

The government said the new case represented the “most serious public health risk” the ACT had faced for 12 months.

It had previously been 105 days since the last case in the ACT —a diplomat in quarantine — and over a year since the last locally acquired case.

It will be the first time the ACT has entered a lockdown of this nature since the early days of the pandemic.

Under the lockdown, Canberrans will be told not to leave their homes for the next seven days except for essential reasons, which include essential employment, healthcare, shopping for groceries or supplies and up to one hour of outdoor exercise.

Canberrans will also be expected to wear masks when in public once again.

General retail stores will close and hospitality venues will be restricted to takeaway only.

Andrew Liveris helps US President, Joe Biden, pass $1.64 trillion infrastructure bill

The Greek Herald
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Andrew Liveris helps US President, Joe Biden, pass $1.64 trillion infrastructure bill

Former Dow Chemicals chief executive, Andrew Liveris, has something to celebrate after the Biden administration passed its historic $US1.2 trillion ($1.64 trillion) infrastructure bill by the US Senate.

“It is a tremendous bipartisan achievement which augurs well for American leadership on the big decisions for this century, especially of the digital and green kind which is vital for the growth of the US economy,” Liveris told The Australian.

Despite living in Australia for the past 18 months, Liveris has spent the past few months leading a business ­coalition working to help the passage of the bill, focusing on key US senators, The Australian reports.

Working the phones from Sydney, Liveris has been co-­chairing Build Together, a group of US business leaders aimed at getting bipartisan support for infrastructure across the US, lobbying and working with US senators to get the Biden bill passed.

Andrew Liveris. Picture: Ryan Osland.

The group includes the chief executives of some of America’s largest companies including General Motors (Mary Barra), Delta Airlines (Ed Bastian), Nike (John Donahoe), Duke Energy (Lynn Good), Raytheon Technologies (Greg Hayes), IBM (Arvind Krishna), Walmart (Doug McMillon), Bank of America (Brian Moynihan) and Procter & Gamble (David Taylor).

“We went to work in the background, pretty quietly, working with the senators… We knew we had to get at least 10 Republicans to make sure it could pass the Senate,” Liveris said.

In the end, 19 Republican senators this week supported the bill along with all Democrats, a rare exercise in bipartisanship backing Biden’s infrastructure plans.

Liveris told The Australian one of the big “tripping points” of the bill was Biden’s initial insistence that the infrastructure proposals were packaged together in a much broader group of social initiatives which includes improvement in funding of childcare, welfare payments and greater access for minorities.

“If you put all that into the bill, it is a $US3-$US4 trillion spend,” he said.

He said one of the arguments of the Build Together coalition to the Biden administration was that the “soft infrastructure” side of the bill – the social changes – should be separated from the “hard infrastructure” to allow it to get more bipartisan support.

“We were trying to keep it as a bipartisan effort, scoping it around real need for rail and public transport and roads and bridges, ports and airports, water and electric power infrastructure, and broadband and charging stations,” he told The Australian.

“Keeping to that scope was ­really one of our biggest contributions. We were more or less a sounding board to say (to the Biden administration), ‘You are not going to get the bigger thing through if you keep bolting on things that end up being very good for US citizens, but if it means the business community gets laden with higher taxes and new costs, it will stop investing. You will end up having the negative effect of having all this social infrastructure and payments, but your revenues will go down as the American business community will stop investing.’

“Keeping it pro-investment and scoping it appropriately was one of the big accomplishments.”

The bill will see billions of dollars invested in upgrading America’s ageing infrastructure, in­cluding roads, rail, and bridges.

It also includes funding for a national network of electric vehicle charging stations, the expansion of high-speed internet access to rural areas and the replacement of all the country’s lead pipes as part of an investment in clean drinking water.

Full Story: The Australian.

‘I lost sight of my husband’: Greek woman shares the fear behind heartbreaking photo

Andriana Simos
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‘I lost sight of my husband’: Greek woman shares the fear behind heartbreaking photo

The Greek woman who was pictured fleeing her burning home in anguish has revealed she lost sight of her husband moments before the iconic image was taken.

Panayiota Noumidi, 81, has explained to Star.gr that she could not find her husband as flames engulfed their home on the island of Evia because he was helping battle the wildfires, causing her to cry out for help. 

“At the moment of the photo, the flames were coming towards us and my husband ran with the bucket to throw water behind our house where the fire was. I lost sight of him and cried, ‘help, help!’,” the 81-year-old told Star.gr.

Mrs Noumidi explained she could not find her husband (pictured) as flames engulfed their home.

Mrs Noumidi was later reunited with her husband and taken to a hospital for treatment, but was discharged because she wanted to return to Gouves, her home of 34 years, and inspect the damage. Her home was saved.

“At the hospital they kept telling me that nothing had happened to homes, only the forest burned. Why should the forest burn? Is it not a sin?” Mrs Noumidi said.

When asked by the reporter how she feels that the iconic image has gone viral around the world, in typical Greek fashion, Mrs Noumidi said that “didn’t interest her.”

Mrs Noumidi running from the flames.

“I’m interested in getting up one day and seeing everything again as I knew them to be. I didn’t want publicity. What will I do with it? I’m interested in people showing interest in Evia which has been completely burned down,” she concluded, visibly upset.

Greece has for over a week been ravaged by wildfires which, fanned by strong winds, have torn through forest dried out in a blistering heatwave. 

Hardest-hit has been the island of Evia, where flames have now raged for nine days – racing from one side of the island to the other, reducing everything in their path to ash, and forcing thousands of residents to evacuate.    

Source: DailyMail.

Multinational force works to tame wildfire flare-ups in Evia and near Ancient Olympia

The Greek Herald
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Multinational force works to tame wildfire flare-ups in Evia and near Ancient Olympia

Hundreds of firefighters from across Europe and the Mideast worked alongside their Greek colleagues in rugged terrain on Wednesday, trying to contain flareups of the huge wildfires that have ravaged Greece’s forests for a week, destroying homes and forcing thousands to evacuate.

The spread of the blazes has been largely halted, officials said, but fronts still burned on the large island of Evia and in Greece’s southern Peloponnese region, where several homes were on fire, according to state ERT TV.

Small pockets of wildfires continued to burn in areas of the Ancient Olympia township, in Ilia, western Peloponnese, Deputy Regional Director of Ilia Vassilis Yannopoulos said.

READ MORE: Mytilineos sources helicopters and crew from Australia to fight fires in Greece.

A firefighter from Slovakia tries to extinguish a fire in Avgaria village on Evia island. Photo: AP Photo/Petros Karadjias.

Firefighters and heavy machinery also still remain at the administrative borders of Ilia and Arcadia prefectures to prevent the fire in Gortynia, the region east of Olympia, from spreading into Ilia.

“Although the danger of rekindlings in the fire fronts has not yet been alleviated, we are speeding up our efforts to register damages immediately,” Yiannopoulos said.

The fires broke out last week after Greece had just experienced its most protracted heatwave since 1987, leaving its forests tinder-dry.

READ MORE: Greek government defends response as Evia wildfires burn for eighth day.

A burnt forest in Agia Anna village on Evia island. Photo: AP Photo/Michael Varaklas.

Greece’s fire service said 900 firefighters, including teams from Poland, Romania, Cyprus, Ukraine, Serbia, Slovakia and Moldova, and 27 aircraft were working on Evia, Greece’s second-largest island which is linked to the mainland by a bridge.

Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, spoke on the phone Wednesday with top officials from Ukraine, Qatar and Romania to “warmly thank them” for their contributions. The three countries sent 340 firefighters and 24 vehicles in response to Greece’s appeal for help.

Two Egyptian Chinook helicopters fly over Elefsina Military Air Base, providing firefighting assistance in Greece, August 11, 2021. Photo: Louiza Vradi/Reuters.

Evia’s northern part, which has forests entwined with villages and small seaside resorts, has suffered the greatest damage, with an estimated 50,000 hectares (123,000 acres) lost and dozens of homes burned.

Retiree Maria Roga said although her house in Pefki, a village on Evia, was saved from the flames that burned a neighboring home, she still worries about flare-ups.

“I’m still afraid. I’m afraid,” she told The Associated Press on Wednesday. “(But) I can’t complain. I am very grateful, I am one of the lucky ones.”

Source: AP News.

Erica and Andreas Karageorgopoulos changed their lifestyle and lost over 100kg together

Andriana Simos
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Erica and Andreas Karageorgopoulos changed their lifestyle and lost over 100kg together

Melbourne couple, Erica and Andreas Karageorgopoulos, were on a family holiday in Greece when they first received comments from concerned family members about their weight.

“We were so embarrassed and uncomfortable…” Erica tells The Greek Herald exclusively.

“I always looked after myself fairly well, but when we were newly married and started a family, I had put on over 30kg post pregnancy. We were very comfortable and got into the habit of eating the wrong foods.”

This, as well as a medical diagnosis of diabetes, high blood pressure, reflux and fatty liver, saw the pair make their biggest lifestyle change yet. They decided to become ‘diet buddies’ and joined the 1:1 Diet by Cambridge Weight Plan.

“We were able to support each other through various temptations and motivated each other. It was a lifestyle change that we needed to have,” Erica says.

Psychologist, Jemma Doley, encourages group fitness.

Psychologist, Jemma Doley, specialises in health coaching and she says Erica and Andreas’ decision to lose weight together was a great choice because it can keep couples accountable and on track.

“Going on a weight loss journey together increases our psychological commitment to them and makes it more likely that we will succeed. It can also decrease temptation, particularly couples who generally prepare meals together,” Ms Doley explains.

“Working on a goal with your buddy can also help keep you both accountable and on track. It’s also beneficial to build small “micro-habits” together.”

Erica agrees and says although she and her husband faced daily challenges during their weight loss journey, they were still able to achieve their goals because they supported each other.

Erica and Andreas are much happier now.

“It was difficult but because we were doing it together, we kept each other accountable and motivated. The biggest challenge was when we had family dinner or special occasions. All of the delicious Greek food was always in abundance in front of us and with our Greek families always pushing to fill our plates up, it challenged us,” she says.

“[But] one of the advantages of doing the 1:1 Diet was that there is very little physical activity required. Andreas did go for his walks in the evening which helped him lose the weight faster, whereas I did minimal exercise and continued to lose the weight.”

In total, Erica says the pair lost over 100 kilograms together and their medical issues have completely resolved.

“It has been nearly two years since we started our health journey and we feel amazing,” Erica concludes. “We feel healthier, energetic, more confident and just generally feel more alive overall.”

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