Thanks to the persistent efforts from the Greek community in Australia in 2020, the Greek language program at La Trobe University was saved for the next three years, on the proviso that certain enrolment targets are met.

Well in some recent positive news, Dr Stephie Nikoloudis, the program coordinator of Greek Studies at La Trobe University, has confirmed to The Greek Herald that she has seen a “steady increase” in enrolments.

“Our enrolments have been steadily increasing since 2018, in part due to the sustained promotional campaign that my colleague, Dr Dimitri Gonis, and I have undertaken, with the assistance of our students, visiting schools, holding information sessions, revitalising the curriculum, and generally spreading the word that tertiary Greek is available to students at La Trobe, as well as students based at other universities through cross-institutional study and stand-alone diploma options,” Dr Nikoloudis tells The Greek Herald.

“The possibility, late last year, that the program might be lost, also helped to galvanise support and brought about more enrolments.”

READ MORE: Greek language program to continue at La Trobe.

According to a Facebook post, the exact number of student enrolments has grown from 28 language students in 2018 to 70 in 2021. Dr Nikoloudis says that if these numbers continue to increase, “we can secure the future of the program at La Trobe.”

“It has been inspiring to see the whole community – people of Greek and non-Greek background – come together on this issue,” she says.

“We must not be complacent though – there is still a lot of work to be done and lots of students to encourage to take Greek at university level – whether following VCE or as complete Beginners, or somewhere in between.

“We welcome all ages and all backgrounds – our student cohort is becoming more and more diverse and this makes for a wonderfully stimulating learning environment for all concerned.”

For any further enquiries about the Greek Studies program at La Trobe you can contact Dr Nikoloudis on s.nikoloudis@latrobe.edu.au.

READ MORE: Power of the Greek language: Meg Smith’s journey from learning Greek to saving La Trobe Greek Studies.

In 2017, officials knocked on the doors of residents living on Randwick’s Eurimbla Avenue and told them their houses were to be compulsorily acquired to make way for a redevelopment of the nearby Prince of Wales Hospital.

Residents were given a date and promised fair prices for their homes, but there was no negotiating about the fact they had to move out of the Eurimbla precinct, which is wedged between the University of New South Wales on one side and the hospital on the other.

Now, almost four years later, former Eurimbla resident, Sam Sarkis, tells The Sydney Morning Herald that while you could not pay him to move back to Randwick, he still missed his neighbours.

Mr Sarkis was one of the most outspoken critics of the compulsory acquisition process and has since moved to acreage on the Central Coast.

He tells the SMH the process (which was concluded by the end of 2018) was made unnecessarily stressful by the bureaucratic way it was managed, with many residents frantically renovating and painting their homes to get a higher valuation.

Mr Sarkis was told he could not take his new toilet with him. One man was told he could not take a magnolia tree that had been planted by his mother.

“They really dehumanised the whole thing… It could have been handled better,” Mr Sarkis told the Australian newspaper.

NSW Health Infrastructure said in a statement to the SMH that more than 90 per cent of property owners reached an agreement with the government on the value of their property without needing to resort to property acquisition and the process had been conducted in line with all its statutory obligations.

“Health Infrastructure understands the property acquisition process can be difficult for residents and owners and has made every effort to support positive outcomes on their behalf,” it said.

The Eurimbla Precinct History Association has now released a book, Remembering Eurimbla, funded by the garage sales of residents moving out of their homes and a grant from Randwick Council.

When Mr Sarkis opened the book, it was beyond anything he had imagined.

“The book gave recognition,” he said. “We weren’t just a number, which was how we had been treated [during the sell-off]. It recognised that we were people with stories, with families, with histories. That’s something.”

Source: SMH.

Member for Melbourne and Leader of The Australian Greens, Adam Bandt MP, has joined the Joint Justice Initiative, continuing his party’s calls for Federal recognition of the Greek, Armenian and Assyrian Genocides.

The February 2020 launch of the Joint Justice Initiative at Australia’s Parliament House featured the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding by the Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANC-AU), Assyrian Universal Alliance (AUA) and Australian Hellenic Council (AHC), which declares Australia’s recognition of the Armenian, Assyrian and Greek Genocides as a priority on behalf of their communities.

An industrial lawyer by training, Bandt took over leadership of the largest cross-bench party in the Federal Parliament, The Australian Greens, in 2020 after the retirement of fellow Joint Justice Initiative supporter, Richard Di Natale.

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

Bandt has represented constituents in the electorate of Melbourne since 2010, and always stood out as a supporter of human rights and social issues in public office.

Executive Director of the Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANC-AU), Haig Kayserian, said the Joint Justice Initiative was pleased to see another familiar face join the Initiative.

READ MORE: Michael Sukkar MP pledges support to Armenian-Assyrian-Greek ‘Joint Justice Initiative’.

“Mr. Bandt has been a long-time advocate for human rights and has consistently called for Federal Australian recognition of the Armenian, Assyrian and Greek Genocides,” Kayserian said.

“The Armenian-Australian, Assyrian-Australian and Greek-Australian communities represented in the Joint Justice Initiative thank Mr. Bandt and The Australian Greens for their principled condemnation of what happened to our ancestors at the hands of the Ottoman Empire.”

READ MORE: Australian MP Mike Freelander supports Armenian, Assyrian and Greek Joint Justice Initiative.

The Joint Justice Initiative has so far announced the support of Bandt, Tim Wilson MP, Senator Janet Rice, Steve Georganas MP, Michael Sukkar MP, Senator Louise Pratt, Warren Entsch, Joel Fitzgibbon MP, Andrew Wilkie MP, Julian Leeser MP, Michelle Rowland MP, Senator Paul Scarr, Tony Zappia MP, Senator Sarah Hanson-Young, Senator Hollie Hughes, Senator Rex Patrick, Mike Freelander MP, Senator Eric Abetz, Senator Larissa Waters, Senator Pat Dodson, Jason Falinski MP, Josh Burns MP, John Alexander MP, Senator Andrew Bragg and Bob Katter MP with a promise of more announcements to come.

READ MORE: Australian Senator Larissa Waters joins Joint justice Initiative for recognition of Armenian, Greek and Assyrian genocides.

On February 25, 2020, over 100 Federal Australian parliamentarians, diplomats, departmental officials, political staffers, academics, media and community leaders were treated to cultural performances, food, wine and brandy, as well as the historic signing of a Memorandum of Understanding, which affirmed that the signatory public affairs representatives of the three communities were jointly committed to seeing Australia recognise the Turkish-committed Genocides against the Armenian, Greek and Assyrian citizens of the Ottoman Empire during World War I.

Source: Public Radio of Armenia.