Take a moment to see the world through another person’s eyes.

The Australian National Maritime Museum, through the Migration Heritage Fund, is partnering with Empathy Museum (UK) to bring the award-winning exhibition ‘A Mile in My Shoes’ to Sydney as part of the Sydney Festival 2021 from 6-31 January.

This free exhibition brings a new meaning to the phrase, “try walking a mile through my life”. Visitors of the exhibition enter and try on a pair of shoes that belong to someone else and to listen to their story. It might be a tale of loss and sadness, hope and love, of odds overcome.

Originally created by artist Clare Patey and produced by Artsadmin, A Mile in My Shoes has been experienced in London, Sao Paulo, New York, Riga, Denver, Perth and Melbourne, among others.

This new iteration, created with the Australian National Maritime Museum, celebrates the voices of migrants and refugees who have made this country their home – people who have changed the face of the nation and have been changed by it.

Kim Tao, curator for the Australian National Maritime Museum said, “The exhibition features 35 engaging stories that will take visitors on an emotive, empathetic and physical journey.”

“The only thing that visitors will know about their storyteller is their name and that they share a shoe size with them. We hope that this experience will challenge assumptions and show that everyone has a story to tell.”

Among the museum’s storytellers are a Catholic refugee who fled communist Vietnam on a seven-metre-long fishing boat crowded with 99 passengers, who were faced with the horrifying sight of people’s shoes floating in the water from previous failed escapes; a Scottish child migrant who was sent to a blacklisted Victorian children’s home in the 1960s; and a first-generation Australian whose great-grandfather told his granddaughter as the Germans prepared to invade Poland at the start of World War II: “Never judge a man unless you have walked a mile in his shoes”.

READ MORE: The ‘Welcome Wall’: A national monument to over 30,000 migrants who moulded Australia

The museum is a national leader in collecting, researching and exhibiting stories about migration to Australia. The Welcome Wall, stretched along the northern promenade, is home to over 30,000 names of migrants on 81 bronze panels, including over 1200 Greeks.

Kevin Sumption, Director and CEO of the museum said, “There has never been a better time for us, as Australians, to focus on what connects us rather than divides us – our common humanity.” 

“We want to shine the light on the experiences of a wide range of Australians from diverse backgrounds, to build understanding and contribute to an inclusive and harmonious society.”

“Australians are very curious about the world. When we ask someone where they are from, it is to understand them, rather than separate ourselves from them. By listening to another’s stories, we can better understand where they have come from and what has shaped them. We can share their journey, and empathise with them.”

The exhibition is free and will be available at the Australian National Maritime Museum from Wed 6 – Mon 31 Jan 2021.

Seafood Industry Australia (SIA) have hailed the Australian public for supporting domestic seafood produce following import tariffs imposed by China.

Releasing December’s sales data, SIA recorded a 30 percent growth compared with the same trading period in 2019. In a press statement, SIA CEO Veronica Papacosta said that the bump in sales during Christmas holidays was made possible through the support of the Australians to the industry.

“It’s no secret 2020 was a hard year for the Australian seafood industry,” SIA CEO Veronica Papacosta said.

“We needed a bumper Christmas period to help us claw our way back. We called on the community to support us and switch one meal on the Christmas table to Australian seafood, and we are beyond thrilled to report they did just that.”

Lobster became a popular produce option for families in the Christmas period, with supermarkets offering $20 western rock lobster promotions. According to The Daily Telegraph, Woolworths’ rock lobster sales were 20 times higher in 2020 Christmas trading compared with 2019 figures for the same period.

“It’s encouraging to see so many Aussies supporting their local seafood producers and we hope this continues,” Papacosta said.

“Australian prawns, rock oysters, crabs, and [lobsters] were the most popular this season, with Australian rock lobsters finding a very welcome home as a table centerpiece.”

Papacosta continued to add that while the SIA experienced great domestic growth during the Christmas period, Chinese tariffs are continuing to harm the industry.

The SIA is calling on the Australian public to dedicate “one meal a week” to buying locally sourced seafood.

“If just 1 per cent of the population committed to changing one meal a week to locally sourced Australian seafood like prawns, salmon or snapper, that would be more than 250,000 meals per week of Australian seafood on tables around the country,” Ms Papacosta said.

“This could mean the difference between a fisher making or missing a mortgage payment and a boat heading out of harbour or spending another week docked.”

Australian Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, says the first COVID-19 vaccines should be available to Australians in mid-to-late February.

Previously, the Federal Government had been planning to start rolling out vaccines in March.

Mr Morrison says the plan is to have 80,000 people a week receive the Pfizer vaccination, with a target of having 4 million people inoculated by the end of March.

High-priority groups will be first in line for the jab, including quarantine and border officials, frontline health workers and residents in aged and disability care.

“We know what we know and we’ll base our timetables on that,” Mr Morrison said. “There have been no delays.”

“There has been the necessary swiftness that has been asked of the TGA and the health officials.”

The Therapeutic Goods Administration is expected to grant approval to the Pfizer vaccine later this month, with other vaccines to follow.

The Pfizer vaccine has already been deployed overseas, with some countries granting emergency authorisation for its use.

This is a developing story. More to come.

Nick Kondilis, the operator of popular Sydney crepe shop ‘Love Crepe,’ has apologised for a since-deleted Instagram story which said “being forced to wear a mask is a crime against humanity.”

In a video posted on the cafe’s Facebook page, Mr Kondilis first apologised to his staff who were shown in the controversial Instagram story not wearing a mask.

“The photo went out with all my staff on there. I shouldn’t have used that photo, I take responsibility for that…” he said.

The Greek Australian goes on to explain why he posted the story in the first place, saying he ‘never had any intent to offend.’

“If you do wear a mask it’s fine but if you do and you touch your mask please sanitise, because I think it’s disgusting,” he said.

“People who are wearing masks they are not washing them, touching them with their hands and putting them all over our counter. That’s how diseases spread.”

The comments underneath Mr Kondilis’ video apology were mostly positive, with many praising him for taking responsibility for the post.

“We are with you all the way brother. You are not alone in this you have a massive movement behind you,” wrote one Facebook user.

Mr Kondilis established Love Crepe in 2016 in Pyrmont making crepes with traditional Greek family recipes, before moving to the flagship store at Drummoyne.

Former Hells Angels member, Peter Zervas, has been arrested driving through Sydney’s CBD allegedly with an extend­able baton in his “company car,” The Daily Telegraph reports.

The 44-year-old Greek Australian was a central figure in the infamous 2009 brawl ­­at Sydney Airport between the Hells Angels and the Comanchero, in which his ­brother Anthony Zervas was stabbed to death.

On Sunday night, police were doing random vehicle checks in the city when they pulled Zervas over on Kent St about 10pm.

“Officers conducted a search of the vehicle and allegedly ­located an expandable baton,” police confirmed in a statement to The Daily Telegraph.

FULL STORY: The Daily Telegraph.