The Greek Festival of Sydney was officially launched on Wednesday night with a sit-down three-course dinner at The Grand Roxy in Brighton-le-Sands.
This year marks 40 years since the festival first started and to celebrate the occasion, Sydney’s Greek community is encouraged to attend the 35 scheduled events which are set to showcase Greek history, culture and music.
On the launch night, over 100 officials and prominent members of the Greek community were given an insight into these upcoming events.
Attendees enjoyed a sit-down dinner on the night.
This included, but is not limited to, the Trade Commissioner of Greece, Katia Gkikiza; Press Councillor Konstantinos Giannakodimos; Georges River Council Mayor Nick Katris; Randwick City Councillor Alexandra Luxford; Bayside Councillor Andrew Tsounis; and Inner West Councillor Zoi Tsardoulias.
After everyone was seated, the emcee for the night, Artemis Theodori, introduced a number of speakers.
These were the President of the Greek Orthodox Community of New South Wales (GOCNSW), Harry Danalis; the Festival Chair of the Greek Festival of Sydney, Nia Karteris; the NSW Minister for Multiculturalism, Mark Coure MP; the Member for Canterbury, Sophie Cotsis MP, representing NSW Labor Leader Chris Minns; and the Consul General of Greece in Sydney, Christos Karras.
Mark Coure MP (left) and Christos Karras (R).Sophie Cotsis MP gave a speech.
In his speech, Minister Coure said the festival is “by far one of the most important cultural events that we have here in Sydney.”
“The Greek festival is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the great contributions to our great state and our country by so many Greek Australians,” the Minister said.
The Consul General of Greece in Sydney spoke along similar lines and said the Greek festival enables Greek Australians and the broader Australian society “to honour and celebrate together all things Greek, that have creatively enriched multicultural Australian society.”
The Festival Chair, Ms Karteris, also stressed the importance of supporting all the artists who are a part of the festival program this year.
The launch night.
“With us tonight we have artists who are in the third and fourth generation who believe in their heritage, who want to promote it… so I think if we can produce 35 high-calibre events in 2022, I think we’ve got a long way to go,” Ms Kateris said.
At the conclusion of these speeches, Ms Theodori read out a congratulatory letter from Dr Alfred Vincent, who was the first lecturer in Modern Greek Studies at the University of Sydney.
Awards were then given to festival sponsors as a thank you for their support, and a cake was cut and enjoyed for dessert by all attendees.
Greek Australian business woman, Effie Cinanni, has been selected to participate in the Victorian Multicultural Commissions’ – Multicultural Communities Leadership in Action Program in 2022.
The program aims to build the capability of multicultural and multifaith leaders to engage effectively with government, in order for them to learn to become informed and influential community advocates to help mobilise and educate their communities.
Effie is the Founder and Director of Small Chilli Marketing and Co-founder of the Northern Multicultural Small Business Awards.
She was selected for the women’s stream of the program and will participate in the program from February through to May 2022.
“This really is a huge honour and a privilege, I didn’t expect to be selected among so many applicants to help serve my community in this way, but I am delighted to be given this opportunity,” Effie says.
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“I am really looking forward to building my skills and strengthening my community engagement capability in order to be able to do more for the Greek Community and other multicultural communities here in Victoria.”
To celebrate this exciting news, we sat down with Effie to see how she plans to use this leadership program to her advantage.
1. Why did you decide to apply for the leadership program?
I worked in Greek language schools across Melbourne teaching Greek folk dancing from 1994 – 2008 and have always tried to use that role to inspire others to be ‘culture keepers.’ In 2016, I was given the opportunity to run an event for the Victorian Small Business Festival.
I am the founder and director of a boutique marketing agency called Small chilli marketing and I have always been passionate about multicultural affairs and creating community harmony here in Australia. I’m also very focused on gender equality and women in business. As such, I partnered with a client of mine, The Brotherhood of St Laurence, and co-founded the Northern Multicultural Small Business Awards.
I decided to apply for the VMC’s leadership program in order to learn more and build my skills and capacity to become a stronger community advocate. The program seeks to enable participants to learn how to:
become influential and informed community advocates.
navigate and collaborate with government.
be more able to mobilise and educate their communities; and
strengthen their civic and community engagement capability.
Participants will:
join a network of hundreds of like-minded cultural and faith leaders.
develop great potential to create collaborative partnerships and projects.
be connected with government representatives; and
be more likely to hold future roles in senior community service and on government boards and committees.
2. How will you inspire more Greek Australian women to become business and community leaders?
Effie (right) is passionate about inspiring Greek Australian women.
First, I will undertake the training and then work to identify how I can leverage the services that the Victorian Multicultural Commission offers. Then I’d like to sit down and scope out how I can help my community.
I want to do one of two things or possibly both. I’d like to start a business incubator program for young women and female entrepreneurs from migrant backgrounds. This is dependent on whether I can get the right supports and funding in place to do this.
Alternatively, if I can’t get the funds, I will help my local Greek Orthodox church raise funds for the Greek community by running a multicultural event like a “Panigiri” with a focus on Greek women being stall holders and selling their products and services at the event. The event would also focus on Greek culture, music and dance as I am confident I’ll be able to obtain a grant for this type of event.
3. Is there anything else you’d like to say?
I was chosen for the ‘women’s stream’ of the leadership program so my focus will be on helping women in my community to learn or grow their skills, or become successful in business, improve their education or help them develop future skills for further employment.
One of the most imposing problems faced by the leadership of Hellenism of Australia was the deficiency in succession, the absence of young people from the clubs, from the community organizations. The basic question remains, why young people, our Australian-born children, do not participate in communal events, social and cultural events? why they do not staff the fraternities? why they do not take the place of their parents? why they fail to continue the mission of their fathers and grandparents, who founded the Hellenic community orgnaizations? Is it really an attitude of indifference, is it an arrogant defiance, a lack of patriotism, a careless insolence on their part? Is it that they do not want to have anything to do with Hellenism, with Hellas, with their cultural origins and ancestry?
What is it that we offer them? What is the socio-cultural regime we invite them to attend and serve? What are the motives and the drives by which we motivate them to come alongside us, to replace us in power, administration, at the helm of our communal affairs, as leaders? In other words, why should they come as our successors? What are the incentives and the elements of motivation, the reasons by which we will be able to convince them, to entice them? And even more simply: What do we offer them to win them over to become heirs, our beneficiaries, and our successors?
The tradition, habits, the objectives, motifs and goals for which the community associations and organizations of our Homogeneia in Australia were founded in the period 1950-2000, ceased to apply long ago even for us, much more so for our children. The idea of the village, the need to preserve it, the desire for the villagers to be all together, to assemble, to share our memories, to marry our children, the provision of solidarity, of mutual aid for the destitute, the sick and the unemployed, all these things for which our clubs and organizations were founded and operated for almost fifty years, are now over. The historical and social criteria, the data have changed, the expected ideals have changed, tradition, principles and obligations have changed. The founders, the pioneers have consistently fulfilled their obligations. They have responded to the demands of those times. Now the needs are different. Now there is a need to enable young people to integrate into the major society, to claim certain positions of influence in their professional lives, to build their own families, utilizing other means and resources, to live as equal citizens, not as immigrants, in the country that had welcomed their parents.
Young people could return to the Greek community organizations and there could be succession only if significant incentives for dependence to the Greek community services are created. They could take the lead of the community institutions, only if young people would have the opportunity to undertake the provision of new services, to offer better facilities and amenities that would resolve the social needs of the members, would bring them coherently and interactively alongside the specific community body and with each other. Young people could return to the organizations if the organizations were up to date with the contemporary and prevailing needs of their members, if the Communities will focus on the betterment of the life of their children and grandchildren
It is well-attested that there are tens of thousands of Greek households in the state capitals of Australia. The majority of parents in these households belong to the creative age of 25-50 years. Working parents live in constant concern and anxiety of securing a nursing center for their infants, a pre-school center, a care center for their children, after-hour facilities during the hours they work. The state subsidises the operation of such centres; the local government subsidises their operation and parents pay exorbitant amounts per day as tuition fees. How many such Greek or Greek-speaking or bilingual centres are operated in Australia by Greek community bodies? Three or four throughout the country, for the needs of tens of thousands of children of Greek origin! If the leaders of the Greek community organizations which possess hundreds of properties and which by now have already concluded their circle of life were keen and prepared to donate their estates and wealth to the central and historic Greek Communities, and the latter in return were compelled to establish bilingual preschool centers, nursing centers for infants, bilingual child minding shelters and after-hour services for the needs of working parents, can you imagine how many new parents would return to the communities to help their own children, and will join the Communities to become frontrunners of serving the needs of their own children?
If the Greek clubs made their fortunes available to the communities and in exchange for acceptance, the Communities established in each state capital academies of sports, soccer, basketball fields, training clubs for boys and girls, swimming centers, cultivating athletic knowledge and performance for school-age children, instead of being constantly pre-occupied with their mobile phones and playing electronic monstrosities on their screens, can you appreciate how many young Greek professionals and scientists would return to community organizations to be part of this socio-cultural metamorphosis, assisting their offspring? If the community orgnaizations transferred their properties and their bank capital to the historic Greek Communities of the States and in return the Communities established bilingual theatrical workshops in each capital, where they could actively cultivate both the Greek language and their talent in the theater; if they could establish and operate fully equipped cultural centers, with theatre and cinema halls, restaurants, rooms for members, bars with drinks and not gambling parlors and gambling cafes, can you appreciate how many young people would have returned back to the community institutions?
If the Greek community entities handed their fortunes to the secular and ecclesiastic social welfare organizations administered by the Holy Archdiocese and the historic Communities and in exchange, these organizations and the Archdiocese established in every state capital city drug rehabilitation centers, youth centers, welfare centers for the homeless of Greek origin, the needy and the destitute, can you appreciate how many young people would become members of the Communities and of these welfare organizations, enriching their ranks with invaluable human resources, thus acting as successors of those pioneering Greek fathers, who founded the now bankrupt fraternities and ethnospecific associations?
*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).
The NSW Government is taking a staged and flexible approach to the easing of restrictions as the State continues to take a measured response to managing COVID-19.
From the beginning ofFriday, 18 February 2022, the following adjustments will be made to the current settings:
No density limits (previously one person per 2sqm for hospitality venues);
QR check-ins will only be required for nightclubs, and for all music festivals with more than 1,000 people. Hospitals, aged and disability facilities may use their existing systems for recording visitors;
Singing and dancing will be permitted at all venues, except music festivals, where singing and dancing can recommence from 25 February;
The recommendation to work from home will change and be returned to the employer’s discretion.
Perrottet announced the changes today.
From the beginning of Friday, 25 February 2022, the following adjustments will be made to the settings:
Masks will only be mandated on public transport, planes, and indoors at airports, hospitals, aged and disability care facilities, corrections facilities and indoor music festivals with more than 1,000 people;
Masks are encouraged for indoor settings where you cannot maintain a safe distance from others and for customer facing retail staff to protect vulnerable people who must access these premises and services;
Each State Government agency will review where it may be appropriate for public-facing staff to wear masks and will implement as necessary; and
The 20,000 person cap on music festivals will be removed, with singing and dancing permitted. Vaccination requirements will remain for indoor music festivals over 1,000 people, with attendees required to have at least two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine.
Hotel quarantine for unvaccinated returning travellers will be reduced from 14 to 7 days from 21 February.
With hospitalisation and ICU rates easing and booster uptake now above 50 per cent a staged return of non-urgent elective surgery across all NSW public hospitals has commenced and will be increased through February to March.
People aged 16 years and older can receive their booster dose at three months after receiving their second dose of any of the COVID-19 vaccines. You can book your COVID-19 vaccine or your booster shot, via www.nsw.gov.au/covid-19/vaccination/get-vaccinated.
Businessman, Achilles “Big Al” Constantinidis, and mortgage lender, Ian Lazar, have won an appeal against a court finding two years ago that they were guilty of intending to pervert the course of justice.
Constantinidis and Lazar were convicted in 2020 of attempting to influence a police officer over an investigation into a $50,000 gold bar.
According to The Sydney Morning Herald, Constantinidis and Lazar were said to have procured a stand-over man, Witness B, to improperly influence a detective who was investigating the provenance of the gold bar, which belonged to Mr Lazar and was discovered during a vehicle stop in Sydney’s inner west.
Ian Lazar (right) leaves the Downing Centre with lawyer Bryan Wrench in 2020. Credit: Georgina Mitchell.
Witness B claimed Mr Lazar paid him in a stack of bills eight centimetres high to get the detective to leave him alone, and claimed Mr Constantinidis told him: “Do whatever it takes. Break his legs, break his arm. Do whatever it takes, just get rid of him. Get him out of the way.”
But on Friday, the Court of Criminal Appeal raised doubts about the evidence of this key witness and quashed the previous convictions, finding each man not guilty.
Justices Fabian Gleeson, Des Fagan and Julia Lonergan determined that the guilty verdicts were unreasonable and not supported by the evidence.
Alleged fraudster, Bill Papas, has set a Central Coast house price record after liquidators sold his luxury Wagstaffe property for more than its $13.5 million guide,The Sydney Morning Herald reports.
This isn’t the first time the property has set a record for the Central Coast – it made history when it sold to Papas for $9.5 million in 2020.
The Hamptons-style, seven-bedroom residence is set on 2188 square metres and features a sandy beach, a swimming pool, boat shed, shared jetty and a mooring.
One of the seven bedrooms at the Wagstaffe property.
Papas’ other holiday home on Bulkara Street in Wagstaffe is also expected to hit the market in coming weeks with a $9 million price tag.
The majority of Papas’ Forum empire was placed into liquidation last year amid allegations in a civil proceeding brought by Westpac and two other lenders, Sumitomo and Société Générale, that Papas had presided over a $500 million fraud on the business.
Historical cafes in Greece have been added to the country’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list. These cafes were meeting points for writers, poets, politicians and scholars, as well as people of high social standing.
The cafes that have been added to the list are members of the international cultural organisation, Historic Cafes Route, and represent “important venues of the cities they are established in for more than a hundred years.”
The list includes cafes such as:
Kipos – Has operated in the Municipal Garden of Hania, Crete since 1870 and has been the meeting point for many Greek icons such as Elefterios Venizelos, Nikos Kazantzakis, Maria Callas and many more.
Tipota – a café in the Peloponesse that has operated since 1840.
Oraia Ellas – located in Monastiraki, Athens, which opened in 1839.
Café Mevlana – a café in Rhodes, housed in a 14th century building.
Café Ermis- established in 1800 in Mytilene.
Penellinios – also in Mytilene and has been operating since 1840.
Grand Café – opened in 1929 in Amfissa.
These additions to the list highlight the significance of the sites and the roles that they played in recent history.
Statement: Yesterday I tested positive for COVID-19. I am isolating at home with my family. My staff Betty, Zoi & Nick are staffing the West Torrens office to serve our community’s concerns and I will continue to work from home.
Koutsantonis is not the first SA politician to test positive to the virus, with Opposition Leader Peter Malinauskas also catching COVID-19 earlier this year.
SA Premier, Steven Marshall, tested negative to COVID-19 after his daughter contracted the virus in January.
This news came as SA recorded 1,624 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday and four deaths.
Australian undisputed lightweight boxing champion, George Kambosos Jr, will defend his three world title belts at Melbourne’s Docklands Stadium on June 5.
The match is likely to be against Ukrainian star Vasiliy Lomachenko or American Devin Haney.
“I only want big names. I don’t want any tune ups. That’s what Australian sports fans want to see, no circus fights, no easy fights, tough battles, fight of the year candidates,” Kambosos Jr told The Sydney Morning Herald.
“I don’t plan on handing these belts over, ever. These belts are mine.
George Kambosos Jr is set to defend his title in Melbourne. Credit: Getty.
“This is a legacy fight for me. This is my destiny.”
The 28-year-old Sydneysider stunned the world late last year when he upset American Teofimo Lopez to claim the WBA, IBF and WBO belts.
Kambosos will now finalise his world-title opponent within a fortnight.
“This is going to be huge. A mega fight is only fitting for it. The Emperor comes back home to fight in front of all his people in the biggest fight ever in Australian boxing,” he said.
Greece will ease its coronavirus restrictions on Saturday, February 19, as the number of virus-related deaths in the country surpassed 25,000 on Wednesday.
People are now allowed to stand at entertainment venues, while there is increased capacity at sporting venues and field trips for schools can restart.
The Scientific Committee, which is advising the Greek government on the handling of the pandemic, was not in favour of allowing the organisation of large events celebrating carnival to proceed.
This easing of restrictions comes as the total number of virus-related deaths in Greece since the start of the pandemic surpassed the 25,000 milestone, with a total of 25,001 fatalities.
Greek health authorities announced 19,509 new coronavirus cases and 82 virus-related deaths on Wednesday.
