Member representatives that sit on the Board of Directors of The Hellenic Village Ltd have unanimously agreed to put its 105-acre Kemps Creek property in NSW to tender, according to The Greek Herald‘s sources.
The unanimous approval from the 21 Greek associations in Sydney which make up The Hellenic Village came after an Extraordinary General Meeting was held on Monday, February 21 with over 50 delegates present.
The meeting was held at the Pan-Arcadian Club in Ashbury and chaired by the President of the Hellenic Village George Mpliokas.
Our sources said there was an understanding at the meeting to set up a Future Fund for the proceeds from the sale, however, there was no agreement on how the proceeds of the sale will be used.
In December 2020,The Greek Herald reported that an allocation of profits would be invested back into the Greek community for a cultural building or toward existing Greek Australian initiatives for the benefit of the wider Greek Australian community.
After that: (1) some of the profits would go towards paying the Federation’s debt, which is “more than $500,000,” or (2) a “portion would go back to the associations,” who have shares in the property, in order to reimburse costs relating to the ongoing maintenance of the property.
The Greek Herald contacted the Hellenic Village to ask how the proceeds from the sale will be distributed and invested back into the community. The response received was “Hellenic Village has no further comment.”
He says he has ‘the Nidas touch,’ with everything he puts his hand on turning to ‘sold,’ and gets satisfaction out of delivering results.
“Most people have lived in their home for a long time and have put blood sweat and tears into making it a home. They deserve the maximum result that’s out there,” Leonidas told the newspaper.
But does he have any tips for those considering selling or buying?
“Don’t be afraid to ask local real estate agents questions. Most of us are friendly,” he concluded.
In an almost sold-out concert at Sydney’s Enmore Theatre last night, Melina Aslanidou announced that the new date for the Greek Fest Darling Harbour is Sunday, March 27. The Greek singer will remain in Sydney to perform at the event.
The Greek Orthodox Community of NSW, under the direction of Property NSW, was forced to postpone the Greek Fest last weekend due to the unprecedented rain which hit Sydney.
But now, with the new date locked in, Tumbalong Park will be packed with food vendors, dishing up classic and modern twists on Greek snacks and sweets including everything from souvlakia, sheftalies, haloumi, loukoumades, a licensed bar and much more.
There’ll be Greek dance performances at the Convention Centre Forecourt by Sydney’s best Greek and Cypriot dancing schools and loads of live music entertainment from local Melbourne artist Maria Maroulis.
Undoubtably one of the most prominent multicultural events in Sydney, and a must do in the events calendar, the Greek Fest will give Sydneysiders a taste of Greece as the foreshore of Darling Harbour comes alive.
“After much persistence we were excited to be able to secure the new date with Darling Harbour and we were equally excited that Melina Aslanidou was able to stay on to perform,” the President of the Greek Orthodox Community, Harry Danalis, said.
Melina Aslanidou announced the new festival date at her concert in Sydney. Photo: Andriana Simos / The Greek Herald.
“We know this is an event that the public looks forward to and were prepared to do everything in our power to make it happen.”
Event Details:
What: Greek Festival of Sydney
When: Sunday, March 27, 10am – 10pm
Where: Tumbalong Park, Darling Harbour
Linked to the Darling Harbour celebration is the nine-week-long Greek Festival of Sydney, with over 30 events scheduled in this year’s quality program line-up. The Greek Festival of Sydney is an initiative of the Greek Orthodox Community of NSW.
Let us assess and evaluate what were the causes that led to the defeat of the Greek troops in Asia Minor in August 1922; that produced the “cancellation” of the Treaty of Sèvres of 1919 and commanded to the conclusion of the defeatist Treaty of Lausanne?
For what reasons, the victorious Greek Army until September 1921, fell into inertia, inactiveness and remained lethargic and indolent for a whole year, without throwing a single “shot”, and finally not being able to hold the attacking Turks in August 1922, not even for 15 minutes?
Let’s look at them soberly, calmly, from the distance of time, codified, concisely, in titles.
The primary and basic cause of the National Calamity of 1922 was the infamous division. This is the inherent, or innate curse that distinguishes the nation of Hellenes. A people, a nation to thrive in the world, to be distinguished as the bearer of the greatest and most important human civilization, but never to be able to acquire a cohesive link, a united course. A people and a nation that has lived and spoken the same language for 3500 years, unable to organize itself into a single state until after 1830. Greece, in 1919, entered Smyrna militarily, while back in Athens the parties, the party gangs, the party leaders, the Royal Court and the Church saw their own dreams and claimed power with self-interest. They sent 130,000 young people to liberate the Greeks of the East without having unity, a common policy, a common vision. They sent the Army to then hold him hostage for their political plans and ambitions.
Another cause of the national disaster was the unfortunate and perhaps “inter-allied” unneeded campaign for Greece’s participation in Ukraine, during the Ukrainian Revolution (1917-1922), with the combative presence of a Greek Battalion there under Lieutenant Colonel N. Plastiras. The Greek presence in Ukraine gave rise to Bolshevik Russia, from that time on, to stand against Greece.
Following this incident, Kemal easily convinced Lenin that the Greeks had waged an expansionist, imperialist war against his homeland as well, with their intention of conquering the capital of his country, Ankara.
Italy has never been an ally of Greece. In the period 1919-1921, Italy openly spoke out against Greece and supported Kemal, in order to put Greece in a difficult position. After the fascist Mussolini came to power in Italy (1922), her attitude was hostile. Besides, on the pretext that the Italians should not enter Smyrna, the Allies consented to the undertaking of the Asia Minor Campaign by E. Venizelos in May 1919.
The Anglo-French hated King Constantine and his royalist governments, after the landing of the Anglo-French in Piraeus and the confinement of the Royal Greek Army in the Peloponnese, after 1917, when Venizelos’ Greece entered the First World War. The French newspapers, which had tens of thousands of troops on the Macedonian Front, referred to Constantine as the most hated person in Europe.
Even if Ankara was taken by the Greek Army, the War would have been lost, from September 1921, after the victorious battles of the Greek Army in Sagarios region and the hills of Cale Groto. The Turks, even if Ankara would have been fallen, had to the depths of the Anatolia living space, to maneuver, to regroup, to be supplied. Their Army was next to the munitions and supplies, and it was easy to regroup and attack. The Greeks were thousands of kilometres away from Greece, the sea, and the supply centres. They would have lost the War because of starvation, deprivation, constant counterattacks by the Turks and the high number of defections and desertions.
They would have lost the War, because as it was correctly predicted by General I. Metaxas, Greek soldiers were fighting far from the supply centers and the sea (which is why he refused to take over as commander of the Greek Army in Asia Minor); it was not possible for a 130,000 army to find adequate supplies in a hostile environment.
The War was lost because now, when they crossed Sagarios and the Salty Desert, the Greeks were fighting in regions without a compact presence of Greeks, but within intensely Turkish populated villages. It could be clarified that the parts that were liberated by the Greek army in Ionia, but also from Pontus, did not send a large number of volunteer soldiers.
The War was lost because the socialists/Marxists encouraged desertion, fugitives and cultivated in the army of Asia Minor with leaflets and proclamations, defeatism, calling on the Greek soldiers to throw away their weapons, because their enemy was not the Turks who were fighting for altars and hearths, but the monopolies and exploiters in Greece and their villages. Deserters who fled the battlefields exceeded 60.000. The Greek Army was reduced to one third of its initial strength by casualties and desertions.
The War was lost because Greece has lost France as a loyal and ardent ally when the royalist governments came to power. The United Kingdom, as always, remained by stepping on two boats.
The War was lost because the Venizelist senior ranking military officers of the National Defence were revoked or expelled from the Army and were replaced by inexperienced royalists at the most crucial moment in 1921.
The War was lost because 19 classes had been called to arms and of these eight, were fighting for over nine long years, that is, from the Balkan-Turkish War in 1912 until the defeat in August 1922.
The War was lost when the Ankara Campaign was decided in Kiutachia. The War lost its moral basis for Greece, namely, to liberate the Greek populations, and turned into an expansionist struggle against Turkey. The Turks fought for altars and hearths, fought to save their homeland, and beat the invading Greeks.
The War was lost because instead of limiting ourselves to what had been conquered with the occupation of Smyrna, Kydonies and Bursa, we did what the Athenians did in Sicily. Thucydides had rightly interpreted that instead of taking care of their city, they were occupied by greed and led their city to destruction, with their campaign in Sicily, 2300 years ago.
*Professor Anastasios M. Tamis taught at Universities in Australia and abroad, was the creator and founding director of the Dardalis Archives of the Hellenic Diaspora and is currently the President of the Australian Institute of Macedonian Studies (AIMS).
Staff shortages across the hospitality space have been a persistent issue throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Hundreds of thousands of temporary visa holders, many from the hospitality industry, left Australia and have not yet returned.
Sydney restaurateur, Bill Drakopoulos, who owns The Fenwick, said he has started to knock back some reservations due to shortages. Photo: Steven Siewert.
“I could probably do with another 70 staff,” Mr Drakopoulos, who owns Sydney venues such as Ripples, The Fenwick and Ormeggio, told the newspapers. “It’s still pretty tough.”
Mr Drakopoulos said he’s started scouting overseas for front-of-house and back-of-house staff in response.
It’s been a slow process so far and he’s been forced to limit the number of bookings at some restaurants to ensure they had sufficient staff to serve customers.
Greek Defence Minister, Nikos Panagiotopoulos, and his Turkish counterpart, Hulusi Akar, met on the sidelines of the extraordinary NATO Defence Ministers meeting in Brussels on Wednesday.
According to Protothema, the Ministers stressed the importance of reducing tensions and consolidating a security climate in the Eastern Mediterranean, based on the rules of international law and the principle of good neighbourliness.
Η μείωση της έντασης στην #Ανατολική_Μεσόγειο αλλά και η πραγματοποίηση συνάντησης για ΜΟΕ, ήταν στην ατζέντα της συνάντησής μου με τον Τούρκο ομόλογό μου κ. Χουλουσί Ακάρ στο περιθώριο της Έκτακτης Υπουργικής Συνόδου των ΥΠΑΜ του @NATO στις Βρυξέλλες.https://t.co/ohQxktU5kipic.twitter.com/IvuPJXrb8I
In this context, it was agreed to meet in the future for talks on Confidence Building Measures (CBMs).
The meeting between the Defence Ministers came just a few days after the lunch between Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, and Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in Constantinople.
Diplomatic sources have told Ekathimerini that the Greek Consul General in Mariupol, Manolis Androulakis, has reached the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia on Wednesday.
The Consul will spend the night in the south-eastern city as there is an ongoing curfew.
The operation to evacuate Androulakis, alongside members from the local Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) office and their families, has been underway since Tuesday afternoon.
Ukraine’s President calls on US to do more in Congress address:
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke to members of the US Congress by video link to plead for support as his country is besieged by Russian forces. Photo: AP / J. Scott Applewhite.
This evacuation effort comes as Russian forces continue to rain fire on Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and other major cities in a bid to crush resistance.
In the encircled seaport of Mariupol, where there is a large ethnic Greek population, a Russian airstrike has also destroyed a theatre building where hundreds of people were sheltering. There was no immediate word on deaths or injuries.
In response, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has appealed to the US Congress to do more to help Ukraine’s fight against Russia.
Destruction in Ukraine. Photo: Oleksandr Lapshyn / Reuters.
Live streamed into the Capitol complex, Zelenskyy cited Pearl Harbour and the terror attacks of September 11 during his appeal and showed an emotional video of the destruction his country has suffered in the war.
Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, has announced 1.1 billion euros in targeted measures to support 3.2 million low-income Greek households.
The announcement came during a televised address to the nation on Wednesday night.
“The measures will address all manifestations of price increases. Supporting the income of lower-income workers and pensioners with an emergency subsidy,” Mitsotakis said during his address.
Προχωράμε σε ένα τρίμηνο πρόγραμμα πρόσθετων ενισχύσεων. Τα μέτρα αυτά απευθύνονται στους πιο αδύναμους και στη μεσαία τάξη. Μελετημένες παρεμβάσεις ύψους €1,1 δισ. που θα ανακουφίσουν 3,2 εκατομμύρια ευάλωτους πολίτες, αλλά και τα νοικοκυριά με ετήσιο εισόδημα έως €30.000.
Mitsotakis explained the government will also be supporting families with children who faced increased expenditures, “generously subsidising energy bills” and “partially absorbing increases in fuel prices by covering 180 litres of petrol for vehicles.”
Special provisions for farmers and small businesses, who have been particularly hit by increased energy prices, will also be provided by the Mitsotakis government.
Mitsotakis also stated that the Single Property Tax (ENFIA) will be reduced and that the Greek national minimum wage is set to increase.
The Greek ministers of Finance, Energy and Agriculture will each announce a three-month emergency spending program to further support the Greek economy.
This all comes in the context of the government’s running support initiative which has already seen some 2.6 billion euros in state funds so far funnelled towards tackling the energy crisis.
Detective Superintendent Arthur Kopsias APM, registered number 18141, joined the NSW Police Force on 17 April 1978, commencing his career by marching in at the Redfern Police Academy as class 159.
Athanasios Kopsias was born in Sparti, Greece, migrating to Australia with his parents in 1960 where he lived in Surry Hills and Redfern during his childhood and schooling years.
He was attested as a Probationary Constable on 26 June 1978 and completed his secondary training working general duties at Maroubra Police Station. He transferred to criminal investigation duties where he performed training at No 21 Division – Criminal Investigation Branch and the Gaming Squad, as well as at Waverley, Randwick, Mascot and Rose Bay Police Stations. He successfully obtained his designation as a Detective in 1983.
From 1984 to 1996 he worked with the Internal Affairs Branch, State Intelligence/Investigation, Legal Services, Region Operations and Special Projects in many varied roles and in particular the investigation, arrest and prosecution of offenders for serious and major criminal offences.
In 1990, he was promoted to Detective Sergeant where he was working at the Legal Services Branch as the Commissioner’s Advocate involving Promotion Appeals at the Government and Related Appeals Tribunal (GREAT).
In 1993, he was admitted as a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of NSW and consequently in 1995, attained his legal practising certificate at the College of Law where he used his legal skills within the organisation and whilst seconded to the Wood Royal Commission into the NSW Police and the Police Integrity Commission involving allegations of serious crime and corruption by police officers.
In 1995, he was promoted to Detective Inspector of the Special Projects Unit – State Investigative Group (Region Support). He was responsible for the implementation of a number of significant recommendations handed down from the Royal Commission into the NSW Police Service, namely the reform of criminal investigation practices, evidence and procedures which brought about many important and improved changes for the NSW Police.
In 1999, he was promoted to Chief Inspector where he took Command of the Telephone Interception Branch, under the Special Services Group. In 2006, he was promoted to Superintendent at the Telecommunications Interception Branch. At the time he also performed duties as the Commander Eastwood and Glebe/Leichhardt commands respectively.
As the head of profession in telecommunications interception, he represented the NSW Police on many national and technical committees involving State-based, Territory and National Law Enforcement and Security Agencies and the Telecommunications Carrier industry which were administered by the Cth Attorney General’s Department and later the Department of Home Affairs. It was here behind the scene where countless polices were set, laws were reformed, and the technical and investigative capability of agencies were bolstered in order to enhance their electronic evidence gathering capacity to more effectively combat serious crime.
During his career he has been awarded several Commissioner’s citations and Commander’s commendations and recognitions for his investigative work, integrity, leadership and as head of profession.
In 2019, he was appointed The Commander High Tech Crime Branch under the Forensic Evidence and Technical Services Command.
Detective Superintendent KopsiasAPMwas formally recognised with the following awards:
National Medal
NSW Police Medal
1st clasp to NSW Police Medal
2nd Clasp to NSW Police Medal
3rd Clasp to NSW Police Medal
Australian Police Medal
1st Clasp to National Medal
National Police Service Medal
1st Clasp to National Police Service Medal
4th Clasp to NSW Police Medal
2nd Clasp National Medal
5th clasp NSW Police Medal
6th clasp to the NSW Police Medal
Two Commissioners Citation and Commendation Awards
Two Commanders Commendation Awards
Commissioners Emergency Commendation
On 4 March 2022, 191 police trainees from class 351 marched into the NSW Police and were attested as probationary constables. On this same day, Detective Superintendent Arthur Kopsias APM marched out from the Goulburn Police Academy as a retired officer closing this chapter of his life.
He proudly and diligently served the NSW Police Force and the community of NSW for over 43 years. His integrity, professionalism and exceptionally hard work will remain a testament of inspiration for others to follow. He will be missed by his colleagues but his legacies will always be remembered.
His wife Tina, daughters and sons in laws De’Anna and Paul, Kristina and Hani, and relatives and friends were there to celebrate this momentous occasion. On behalf of His Eminence Archbishop Makarios, His Grace Bishop Bartholomew of Charioupolis, Vicar of the Greek Archdiocese Canberra, attended the Academy to bless and praise respects and congratulations for such an important milestone to a long serving and high ranking Greek police officer.
He will now commence the next chapter in his life.
