Greek Orthodox Community of Melbourne President Bill Papastergiadis met with acting Minister for Immigration Alan Tudge to participate in a briefing, informing multicultural community leaders of the impact of the 2020 Budget.
Papastergiadis raised a number of questions to the Minister, including how the government would aid families in Australia who intend to connect with family members abroad.
Tudge says the international quarantine restrictions are proving a major obstacle for people looking to come home, as well as visit distant family overseas.
“He said 58,000 Australians had left Australia since the border was closed. He agreed that isolation has limited immigration and that state government’s played a key role in setting those boundaries,” Tudge was quoted as saying in a press release by the Greek Orthodox Community of Melbourne.
“The government hopes to open borders with other countries in the near future and also hopes that a vaccine will be available by mid-2021.”
The Community President additionally asked the Minister about his proposal for skilled migrants and “whether our communities could work with the Government to develop better ties with some countries, including Greece.”
Papastergiadis mentioned the lobby of the Greek Community of Melbourne to organise a skills exhibition in Thessaloniki a few years ago.
Tudge says social cohesion among multicultural communities remains important for the Federal Government program.
“Foreign intervention was a particular problem and was at levels we had never seen since World War II,” Tudge adds.
“The federal government will try to ensure that communities are not divided as a result of foreign factors. It invests in services to compensate for this.”
A month after fire razed the sprawling Moria reception center on the Aegean island of Lesvos, the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, has called for “urgent action” after heavy rain flooded tents at a new facility set up to replace the camp.
“Urgent action and improvements are needed to avoid further deterioration of living conditions for some 7,800 refugees and asylum-seekers currently sheltered in the emergency site in Kara Tepe,” the UNHCR said in a statement on Friday.
It said some “interim solutions” were found in the wake of the flooding caused by Thursday’s rainfall but warned that, “colder weather and the onset of winter will only bring more hardship for the people there.”
Migration Minister Notis Mitarakis said that the majority of the facility had not been affected by the flooding and that those migrants whose tents were flooded were temporarily moved to “common areas.”
Egypt’s president Saturday ratified a maritime deal setting its Mediterranean Sea boundary with Greece and demarcating an exclusive economic zone for oil and gas drilling rights, the state-run news agency reported, in a move that has angered Turkey.
The bilateral agreement is widely seen as a response to a rival deal between Turkey and Libya’s Tripoli-based government that spiked tensions in the East Mediterranean region, along with Turkey’s disputed oil and gas exploration in the seawaters.
The MENA news agency said that the deal, signed by President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, was published by the official gazette on Saturday.
Photo: [Alexander Zemlianichenko/Reuters]
The ratification came over two months after the Egyptian and Greek foreign ministers signed the deal in Cairo.
The Egypt-Greece deal establishes “partial demarcation of the sea boundaries between the two countries, and that the remaining demarcation would be achieved through consultations.”
Egyptian Parliament Speaker Ali Abdel-Al had in August called the deal with Greece “very significant.”
The Ankara-Tripoli maritime deal was dismissed by the governments of Egypt, Cyprus and Greece as infringing on their economic rights in the gas-rich Mediterranean Sea.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called the Egypt-Greece agreement “worthless,” vowing to keep his disputed pact with the Tripoli government in place.
No matter who you ask, everyone will tell you that “my Yiayia makes the best Gemista!” so we thought to teach you how to make your own Gemista just as good as Yiayia’s!
Gemista is traditionally a vegetarian dish with roasted vegetables stuffed with a rice filling.
Today, gemista is often filled with rice and ground meat stuffing and is served with roast potatoes, making it a staple meal in most Greek households.
Ingredients
For the vegetables:
6 tomatoes
4 capcicums
4 eggplants
For the stuffing:
1 onion
1 clove of garlic
1 ½ cups rice
½ bunch mint
½ bunch parsley
500g ground mince beef
400g water
Salt & paper
Grated tomato and eggplant (from inside of vegetables)
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
Method
For the vegetables:
Begging by removing the top part of the tomatoes and eggplants. Set aside to use later as the “lid”. Scoop out the flesh from the tomatoes and eggplant and set aside for the filling mixture.
Cut the tops of the capsicum and set aside to use as a lids. Scoop the inside seed out and throw away.
Place the vegetable onto a baking pan
For the stuffing:
Preheat oven to 180celsius
Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a frying pan
Finely chop the onion and garlic and add to the pan along with the granulated sugar
Add the ground beef and the eggplant and tomato flesh to the pan. Let the mince brown
Add the rice and water. Season with salt and pepper and lower the heat to let simmer.
Once the filling is ready, remove from the heat and let rest for 5 minutes
Greece is neither in the position to develop nor to attract talented professionals, according to the findings of the Hellenic Authority for Quality in Higher Education’s (ADIP) annual report for 2019.
The report paints the current picture of higher education in Greece, highlighting its distortions and disadvantages.
In particular, it states that an estimated 450,000 Greek professionals went abroad during the recent economic crisis, seeking greener pastures and leaving behind high unemployment rates, wage cuts and reduced social benefits.
Their relocation cost the Greek economy more than 15 billion euros.
The study notes that the aim to transform Greece’s brain drain of the last decade can be transformed into a brain gain is being hampered by a policy deficit.
Citing the Global Talent Competitiveness Index (GTCI) for 2020 – the global benchmark for issues related to talent competitiveness and the future of work – it said Greece is ranked 81st internationally in attracting talented people, 30th in terms of retaining them and 60th in talent development out of a total of 132 countries.
Also, according to Eurofound’s European Working Conditions Survey, Greece appears to significantly lag the European average in terms of creating high-quality jobs with good financial gains and prospects.
In fact, Greece ranks among the worst-performing countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in the employment of higher education graduates aged 25-64 (74%).
As statistics around mental health illness in Australia continues to rise at an exponential rate, there are constant calls for increased awareness of the issue.
A couple of weeks ago The Greek Herald spoke with Helen Eleni Andrianakis, a senior mental health drug and alcohol clinician and psychiatric nurse practitioner, on the importance of family responsibility in managing mental health illness in the community.
Today we continue this dialogue, moving on to a greater discussion about some of the common effects of mental health illness, specifically looking at insomnia.
All humans experience irregular sleeping patterns during different stages of their lives, and this doesn’t mean people should be immediately concerned. In fact, the Sleep Health Foundation says that approximately one third of Australians experience insomnia at some point in their lives, and only 5% will need professional treatment.
However, insomnia should be treated no differently than other mental health illnesses. Left unmonitored, it has proven to be “extremely dangerous” to our bodies.
Photo: Sleep Foundation Australia
“It’s extremely important to monitor and it’s not necessarily something you need to be embarrassed about, because we all have some complications or problems in our life,” Helen says to The Greek Herald.
“You know what works for you and you know what doesn’t work for you.”
Helen stresses that maintaining balance is key to having a strong mental health. Without a good lifestyle balance, people can be at risk of further mental health deterioration. With no sleep and an unorganised schedule, insomnia can be catalyst for illnesses such as depression and anxiety.
“You’re not able to balance, you’re not able to make proper decisions, you’re not able to have a normal direction in your life, you’re not able to work and you’re not able to study,” Helen says.
“A lot of people need to keep up a healthy diet and healthy balance, east properly, if you are a smoker then you get yourself on a withdrawal smoker regime.
“Everything is about a healthy lifestyle.”
Helen explains that insomnia can be the result of multiple underlying mental health issues, including:
Trauma
Poor lifestyle
Lack of stability
Anxiety
Depression
Medication
As a mental health illness, trauma can have a severe impact on our social lifestyle. Often brought upon by a life-changing event, insomnia as a result of trauma can be one of the hardest mental battles to defeat, especially when the traumatic event has taken place during the night.
“One of my clients, they’ve been taken off their parents for various reasons and have been dumped from foster care to foster care a total of seven times,” Helen says.
“One of the little girls says she can’t sleep at night because that’s when a lot of the trauma happens. So she was awake all night, and when it’s time to go to school she was sleeping.”
“Tell me if those poor children aren’t traumatised.”
Sleeping medication may be a viable temporary solution for insomnia, yet for some it can lead to very dangerous habits in the future. Helen warns that medication is being used as a justification for external side effects, such as over-indulging in food and smoking.
“Some clients eat healthy, don’t smoke and don’t drink, while other clients over-eat then blame it on the medication, then refuse to take the medication,” Helen says.
“They’ll order 24/7 fast food online. Now with COVID, we’re finding it’s even getting worse.
“We’re having clients in residential units sleep during the day, then awake all hours at night, and all they do is eat.”
Helen stresses that insomnia can lead to real social issues and should not be treated as simply a common side effect of a greater issue. If it continues to lead to a poor lifestyle, it should be brought up with a health professional.
“Be aware of the warning signs and communicate with your clinician or your medical professional,” Helen says.
“It’s best for them to talk to their doctor and write out a diary on the number of hours they sleep, what they do with the daily complications they are facing in their lifestyle, then their doctor will tell them what is happening.
“That’s how we identify it.”
Hypnotherapists and wellbeing clinics are other ways that people can properly manage their insomnia. A strong recommendation by Helen included visits to sleeping clinics, which monitor patients for up to 24 hours to properly diagnose their condition and what could be a potential cause.
The Government introduced a wave of support in the 2020 budget announcement for incoming migrants looking to call Australia home.
Speaking to multicultural media, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said this budget is “for multicultural Australia”.
“Our multicultural communities and citizens are more likely to start a business, more likely to own a business, more likely to employ other Australians, and we’re seeing that across so many different communities,” Scott Morrison said.
However, one such implementation to the migration process is the additional importance placed on the new Adult Migrant English Program (AMEP). Foreigners looking to apply for Partner Visa’s will now be required to complete 500 hours of English classes before they are allowed to stay in Australia permanently.
Acting Immigration Minister Alan Tudge revealed new details of the English language requirements, also pointing to a previously announced overhaul of the AMEP, giving migrants access to unlimited English classes free of charge.
Community debate was sparked on social media over the newly introduced requirement, with Greeks raising the question: “Since when does speaking English determine your worth?”
My migrant parents didn't speak a word of English when they came from Greece. Raised 2 human rights lawyers with 8 degrees & an Order of Australia. Under this government they never would have been allowed in. Since when does speaking English determine your worth? Can you relate? pic.twitter.com/iGll4ugs8O
“My migrant parents didn’t speak a word of English when they came from Greece,” ASRC Founder and CEO Kon Karapanagiotidis said on Twitter.
“Raised 2 human rights lawyers with 8 degrees & an Order of Australia. Under this government they never would have been allowed in.”
Many others were quick to voice their concerns, with people saying the new English requirements are restrictive on all cultures that have come to Australia, recognising the country as a multicultural hub.
“My best friend at school’s family came from Greece. The only words in English he spoke during his speech at her 21st were ‘Eat, drink, good time.’ Caring can be communicated in many ways other than language and they were some of the best people I’ve ever known,” one user wrote on Twitter.
“How many of us would not be here? My grandparents came from Finland in 1920’s ( no English). My husband, his brothers & his parents ( No English) came here from Cyprus in the 80’s,” another user wrote.
Screenshot taken from the Prime Minister’s virtual conference with multicultural media. Screenshot: The Greek Herald
The Australian Prime Minister claims that learning English is “vital tool” for social and economic inclusion.
“If you’re unable to engage in the first language of that country, which in Australia is English, then you will have opportunities limited in this country. Not by the government and not by anyone else, but by language challenges,” the Prime Minister says.
The Prime Minister added that he still encourages other languages to be spoken, contributing to Australia’s diverse community, yet learning English is a “necessity”.
Souvlaki Boys in Marrickville has managed to beat an estimated 20,000 businesses in the Inner West area to win the prestigious ‘2020 Inner West Business of the Year’ award in the area’s local business awards.
Earlier in the night, Souvlaki Boys owners Nick and Arthur Alepidis were grateful to receive the ‘Specialised Retail Business Award’, beating 19 other business nominees. Unbeknown to them, they were later to receive the biggest award and shock of their lives.
Speaking to The Greek Herald, Nick Alepidis says he was in complete ‘shock and disbelief’ to see his business’ name show up on the ‘20202 Business of the Year Award’ screen.
“We were just shocked because we weren’t actually anticipating it,” Nick says to The Greek Herald.
“We weren’t actually expecting to be nominated for the Business of the Year award to tell the truth. When we saw our name up on the screen we were just surprised then they called our names up… it was a huge honour and a big shock.”
About last night 😍😍We had the pleasure of attending the Inner West Local Business Awards held at Le Montage. What a…
Nick was particularly “humbled and honoured” to receive the award, recognising Souvlaki Boys had beat many other well established businesses to claim the top prize.
“With all the issues that have gone on with covid this year, just to make it this far along with all the other businesses is again just an honour.”
Nick said he and his brother, Arthur, are simply thankful to get recognition for their business, carrying on the legacy of their father, Greg Alepidis.
“To get recognition like that, especially for my father who’s the one we’re trying to carry the legacy for… To keep doing the work that he’s done over the years, just to live up to that.”
“Also trying to keep all of our customers happy and trying to make the best product we can as well.”
The Souvlaki Boys are joined by a host of Greek businesses who managed to take home awards in Sydney’s Local Business Awards, including Miloway Wines, Trianon Cake Shop and Vicky Zafiropoulos of Hairem Hairdressing.
Xanthi FC have been busy the past two weeks recruiting top players to join their squad ahead of their Greek Super League 2 season opener on October 26.
Xanthi FC officially announced the signings of Dutch winger Randy Wolters, and Greek defenders Manolis Roussaki and Thanasi Panteliadis in the past two days.
Wolters has played with 6 different teams in the Netherlands, along with Dundee FC in the Scottish championship. With his total 294 appearances (39 goals, 38 assists) in all competitions, he will strengthen the Xanthi attacking force.
24-year-old defender Roussaki spent two years in the SL2 with Platanias and will look to be a strong young prospect in the experienced Xanthi FC first team.
Panteliadis has arrived at Xanthi with more than 300 participations in SL / SL2 / FL having started his career at Ethnikos Katerini F.C. and continuing with multiple clubs, including Europa League Cypriot team Omonia Nicosia.
The three new recruits will be joined by a host of Australian talent, including Paul Izzo and Matthew Jurman, who were brought in by former Perth Glory head coach Tony Popovic, now leading the side in Greece.
Bill Papas (President Xanthi FC), Tony Popovic and Damon Hanlin. Photo: Supplied
Popovic took part in the clubs first official press conference on Wednesday, along with new Greek Australian owner Bill Papas. The club managers laid out the early stages of their plans this season, putting large focus on the development of their youth academies.
Bill Papas, along with Xanthi FC board member Damon Hanlin, have developed their football academy expertise from running NSW NPL side Sydney Olympic FC, looking to replicate the same success in Greece.
A $244 million blueprint to revamp the former Land Titles Office has been proposed to the state government.
As part of the plan, developers have teamed with The Hellenic Museum to construct a new Greek museum, making Melbourne the first city to house a permanent Benaki Museum outside of Greece.
Also part of the plans are an international exhibition space and 29-storey commercial tower, being built above one of Melbourne’s oldest buildings.
But the plans will first have to win the support of the government and Heritage Victoria. The building is listed on the state register for its architectural and historic significance.
This commercial tower would sit high above the new museum. Photo: Daily Telegraph
Speaking to The Daily Telegraph, ISPT chief executive Daryl Browning said the project would revitalise the precinct and restore heritage appeal.
“We believe it’s a really good outcome for the community,’ he said.
Mr Browning said the heritage buildings would house the Hellenic and Benaki museums and be open to the public for the first time.
“For most Melburnians, they’ve never seen inside those buildings because when they held the titles they were very valuable and secure documents,’’ he said.
“So Joe Public would never have seen the titles holding area and we thought that precinct would be revitalised by both the tower and the concept that was sympathetic to the heritage of the old building, but open it up so that Melbourne can experience it brought back to its grandeur.’’
Development of the commercial tower would foot the bill and The Hellenic Museum would be offered a rent-free lease for 50 years.
The former Land Titles Office is one of only two surviving 19th century buildings that extend along a complete Melbourne city block, along with the Supreme Court.
A report to government said the importance of the site to Victoria “requires a particularly creative adaptive reuse solution … that reflects the ever-changing, vibrant and lively contemporary city of Melbourne whilst simultaneously remaining respectful and sympathetic to its heritage value,’’ it said.
If approved, construction is likely commence next year and take up to three years to complete.
