The ABC’s Patricia Karvelas hosted her first-ever Radio National (RN) Breakfast show on Monday with the confidence and enthusiasm of a well-trained professional.
Karvelas took over hosting duties of the much-loved program when long-time host, Fran Kelly, stepped down after 17 years last year.
She told The Guardian today that she accepts there’ll be a ‘period of grief’ for the loss of Kelly, but she’s determined to show listeners “that the show’s spirit will continue.”
“That’s my first project: to sort of steady the ship. When you lose a host there is a period of grief and adjustment that I’m very prepared for,” Karvelas said in the interview.
Once that job’s been done, Karvelas’ next focus will be on ensuring the radio program has a national focus, even though it is being produced from her hometown of Melbourne rather than Sydney.
“This country is big and vast and the experiences we have in it are just so diverse and different,” she said.
Patricia Karvelas (right) took over hosting duties of the much-loved program when long-time host, Fran Kelly (left), stepped down after 17 years last year.
“What I am interested in is the truth and sometimes if you pursue the truth and facts they can take you to places unexpected.”
In a back-to-school plan announced by NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet over the weekend, every student and teacher will be asked to take a rapid antigen test twice a week to attend school, but masks will be restricted to high school.
More than six million tests will be distributed to 3000 public, Catholic and independent schools across the state before the start of the term to ensure enough supply for the first two weeks of term.
Students will also be allowed to take part in choirs, music ensembles and overnight camps again, subject to Department of Education guidelines to reduce the risk of virus infection.
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet announced his back-to-school plan over the weekend.
Premier Perrottet acknowledged that whilst there would be some “disruption” along the way, it was important for children to return to school on the first day of term.
“It’s best for educational outcomes, it’s best for mental health, and it’s best for social outcomes as well,” he said.
In response, the NSW Teachers Federation President, Angelo Gavrielatos, said his members were concerned for the health and safety of students and staff.
"We believe the government should have gone further, making mask wearing a requirement for all in our schools in indoor settings." @AGavrielatoshttps://t.co/Iw8bOHESqP
He said masks should be mandatory for primary school children as well.
“You can’t be vigilant enough with these settings. No other industry requests you to be on a work site with hundreds and up to 2000 other people in sometimes poorly ventilated sites, which are classrooms with up to 30 students,” he said.
“We remain very concerned and we are bracing ourselves for a disruptive start to the school year.”
US academics have used ground-penetrating radar to seek burial sites on Cyprus of people missing since the 1974 Turkish invasion and earlier interethnic strife, AP News reports.
Team leader Harry M. Jol told the Associated Press on Friday that they scanned several pre-selected sites between December 28 and January 6, using a system that creates subsurface images without the need to dig.
Traces of ground disturbance from human activity were found among the half-dozen sites searched, but confirmation of burials would require excavation.
An anthropologist works on the remains of a missing person at the anthropologist laboratory of Cyprus Missing Persons (CMP) inside the U.N buffer zone in the divided capital Nicosia, Cyprus, May 31, 2017. Photo: AP Photo/Petros Karadjias, File.
Jol said he passed on to the Committee on Missing Persons (CMP) — an expert group that has since 2006 been seeking more than 2,000 missing Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots — information on where soil disturbance was found.
The data continues to be processed and interpreted in collaboration with CMP staff, while Jol said there are plans for his team to return to the east Mediterranean island nation in the near future.
CMP experts have so far exhumed the remains of 1,114 people and identified 1,023. However, 778 Greek Cypriots and 201 Turkish Cypriots still remain missing since the 1974 Turkish invasion, which split the island along ethnic lines, and intercommunal fighting in the decade before.
There was a lot of action at the Australian Open in Melbourne over the weekend with Maria Sakkari being eliminated from the tournament, whilst the ‘Special K’s’ (Nick Kyrgios and Thanasis Kokkinakis) and Stefanos Tsitsipas progressed to their next rounds.
Here is The Greek Herald‘s rundown of this weekend’s matches:
Stefanos Tsitsipas beats Paire without realising it:
Stefanos Tsitsipas fought off Benoit Paire to reach the Australian Open fourth round on Saturday with a tough 6-3 7-5 6-7(2) 6-4 win.
But in a funny turn-of-events, Tsitsipas appeared not to realise the game was over after converting match point.
Paire dunked a forehand into the net on the first of three match points when serving to stay in the match, but fourth seed Tsitsipas walked to the back of the court rather than approach the net.
The Greek turned around at the baseline with a look of surprise on his face, before walking forward to acknowledge Paire.
“I’m pretty glad with that win, Benoit is someone I say is one of the biggest stars in our game,” Tsitsipas, who is a former semi-finalist at Melbourne Park, said in his post-match interview.
Tsitsipas.
Having held Paire at bay at Rod Laver Arena, the Greek crumbled in the third set tiebreak to let the Frenchman back into the match.
Paire kept in touch to 4-4 in the fourth set before conceding the match points with a double-fault.
Tsitsipas will meet with American Taylor Fritz today for a place in the quarter-finals.
Nick Kyrgios, Thanasi Kokkinakis continue dream doubles run:
Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis have stormed into the quarterfinals of the men’s doubles draw at the Australian Open.
The Australians took down 15th seeds Ariel Behar and Gonzalo Escobar in three sets, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 inside a packed Kia Arena.
At one set apiece, the deciding third was on a knife’s edge until the Australian duo got a break of serve in the fifth game.
Later at 5-4, Kyrgios served for the match, before Kokkinakis iced the victory with a brilliant backhand volley at the net that sent the crowd into a frenzy.
The pair took to the court in the wake of Kyrgios’s claim he and Kokkinakis were threatened with violence following their win over number one seeds Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic on Friday.
Photo: Twitter / Australian Open.
In what was an upset second-round result, Kyrgios and Kokkinakis defeated the Croatian pairing 7-6 (10-8), 6-3.
Now Kyrgios and Kokkinakis will play sixth seeds Tim Pütz and Michael Venus in the quarter-finals.
Maria Sakkari eliminated at Australian Open:
Fifth-seed Maria Sakkari crashed out of the Australian Open on Sunday, losing in straight sets, 6-7 (0-7), 3-6 to Jessica Pegula of the United States.
Sakkari was trying to reach her first Australian Open Quarterfinal but could not overcome Pegula, losing to her for the first time in their three encounters.
The first set was fairly even until Pegula dominated the tie-break, winning without conceding a point. Pegula jumped into an early lead in the second, going up 5-2.
Sakkari held serve in the next game and tried hard for a break in the ninth, staving off a match point, but Pegula held to advance to her second consecutive quarterfinal in the competition.
More borders are closing to Australian travellers as the Omicron variant causes one of the biggest surges of COVID-19 cases in the world.
The United States and Europe have this week both downgraded Australia’s travel safety rating, making it significantly harder for Australians to visit.
In an official directive, the European Council listed Australia, Canada and Argentina as “COVID-19 danger zones” due to surging Omicron case numbers, and they were removed from the EU’s travel white list.
The directive, which applies regardless of vaccination status, means people wanting to undertake non-essential travel to Europe from Australia could face restrictions ranging from a total ban on entry to having to quarantine or face extra testing requirements.
Greece dissented from the European Council’s decision to ban Australian travellers.
Cyprus, Greece and Italy dissented from the European Council’s decision to ban Australian travellers.
This comes as the United States Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has also issued a warning to avoid travel to Australia, listing the country as “Level 4: Very High Level of COVID-19.
The CDC places a destination at level four when more than 500 cases per 100,000 residents are registered in the past 28 days.
The Chief Executive and Founder of Flight Centre, Graham Turner, told The Sydney Morning Herald that although he was taken aback by these developments, he was confident the restrictions would be lifted quickly as case numbers stabilise in Australia.
Australia is listed as red on the CDC map.
“Things will open up fairly quickly… I will be surprised if most countries have many restrictions after [the next few weeks or months],” Mr Turner said.
These restrictions come just as it has now become easier for Australians to get home.
International arrivals no longer need a PCR test to enter Australia, instead a rapid test within 24 hours of departure will be accepted.
If travellers contract COVID-19 overseas, they only have to wait seven days instead of 14 before flying home.
— Ελεύθερα Βουνά χωρίς αιολικά (@savegreekmounts) January 23, 2022
Later, the snowfall extended to eastern portions of the mainland, including the Athens region, as well as the Cyclades islands and Crete.
This extreme weather comes as the Elpis weather front travels across Greece, bringing with it low temperatures, heavy snowfall and gale force winds.
According to Ekathimerini, temperatures throughout Greece gradually fell from Saturday, with highs of no more than to 3 degrees Celsius expected from Monday to Wednesday. There will be heavy frost, especially in the central and northern regions of the country.
The cold snap will also see schools shut on Monday and Tuesday in the Attica region – which includes the capital Athens.
Χιονίζει στη Σαντορίνη, ασπρισε ο Σκάρος κ εμείς στην Αθήνα περιμένουμε την ελπίδα να φανεί pic.twitter.com/tysqxntZfS
Businesses across New South Wales are struggling in the wake of the Omicron wave, with many feeling like they are in a “de facto” lockdown.
One of these businesses is Helen Psarakis’ Impress Laundry Dry Cleaning, which has a shopfront at Bondi Beach and a cleaning service based in Banksmeadow.
The business has had its turnover decimated as customers continue to work from home and don’t need to wash business wear. There’s also the constant cancellation of social events.
Sydney has experienced a ‘de facto’ lockdown.
Speaking with The Sydney Morning Herald, Ms Psarakis said the business had already been doing it tough through two lockdowns since 2020, but recent weeks have provided no reprieve.
“I think people are tending to be cautious and holding back on doing any unnecessary cleaning of garments, particularly those they would normally wear to evening functions,” Ms Psarakis said.
Ms Psarakis’ business partner, Debbie Moore, added that the cost of coat hangers, chemicals, electricity and other services had increased while revenue had plummeted.
Paul Nicolaou agrees businesses have been struggling.
“The governments can easily say we’ve got to continue, but life doesn’t continue. This is a Clayton’s lockdown,” Ms Moore said.
The Executive Director of Business Sydney, Paul Nicolaou, agreed that small businesses were “hurting very badly due to a self-imposed lockdown where customers are choosing to stay away and shop online out of fear of catching Omicron or because they are isolating or recovering from it.”
In response, Mr Nicolaou said the NSW government could reintroduce a form of funding like the previous Job Saver assistance package.
Inspired by long afternoons enjoying playing backgammon with his father and powered by pulverised coffee, the Director of OASIS Coffee, Chris Togias, has created custom backgammon boards.
Dating back over 5000 years, backgammon is steeped in a rich history and in order to preserve this tradition, OASIS Coffee engaged Greek-based craftsmen, Manopoulos, to create their custom boards.
The final product is of superb craftmanship and created in the Oasis signature style, with inspiration drawn from the whitewashed architecture of Greece and OASIS’ signature blue.
Available in traditional and travel sizes, these premium board games are set to become a treasured family favourite activity that brings together generations.
They are limited edition though so don’t forget to shop NOW at the OASIS bean store or online, strictly while stocks last.
Hot Tip? Backgammon is best played whilst enjoying a pulverised OASIS coffee.
The past two years have been a roller coaster ride, but after a couple of false starts, 2022 will be the year Sydney regains its mojo. But it will need a collective effort by us all with government committing to do its bit to get the economy moving again.
Sydney’s CBD in particular is suffering severely from a lack of foot traffic, greatly reducing spending and sending businesses closer to the wall. Staffing shortages have exacerbated business’ ability to bounce back this time from what has become a self-imposed lockdown.
Experts predict Omicron is about to peak and while we must safeguard our health, we also need to shake off the Covid malaise and get on with living our lives again.
For over two years we have been plagued with uncertainty from health concerns, shifting restrictions, lockdowns, and closed borders with no clear end in sight.
Although it can be tempting to be distracted by the disruption of recent weeks as we transition to living with the virus, the fog of uncertainty is starting to lift.
With vaccination rates among the highest in the world and Omicron appearing significantly less dangerous, the fundamentals for the future of our great global city are strong.
Restrictions have been eased and with a few exceptions for health reasons, the NSW Government has broadly stuck with its reopening roadmap. This sends an important message to the community that yo-yoing restrictions are hopefully a thing of the past, which will make it easier for people to plan their lives professionally and personally.
While the impact of Omicron has caused possibly the worst Covid-induced economic impact, it will only delay the recovery rather than derail it. It is exacerbating supply chain & staffing issues and putting upward pressure on inflation. As we have seen with this variant, cases have increased well beyond levels seen in previous occurrences and continues to have a material economic impact as people isolate in a ‘shadow lockdown’ and are shopping, dining and entertaining from home.
Despite this, economists are expecting that the overall economic impact of Omicron to be modest and it will delay rather than disrupt Sydney’s economic recovery. In fact, Deloitte Access Economics latest Business Outlook report predicts above national average economic growth for NSW this year.
Recent changes to close contact rules and Covid case management will go some way to ease staffing pressures and after two years of working from home, more needs to be done to encourage people back to the office when it is safe, so that employees and company productivity can again enjoy the benefits from teamwork and in-person collaboration. Public space reactivation through entertainment and workplace social events in the CBD will drive traffic in the short-term, but a broader strategy is required.
While we as consumers and workers can help turn around the economy, we need all tiers of government to do what they achieved well in previous lockdowns and provide financial assistance, policy changes and programs that assist reactivation and recovery.
My five suggestions for federal and state governments to aid business recovery:
1) Increase the amount pensioners can earn without it affecting their pension entitlement. This would encourage many retired workers to return to the workforce part time, bringing their experience and skills to sectors that need workers now, especially in hospitality, retail, transport and logistics.
2) Provide a tax offset to incentivise workers with a fulltime job to take on part time work, like doing some shifts in hospitality venues, without being taxed so heavily that it is not worth their while. This would be a temporary measure to get us through current staff shortages and help people make ends meet as inflation bites into budgets.
3) Provide free Rapid Antigen Tests for small and medium sized businesses to help them keep workers safe and get them back to work as soon as is safe to do so, without burdening businesses with added cost they can’t afford.
4) Reduce red tape and regulations around sectors like hospitality, retail, transport and construction, with temporary measures that were introduced in past lockdowns to enable business to function better.
5) Extend until the end of 2022 the successful Dine & Discover program with more vouchers and better advertising and communication on how and where to use the vouchers. The Dine vouchers enjoyed strong uptake, but people need to be made better aware of the many places they can
Discover and enjoy a fun, culturally rich experience.
Sydney can bounce back stronger than last time and as the Omicron peak subsides, the city will be in an excellent position to look forward to a brighter future with cautious confidence.
But we need to all work together with governments to ensure Sydney gets its mojo back and takes its place as the best city in our region to live, work, invest and do business in.
*Paul Nicolaou is Executive Director of Business Sydney (formerly the Sydney Business Chamber)
The Presidents of the Greek Community of Melbourne and Victoria, Bill Papastergiadis, and the Cyprus Community of Melbourne and Victoria, Theo Theophanous, with the support of the Pontian Federations of Australia, have written to the Prime Minister calling on the Government to formally recognise the genocides committed by the Ottoman Empire between 1915 and 1923 of Armenians, Assyrians, Greeks and other Christian minorities.
The action by the two Presidents follows a motion that was passed unanimously by the House of Representatives on November 29, 2021 calling on the Government to formally recognise these genocides.
The motion in the Federal Parliament was supported by both sides of Parliament. It was moved by Government member Trent Zimmerman and seconded by Labor’s Joel Fitzgibbon. Other government speakers were John Alexander and Julian Leeser and from the opposition, Josh Burns and Steve Georganas.
(L-R) Bill Papastergiadis, Simela Stamatopoulos, Theo Theophanous, Peter Stefanidis.
As of 2021, there are 31 countries around the world that have recognised these genocides including the US, France, Italy, Brazil, Sweden, the Netherlands, Austria, Denmark and the Vatican City.
“It’s time for Australia to also step up,” a joint statement from the associations said.
“The Turkish Government has steadfastly refused to acknowledge its legacy of past wrongs. We believe that it is in the interests of Turkey itself for it to confront its past and issue a formal apology. This is precisely what Germany did following the genocide and holocaust they perpetrated on Jewish people in the second world war. It has been an important moral admission by Germany.
“We do not believe that this should not be a partisan political issue in the lead up to the coming elections. All we have asked of the Prime Minister, and in fact we also ask of the Leader of the Opposition, is that they respect the unanimous motion passed by the parliament and act upon it.”
Bill Papastergiadis, President of Greek Community of Melbourne and Victoria
Hon Theo Theophanous, President of Cyprus Community of Melbourne and Victoria
Peter Stefanidis, President of the Federation of Pontian Associations Australia
Simela Stamatopoulos, President of the Australian Federation of Pontian Associations
