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Luncheon pays tribute to Anzacs who fought in the Battle of Crete and the Greek Campaign

Andriana Simos
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Luncheon pays tribute to Anzacs who fought in the Battle of Crete and the Greek Campaign

Prominent members of the Greek and Australian community gathered to pay their respects to the Anzacs who fought in the Battle of Crete and the Greek Campaign at the annual ‘Anzacs of Greece’ luncheon on Friday.

The event, which was hosted by The Hellenic Club of Sydney in conjunction with the Joint Committee for the Battle of Crete and the Greek Campaign, was attended by over 100 people who enjoyed a sit-down lunch as a number of official speeches were given.

  • Attendees at the annual luncheon.
  • All photos copyright: The Greek Herald.

Chairman of the Joint Committee, James Jordan, began the official proceedings with a small speech explaining the history of the relationship between the Greeks and Anzacs, and later thanked everyone in attendance.

This included the Consul General of Greece in Sydney, Christos Karras, the Consul General of New Zealand in Sydney, Bill Dobbie, Archepiscopal Vicar of Canberra, Very Reverend Father Prochoros Anastasiadis, Federal, State and Local government representatives, prominent members of Greek community organisations, Australian Defence Force representatives, and other distinguished guests.

Speeches were given by a number of prominent members of the Greek community. All photos copyright: The Greek Herald.

The Ode was later recited in both Greek and English by the Vice President of the Greek Returned Servicemen League of NSW, Peter Tsigounis, followed by the playing of the Last Post by Boyd Trevithick and a minute’s silence.

The national anthems of Australia, New Zealand and Greece then rang out proudly across the room, before Father Prochoros, representing His Eminence Archbishop Makarios of Australia, blessed the luncheon.

  • All photos copyright: The Greek Herald.

Following the blessing, the President of The Hellenic Club, Nikolas Hatzistergos, and the Consul General gave a small speech, with Mr Karras shining a light on the courage and strength of both the Anzacs and Greek people during WWI and WWII.

“In the First World War, the Gallipoli Campaign marked the beginning of enduring and cordial relations between Greece and Anzacs,” Mr Karras said in his speech.

A video recording from the Chief of the Hellenic National Defense General Staff, Konstantinos Floros, was then shown as a surprise to attendees. They listened as he spoke of the Nazi invasion of Crete and the defence of the island by the Anzacs, Allies and Greek people.

  • Special message from General Konstantinos Floros.
  • Dr Michael Bendon. All photos copyright: The Greek Herald.

A quick lunch of delicious mezethes and spanakopita was served, after which guest speaker, Dr Michael Bendon, who is a researcher, educator and archaeologist, gave a small lecture on the history of the Battle of Crete and the Greek Campaign.

During his lecture, Mr Bendon said he has been working on filling in the gaps he believes exist in digital war service records about Anzacs in Greece, and added he hopes to one day create an annotated database of all the information he’s gathered.

Attendees left the event with this positive development in mind, as well as a tin of limited edition Anzac Biscuits, which were specially created to mark the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Crete this year.

READ MORE: Six iconic images on Anzac Biscuit Tins devoted to 80th anniversary of the Battle of Crete.

  • All photos copyright: The Greek Herald.

Greeks march with honour in Sydney’s Anzac Day parade

The Greek Herald
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Greeks march with honour in Sydney’s Anzac Day parade

Yesterday’s Anzac Day March came 106 years to the day since Australian and New Zealand troops landed at Gallipoli to start the campaign that is credited with having contributed so much to Australia’s national character and spirit.

Participating in the march were members of the Greek RSL sub-branch and the Cretan Association of Sydney and NSW, who represented the great friendship forged between Greeks and Australians on the battlefield during WWII.

“We represent the Greek flag, we represent the Greek army, which is our ancestors who fought,” Bill Iliopoulos, treasurer of the Greek RSL, said to The Greek Herald.

Greek RSL marches in the Anzac Day parade. Photo: Peter Oglos/The Greek Herald

“We are proud and we have to show ourselves in here, in the Australian community.”

Members who walked proudly under the Greek flag included include John Boutsikakis, John Theodoropoulos, George Chiotis, Peter Tsigounis, Bill Iliopoulos, Julie Tsigounis, Andreas Kitsos, George Karountzos, Peter Kokkalakis, Jim Souvaliotis, Kostas Lianos, George Lianos, John Kiriakidis, Emmanuel Comino, Maria Anthony, George Taxidis. Stelios Kiriakidis, Con Roussis, George Ligakis, Dylan Giannoulis, Konstandina Siganakis, Christopher Townsend, Joanne Rakis, Liliana Kougias and Terry Saviolaks.

Greek RSL marches in the Anzac Day parade. Photo: Peter Oglos/The Greek Herald

“We’re very proud and we like to participate every year,” George Chiotis, Secretary of the Greek RSL, said to The Greek Herald.

“We ask any part of the families, descendants or grandchildren, if they would like to get in contact with us and participate in this.”

Vice President of the Greek RSL, Peter Tsigounis, led the group from the front, while Greek Returned Servicemen League of NSW members carried the blue banner. During the march, a Greek flag was seen flying high next to an Australian flag, representing all Greeks and Australians fighting under the same flags, for the same causes.

Vice President of the Greek RSL, George Karountzos, served as sub-lieutenant in the army between 1960 and 1962 and was deployed in Crete for 26 months.

Vice President of the Greek RSL Peter Tsigounis led the group from the front. Photo: Peter Oglos/The Greek Herald

“We are proud to be Greek Australians and today is one of the memories for everyone, remembering the sacrifices they made in the older days,” Karountzos said.

The march was led this year by Her Excellency the Honourable Margaret Beazley AC QC, Governor of New South Wales, up to 10,000 serving and ex-service personnel took part in the parade.

Military veterans were joined by representative groups from British, Commonwealth and Allied Countries who served with Australians in the many conflicts in which we have taken part since 1914. They consisted of personnel from the United States, France, Greece, Serbia, Poland, The Netherlands, Estonia, South Korea, Philippines, Russia, South Vietnam, Turkey and Ireland.

Three Greek Australians elected to the World Hellenic Inter-Parliamentary Association

The Greek Herald
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Three Greek Australians elected to the World Hellenic Inter-Parliamentary Association

Three Greek Australians have been elected to the World Hellenic Inter-Parliamentary Association (PADEE/WHIA) after the Board of Directors was re-organised on April 9, 2021.

Federal MP from Australia, Steve Georganas, was elected to serve as the new 2nd Vice President of the PADEE/WHIA, while Member for Miranda, Eleni Petinos, became a first-time board member and the current Chairperson of Parks Victoria, John Pandazopoulos, was elected to the position of Honorary General Secretary.

Due to the election loss of former PADEE/WHIA President, Peter Katsambanis, who is a member of the Western Australia Parliament representing Hilarys, Rhode Island State Senator, Leonidas Raptakis, became the new President and Effie Triantafilopoulos was elevated to 1st Vice-President.

Member for Adelaide, Steve Georganas, was elected to serve as the new 2nd Vice President of the PADEE/WHIA.

Other members of the PADEE/WHIA Board of Directors are: Stephan Pappas, a Wyoming State Senator, Labi Kousoulis of Canada, Trade and Business Minister and member of the Nova Scotia Legislature, Vagelis Haritatos, Deputy Minister for Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement and a Member of the National Assembly of Zimbabwe for Muzvezve, and Dragos-Gabriel Zispol, Federal member of the National Parliament of Romania.

“This organisation is a meaningful resource for its members in this age of global communications and it will promote strong relationships between the countries that we are elected from and with Greece and Cyprus,” Ms Triantafilopoulos said in a press release.

New PADEE/WHIA President, Mr Raptakis, took the opportunity to express his disappointment in the electoral result and to honour and thank Mr Peter Katsambanis for his contribution as President of WHIA over the last four years and as 1st Vice President for two years.

Rhode Island State Senator, Leonidas Raptakis, is the new PADEE/WHIA President and Effie Triantafilopoulos was elevated to 1st Vice-President.

“We have an opportunity to make this organisation a resource for all of its members, a vehicle for keeping Hellenes from all over the world connected to the work being done in different countries to promote issues of concern to Greece and Cyprus,” Mr Raptakis said.

“In this Information Age, we need to encourage vigorous discussions and adopt policies that will put WHIA at the forefront of the effort to build bridges between our member nations.”

Australian Federal MP, Mr Georganas, also stressed the importance of the PADEE/WHIA and explained what he will bring to the organisation as the new 2nd Vice President.

“Over the years, I’ve worked on a variety of issues—from Cyprus to protection of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and other issues of concern,” Mr Georganas said.

“The PADEE/ WHIA is an important organisation for disseminating information and mobilising Greek communities all over the world.”

Member for Miranda, Eleni Petinos (right), became a first-time board member and the current Chairperson of Parks Victoria, John Pandazopoulos, was elected to the position of Honorary General Secretary.

The PADEE/WHIA meets as a General Assembly every two years in Athens and the 13th such conference is tentatively scheduled for this July 2021 but due to COVID-19, final plans have not been announced. 

The PADEE/ WHIA Board of Directors plan to meet online more frequently to build support for financial investment, education, culture and other areas of partnerships among all elected members.

Mr Raptakis said the new board will focus its energies on providing dynamic and outspoken diaspora support to Greece, as it finds itself in an increasingly tense situation with its neighbor, Turkey. The board will also endeavor to strategically aid the Hellenic Republic’s economic recovery from the pandemic by mobilising investment and other forms of financial support for Greece.

Finally, Mr Raptakis said the board will intensify the dialogue and exchanges between PADEE/WHIA, the Presidency of the Hellenic Republic, the Permanent Committee on Greeks Abroad, as well as the Executive and Members of the Greek Parliament, to mutually set out meaningful objectives for effective action and collaboration.

“There are a number of serious issues facing the Greek community worldwide and I want to make sure PADEE/WHIA is giving its members the information they need to get involved in resolving these matters,” said Mr Raptakis. 

“I also want to make sure that when there are challenges facing the Greek community within a particular country, Hellenes worldwide are given the chance to make a difference and offer their support.”

The PADEE/WHIA consists of approximately 85 members throughout the world and mainly comprised of 43 members from the United States, 20 members from Australia, 10 members from Canada and other members from Germany, Romania, South Africa, Switzerland, Zimbabwe and other nations.

Greek community leaders attend Waverley City Council’s ANZAC Day service

Andriana Simos
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Greek community leaders attend Waverley City Council’s ANZAC Day service

Waverley City Council held a solemn ANZAC Day service on Sunday to commemorate the men and women who lost their lives in the Gallipoli Campaign in 1915.

Located at the Waverley Park Cenotaph, the memorial service began with an address by the Mayor of Waverley, Paula Masselos, who spoke of the relevance of ANZAC Day to Greek people this year.

“This year, we remember significant times in our military history, including the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Crete and the Greek Campaign, and it is especially relevant this year as it also is the 200th anniversary of the commencement of the Greek Revolution in 1821,” Ms Masselos said in her speech.

  • Memorial service at the Waverley Park Cenotaph.
  • Photo copyright: The Greek Herald.

“This nine year war saw Greece’s independence from the Ottoman Empire and the commencement of modern Greece. In many ways, this is a war for human dignity, justice and democracy. Principles that no doubt drove our Anzacs during the Battle of Crete and the Greek campaign.”

This was followed by a number of prayers and hymns by Deputy Command Chaplain Ivan Grant, as well as a commemorative address by Captain Daniel Teys from the HQ Forces Command.

  • Deputy Command Chaplain Ivan Grant.
  • Captain Daniel Teys from the HQ Forces Command. Photo copyright: The Greek Herald.

The Consul General of Greece in Sydney, Christos Karras, concluded the formal speeches by describing the “unique relationship between Anzacs and Greeks.”

“Australia and Greece share longstanding and strong bonds of friendship, mutual trust and respect – bonds that were formed during the two world wars,” Mr Karras said.

  • Consul General of Greece in Sydney, Christos Karras. Photo copyright: The Greek Herald.
  • Secretary of the Joint Committee for the Commemoration of the Battle of Crete and the Greek Campaign, Nick Andriotakis.
  • Member for Coogee, Dr Marjorie O’Neill.

Over 20 wreaths were then laid by attendees including, but not limited to, Ms Masselos, the Consul General, the Secretary of the Joint Committee for the Commemoration of the Battle of Crete and the Greek Campaign, Nick Andriotakis, Member for Coogee, Dr Marjorie O’Neill, and representatives from the Australian Defence Force.

The memorial service concluded with the recital of the Ode to the Fallen, the playing of the Last Post, a minute’s silence and the Reville.

  • The playing of the Last Post. Photo copyright: The Greek Herald.
  • Representatives from the Australian Defence Force.

Greek, Armenian and Assyrian communities march for recognition of the genocide

Andriana Simos
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Greek, Armenian and Assyrian communities march for recognition of the genocide

The Greek, Armenian and Assyrian communities marched together in Sydney and Melbourne for the very first time on Saturday, to push for the recognition of all three genocides.

Under the slogan, ‘March for Justice 2021,’ the Sydney event drew thousands of protesters calling for Australian Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, to stand on the right side of history and lead parliamentary recognition of the Genocides of Anatolia’s indigenous peoples.

Setting off from the historic Domain parkland, the march wound its way past NSW Parliament House, stopping at the Armenian Genocide Monument outside St Mary’s Roman Catholic Cathedral. Three wreaths were laid by six young ladies, representing the three peoples who endured the crime of genocide. The march then wound through Hyde Park to Sydney Town Hall.

  • Wreaths were laid at St Mary’s Cathedral. Photo: Maria Anthony.
  • Thousands marched. Photo: Tassos Bouzouki.

Led by the Homenetmen Australia Scouts, the main delegation included political representatives, clergy, school students and community leaders from organisations such as the Australian Hellenic Council, the Federation of Pontian Associations of Australia, Pontoxeniteas NSW, Panagia Soumela Sydney, the Mytilenian Brotherhood of Sydney & NSW, the Cretan Association of Sydney & NSW, the Armenian National Committee and the Assyrian National Council of Australia, among many others.

The event concluded with a special program at Sydney’s Town Hall, with a number of small speeches delivered by representatives from the Greek, Armenian and Assyrian communities.

  • Photos by Maria Anthony.

The Honorable Natalie Ward MLC (Parliamentary Secretary to the Attorney General) also addressed the rally on behalf of the NSW Government, after NSW Premier, Gladys Berejiklian, issued a tweet commemorating Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day on April 24.

READ MORE: Sydney’s Greek, Armenian and Assyrian communities join forces to March for Justice.

President of Pontoxeniteas Sydney, Maria Anthony, said it was a great turn out, one that would make “our ancestors… so proud.”

  • The Australian Hellenic community at the March for Justice.
  • Photos supplied.

“We were the voice they didn’t have, we are the freedom they didn’t have and we will be the ones that will get the justice they all deserve,” Mrs Anthony said.

A similar rally took place simultaneously in Melbourne, with the local Greek, Armenian and Assyrian communities marching from Federation Square to the State Library of Victoria, where a number of speeches were read out.

President of the Federation of Pontian Associations of Australia, Peter Stefanidis, praised Melbourne Greek association, Akrites Tou Pontou, for their hard work in making the combined march a reality.

  • The Melbourne march. Photos supplied.

“In my home city of Melbourne, activists within our community like Kosta Antoniadis and Nikolaos Makridis played a vital role in forming close bonds with these communities over the last decade. However, our association in Melbourne, “Akrites Tou Pontou,” played its own part in helping unite the three communities,” Mr Stefanidis said in a press release.

READ MORE: Australian MP John Alexander joins Armenian-Assyrian-Greek ‘Joint Justice Initiative’.

“In 2019, we were the main act at the Greek Festival of Melbourne where the dancing groups of all three communities performed on stage at the same time to commemorate the 100 year anniversary of the 2nd phase of the Greek Genocide.”

This collaborative march comes as a step forward for the activities of the Joint Justice Initiative, which was launched in February 2020 by the Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANC-AU), the Assyrian National Council of Australia and the Australian Hellenic Council.

Since the initiative’s launch, over 40 Federal parliamentarians have signed up, pledging allegiance to national Australian recognition of the 1915 genocides.

READ MORE: Australia’s Greek community join initiative to recognise Turkish-committed genocide against the Greek, Armenian, and Assyrian citizens.

Australian Ambassador to Greece marks ANZAC Day with wreath laying ceremony

Andriana Simos
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Australian Ambassador to Greece marks ANZAC Day with wreath laying ceremony

Australian Ambassador to Greece, Arthur Spyrou, has payed tribute to the Anzacs and Greek soldiers who fought side-by-side during WWII with a special wreath laying ceremony on Sunday.

Ambassador Spyrou first attended a ANZAC Day ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Syntagma Square, where he laid a wreath and heard the Last Post ring out across the square.

He was joined by the Greek Deputy Minister of National Defence, Alkiviadis Stefanis, and the Honorary Consul of New Zealand, Ioanna Gouvatsou. Both laid wreaths as well.

This was followed by a visit to the Phaleron War Cemetery, where 172 Australians and 215 New Zealanders are buried. The three dignitaries paid their respects to all those at the cemetery who lost their lives fighting in the Battle of Crete and the Greek Campaign.

“The spirit of the ANZACs lives on. Their determination and sacrifice, their courage and mateship have become part of Australia’s national identity. We remember them and thank them,” Ambassador Spyrou wrote on Twitter.

Greek Australian boy pays tribute to the fallen at EBP RSL on Anzac Day

The Greek Herald
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Greek Australian boy pays tribute to the fallen at EBP RSL on Anzac Day

On the dawn of April 25, 2020, neighbourhoods turned silent as Australians commemorated the fallen on ANZAC Day from home.

Many in the Dolls Point and Greater Sydney community would remember the touching tribute made by Greek Australian boy Rocky-Dimitri (Spiliopoulos) Holt, who stood outside his house with his family and performed the Last Post.

Published on The Greek Herald’s Facebook page last year, the video has been seen over 30,000 times and placed a warm feeling in the hearts of all Australians.

The Greek Herald caught up with Rocky-Dimitri to see what he has planned for people this year, and how his cornett skills have improved.

“When I started I could only play a few notes, but now I’m playing advanced songs a few years ahead,” nine-year-old Rocky-Dimitri said.

“I’m also learning another instrument, the baritone.”

Earlwood Bardwell Park RSL on Sunday morning. Photo: Supplied

Performing the Last Post is a hundred year old tradition that is seen as one of highest honours bestowed upon the next generation of cornett and trumpet players. The Greek Australian boy has been learning to play the cornet for the past four years and is looking to constantly improve his skills, sitting the Grade Four cornet exam soon.

Rocky-Dimitri and his family know well of the commitment and sacrifices made by soldiers during war, revealing previously that their Greek ancestors were one of the 42,000 men who fought to protect Crete and Greece in WWII.

“My great-pappou Spilio, from my pappou’s side from Arcadia, fought in the Alvaniko Polemo,” Rocky-Dimitri said last year.

Photo: Supplied

“My great-pappou from my yiayia’s side in Crete was also involved in WWII. Unfortunately I never met them but my mum and yiayia and pappou have told me some stories.”

While March 25 honours the members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) who served in the Gallipoli Campaign, it is also a time to remember all veterans who served their country in WWI, WWII and all conflicts leading to today.

Rocky-Dimitri was recently invited to join the St George Brass Band, an award-winning community band that performs in various locations across Sydney. The nine-year-old performed with the band at the Earlwood Bardwell Park RSL on Sunday morning, 25 April. He also be played The Last Post in front of his school on 22 April.

Photo: Supplied

“This is a great experience for him to really improve and go into competitions with them and so it’s going to be a very exciting year for him, for his growth and learning,” Rocky-Dimitri’s mother, Heidi Holt, said to The Greek Herald.

Mrs Holt is a music teacher who Rocky-Dimitri said inspired him to play, wanting to be “just as good as her”.

“He enjoys it. I think with music, you still have to enjoy it. You might have goals set, but you have to enjoy what you’re doing,” she said.

The music and piano teacher also operates a music school in Ramsgate entitled ‘The Music Space’, which recently underwent new renovations. Holding an Open Day last Sunday, Heidi wanted to say thank you to her existing families and encourage them to bring more family members and friends to celebrate with them.

The classes will be instructed by Manolis Michalakis, who has written over 18 books about the method of teaching guitar and bouzouki.

For Australian’s who are looking to give back to former ANZAC soldiers and Australian veterans, they can do so by donating to the ANZAC Appeal online at anzacappeal.com.au. Donations support Australian veterans and their families in need.

Archbishop Makarios releases Anzac Day message

The Greek Herald
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Archbishop Makarios releases Anzac Day message

His Eminence Archbishop Makarios has released a message for Anzac Day, discussing the friendship forged between Greece and Australia.

See full message below:

Today, the Australian nation proudly commemorates Anzac Day, paying tribute to the thousands of men and women who fought for the high ideals and sacrificed themselves on the altar of freedom, peace, and human dignity.

Personally, having been born in a place, whose modern history is linked with the heroic struggles of the ANZACs, I had the good fortune to realise, from a very young age, the universal character of the values they defended. Moreover, these universal values formed the solid foundation on which a true friendship was built between the peoples of Greece and Australia.

I also had the opportunity, through primary sources, to discern and understand the virtues embodied by the heroic ANZACs, such as selflessness, solidarity, courage and self-denial. With these virtues, they did for us what we would never dare ask of them.

Today, as we bow with respect before their memory, the least we are obliged to do is reaffirm our commitment to the values and ideals for which they fought and be inspired by their virtues, in order to continue the great legacy that they bequeathed to us. Lest we forget!

ABC’s Patricia Karvelas opens up about difficult childhood and entering the field of journalism

The Greek Herald
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ABC’s Patricia Karvelas opens up about difficult childhood and entering the field of journalism

TV presenter and RN Drive host Patricia Karvelas has spoken out about her difficult childhood, her pathway into journalism and her negative social media experience in a ‘tell-all’ interview with ABC News.

The Greek Australian journalist described her childhood as the “typical, Melbourne, immigrant family” story, with her parents migrating from Greece in the late 60s. Living in “two worlds”, Karvelas said she was raised with very little. Her and her older sisters, Sue and Voula, were the first generation in their family to go to university.

When Karvelas was eight years old, her parents died suddenly and she was raised variously by her maternal grandmother and two sisters, who are 11 and eight years older.

“As a little kid she was so full of life and energy and I was worried she’d become quiet and introverted,” Voula Karvelas recalls.

“But she kept bottled up whatever was hurting or worrying her and stayed vibrant and vivacious.

“Aside from the actual loss itself and all the grief, the negative side of it was her not having a stable place to live.

Three young women sit close together in a radio studio
Patricia Karvelas, pictured with her sister Voula, started broadcasting on community radio when she was at high school. (Picture: ABC News/Voula Karvelas)

“She lived with grandma, then Sue and then me and she was constantly changing schools. But she always just tries to find the positive in change and adapts.

“I imagine she’d be really good as an astronaut, or something like that — the oxygen would be cut, they’d lose communication with earth and she’d be like, ‘OK, that’s happened, let me think, let me think’. And we just move forward.”

Patricia Karvelas says the deaths of her parents had a profound impact on shaping the person she is today.

“My childhood wasn’t easy, but I don’t want to be the victim, and I’ve always believed you can make good things out of anything so for me, it drove me,’ she says.

“I’m very certain that I would not have achieved the things I have if it wasn’t for that drive because I, from a very early age, thought if I don’t make something of myself, I don’t think I’ve got a safety net here that’s going to keep picking me up.

Patricia Karvelas looks up at Malcolm Fraser, who is standing on her right. On her left stands Kevin Rudd
Patricia Karvelas, with former prime ministers Malcolm Fraser and Kevin Rudd, after winning the inaugural Wallace Brown Press Gallery Young Journalist of the Year award in 2008. (Photo: ABC News/Patricia Karvelas)

“So, from a very young age, I’ve never ever had a week where I haven’t earnt an income. I’ve always been supporting myself and pushing myself and, I often say this when I do school talks, I was never the smartest kid in the room or the prettiest kid in the room, but I was always the hardest working.

“I wasn’t handed anything and most of the doors that have opened for me have been because I kicked them down, but I also had a great system, free education, that helped me step up and if it wasn’t for that I wouldn’t be here.”

Voula Karvelas says her little sister had a keen interest in politics and ideas, inspired by her Greek heritage.

Propelled by a fierce sense of fairness and belief in equal opportunity, she briefly considered becoming a lawyer “defending oppressed people” but journalism offered the chance to make a broader difference in the world.

“For me it was only ever going to be journalism,” Karvelas says.

A young Patricia Karvelas speaks into a radio microphone
Patricia Karvelas on air on Melbourne community radio station 3CR in the 1990s. (Photo: Voula Karvelas/ABC News)

“I have always loved telling people’s stories and I see journalism as having an impact on changing people’s lives.

“Powerful journalism is making the country the best place it can be by telling the stories of unfairness, and hopefully trying to shift the things that are wrong, holding people to account, being part of big social change.”

Patricia also spoke in her interview with ABC News about the social media criticism faced online, which surfaced when she went publicly open about being gay. 

“I think it’s really important for young people to have proud leaders, but I am very cautious about it being my only identity, because there are many parts of me,” she says.

“I have to bring my full self on air because I think if you’re hiding a part of yourself your work is not as good, so I made a very conscious decision that if I was to bring my full self that means that occasionally people would hear the female pronoun when I refer to my family, they will hear ‘my partner, she’s cooking dinner’.

“And I’d say that a couple times a week, I’ll get 10 text messages from gay people thanking me — I don’t do it to get a thank you — but they are thanking me for not being ambiguous about that because too often people have been ambiguous, not because they’ve done the wrong thing, but because they’ve been worried that the audience won’t be okay with it.

“I reckon we have to respect that the audience in 2021 is smart enough that they can cope, they do cope and they are very respectful largely.”

Read Patricia’s full interview with the ABC here: https://ab.co/3aEijWB

Cretan Youth Committee gets involved in Easter celebrations

The Greek Herald
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Cretan Youth Committee gets involved in Easter celebrations

The tradition of making and selling lambades during Greek Easter is one of the few Greek customs that continues to grow as the next generation of youth celebrate this religious period.

Lambades are candles traditionally bought by the godparents, who visit their godchildren prior to Easter. Decorated with jewellery, colours or iconography, the lambades are lit on the midnight Holy Saturday service. 

Usually made by elderly members various Greek communities across NSW, the Cretan Youth Committee this year took it upon themselves to carry out this special tradition as we enter the Easter week.

Terry Saviolakis.

Terry Saviolakis, President of the Cretan Association of Sydney and NSW, said the Youth Committee originally had plans to make and sell the lambades last year, but were interupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We’re planning to buy new traditional costumes and they were also planning a trip to Crete, which obviously all got postponed,” Saviolakis said to The Greek Herald.

The association sold the lambades outside the Ashbury Senior Citizens Centre, which has long been the location of their ‘clubhouse’ and is where they go dancing every Friday night.

Greek Orthodox Easter will be celebrated on May 2nd this year as people express their happiness in being able to celebrate in person, after being forced to commemorate the religious tradition from home last year.

Saviolakis said the community had great success selling them outside the Centre on Friday and at the Cretan Association dance, which had over 300 attendees. The President added that he has enjoyed the Youth Committee taking up a larger role with the Cretan Association.

Cretan Association selling Lambades. Photo: Supplied.

“They have actually this year taken on our kitchen once a month as well, so they do smaller events and are basically wanting to get the youth involved in a little community,” Saviolakis added.

Alexander Mountakis is the Youth Committee President for the Cretan Association and has been working hard to bring the Easter spirit alive following the restrictions imposed during the COVD-19 pandemic last year. 

“We don’t really do much for Easter, and I spoke with Terry as well, everyone likes to buy lambades so why don’t we try it out…. And it’s a good thing for the youth to get together and bond more as well,” Mountakis said to The Greek Herald.

Mountakis revealed that the Youth Committee is also planning to hold a taverna night in June to help bind the community closer.

“We need to preserve our culture and we need to stick together. In my opinion, we’re not together enough and we need to bond and meet new people, all of this helps preserve our culture for the future,” Mountakis added.

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