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Basil Zempilas: Be proud of your heritage and being Australian

The Greek Herald
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Basil Zempilas: Be proud of your heritage and being Australian

In an interview with the Chris Smith & Friends Podcast on Sky News Australia, Lord Mayor of Perth, Basil Zempilas, proudly discussed his Greek heritage and how it has been “character building” for him.

Host of the podcast, Chris Smith, opened up the conversation by referencing Zempilas’ name, saying “you’ve got to have a very rich Greek heritage.”

Zempilas agreed with a laugh and began describing what it was like being a Greek Australian at school.

READ MORE: Exclusive: Basil Zempilas – ‘My heart beats true for Greece and Perth.’

“Look it’s quite character building actually. When you’re born in Australia and you go to school and your name’s Basil Zempilas and you look like this, you work out pretty quickly… if you’re going to be able to deal with the cards that you’ve been dealt,” Zempilas says.

The proud Kastellorizian, who is a father-of-three, then goes on to add that people born in Australia who have a non-Australian background are “different.”

“You know you’re different. And of course we assimilate, and of course we are one country, but it is something to be proud of,” Zempilas says.

READ MORE: Greek Australian Basil Zempilas elected as new City of Perth Lord Mayor.

Basil Zempilas is a proud Kastellorizian. He’s pictured here with his wife Amy and their children Ava 9, Anthony 2, and Chloe 6. Picture: Jackson Flindell /The West Australian.

“And one of the things that I try and do wherever I go is I always speak of my Greek heritage and particularly to other young Greek Australians. I always speak to them and say ‘be very proud of your heritage.’

“It’s important and of course it’s important to be Australian. We’re Australian’s first. That’s a very strong principle of mine.”

Zempilas concluded by saying that people need to be “conscious” of where they’ve come from and “what story that brings you” because it can “define you” as a person.

READ MORE: ‘A victory for every Greek Australian’: Basil Zempilas reflects on tough election campaign.

Hospitality industry urges Government to ease restrictions to one person per two square metres

The Greek Herald
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Hospitality industry urges Government to ease restrictions to one person per two square metres

Labor is urging the Government to implement the one person per two square metre rule across all NSW venues to support the hospitality industry during its busiest trading period of the year.

Industry peak bodies and venue operators are demanding a more consistent, clear pathway out of COVID-19, after dealing with confusing, last minute announcements from the Government.

Shadow Minister for Health, Ryan Park, said the industry needs certainty around rule changes to bring some normality back to the year and enable safe health practices.

NSW Premier, Galdys Berejiklian, announced an easing of COVID-19 restrictions on November 25, 2020. Photo: 9News.

“Businesses are more than willing to comply with health regulations. We have seen that since March when COVID-19 first began to impact the industry,” Mr Park said.

“But this Government needs to ensure they are providing clear rule changes with the best interest of keeping the community safe while ensuring businesses are supported during the peak season.

“The Premier needs to stop protecting her own self-image by announcing good news and eased restrictions when she’s facing heat in the public eye.”

Shadow Minister for Better Public Service, Sophie Cotsis, says the Government needs to consider allowing all businesses to implement the one person per two square metre rule as soon as possible.

“The move will help support thousands of jobs to return to the industry which is an important step for economic recovery,” Ms Cotsis said.

“This an opportunity for Government to provide certainty, confidence and boost NSW’s great hospitality sector.”

Greek and Turkish musicians join forces to perform at the Sydney Opera House

Andriana Simos
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Greek and Turkish musicians join forces to perform at the Sydney Opera House

On December 13, 2020 at 2pm, Greek and Turkish musicians will enchant audience members with the magical music of Asia Minor during a special concert at the Sydney Opera House.

The concert, titled ‘Songs Without Borders,’ will be performed in both Greek and Turkish in order to showcase the intermingled and diverse melodies and rhythms of Asia Minor culture.

Six musicians in total will be performing.

Turkish soprano, Ayșe Göknur Shanal, and Greek Australian, Georgette Giatis, will be on vocals, while Michael Platyrrahos will play the lyra and lute, Kurdish musician, Deniz Şimşek, will play the bağlama, Panayioti Kalandranis will perform on the guitar and Kurdish musician, Adem Yılmaz, will play percussion.

The concert will be held in the Utzon room at the Sydney Opera House.

The bond between the musicians is strong, with Georgette Giatis telling The Greek Herald that her and Ayșe Göknur Shanal have been good friends for many years.

“One night I was performing at Koutouki, the Sydney restaurant my husband Panayioti (the musician) and I own, and there was a group of Turkish people eating. So I decided to sing in Turkish for them,” Georgette says.

“Ayșe was part of the group and she got up and started singing with me. We’ve been friends ever since.”

This mutual respect and love for each other’s culture led to the idea for the ‘Songs Without Borders’ concert and although it was initially called off earlier this year due to COVID-19, the Sydney Opera House still wanted the concert to go ahead.

“We received a call from the Sydney Opera House and they said, ‘we’re choosing a few events to go ahead and you’re one of them’,” Georgette tells The Greek Herald.

“So we’ve only had about six weeks to get all the musicians together and rehearse. It’s been exhausting but the rehearsals are going well and we’re thrilled to see how the event goes.”

‘Songs Without Borders,’ which will be held in the Utzon Room at the Sydney Opera House, is a ticketed event of $70. You can book your tickets here.

Samians thank Australian Embassy in Greece for providing essentials after earthquake

Andriana Simos
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Samians thank Australian Embassy in Greece for providing essentials after earthquake

Residents of Samos, who were severely impacted by a destructive 6.7 magnitude earthquake that hit the Greek island in late October, have been provided free cleaning products by the Australian Embassy in Greece.

In a Facebook post, the Embassy announced that a pallet of Dettol Greece cleaning products was on its way to the Municipality of Western Samos over the weekend.

READ MORE: Strong earthquake in Aegean Sea kills at least 14 people in Turkey And Greece.

“With this contribution, the Australian Embassy wishes to assist the Municipality’s continued efforts to provide shelter to the people left homeless by the devastating earthquake that hit the island in late October,” the post reads.

In response, the Municipality and local Samian community sent their thanks to the entire team at the Australian Embassy, including Australian Ambassador to Athens, Mr Arthur Spyrou.

READ MORE: Samos residents left homeless after earthquake to be housed in containers.

“We warmly thank you… for taking the initiative to stand by us and offer supplies of cleaning and disinfection supplies,” the Municipality says on Facebook.

“Your contribution makes us very happy and fills us with courage and strength in our difficult work.”

The 6.7 magnitude earthquake shook half of Greece and the Aegean coast of Turkey, killing at least 71 people and injuring more than 900.

Many people on Samos were left homeless and two local teenagers, 17-year-old Aris and 15-year-old Claire, were killed.

READ MORE: Funeral held in Samos for the two teenagers killed by deadly earthquake.

Greek community waits anxiously for decision on Greek Studies at La Trobe

Andriana Simos
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Greek community waits anxiously for decision on Greek Studies at La Trobe

A decision is yet to be made on whether or not the Modern Greek language program at La Trobe University will be discontinued, almost a week after the negotiation process between the university and members of the Greek community closed.

With this in mind, the Greek community continues to fight for its survival by holding a meeting on Friday, November 27 with the Chancellor and Vice Chancellor of La Trobe. This will be followed by another meeting scheduled for Tuesday, December 1.

During the Friday meeting, Bill Papastergiadis, President of the Greek Community of Melbourne, and four Victorian MP’s of Greek heritage were present. They were: Kat Theophanous, Member for Northcote, Steve Dimopoulous, Member for Oakleigh, Lee Tarlamis, Member for South Eastern Metropolitan, and Nick Staikos, Member for Bentleigh.

The Greek community continues to fight for the survival of the Modern Greek language program at La Trobe university.

READ MORE: Campaign to save the Greek Studies Program of La Trobe University continues.

Representing La Trobe at the meeting were Chancellor John Brumby, who convened the meeting, Vice Chancellor Professor John Dewar, College Provost Professor Simon Evans, and Dean of Humanities and Social Sciences Professor Nick Bisley.

According to a statement from La Trobe, the meeting to discuss the future of La Trobe’s Modern Greek language program was “productive.”

READ MORE: Urgent meeting held to discuss future of Modern Greek Studies at La Trobe University.

“The meeting was conducted in a spirit of goodwill on all sides and a number of possibilities for partnership and collaboration were discussed,” the statement reads.

“(The university) is also very keenly listening to the views of the wider community. A large number of submissions from members of the community were received during the consultation with staff.”

La Trobe concludes the statement by saying that they are “reviewing the feedback from a consultation with staff about the Modern Greek language program, in the context of a wider proposal for changes to courses and subjects in its School of Humanities and Social Sciences.”

READ MORE: ‘La Trobe Uni wants student numbers to triple’: Community races to save Greek Studies Program.

102-year-old woman becomes oldest person to recover from COVID-19 in Greece

Andriana Simos
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102-year-old woman becomes oldest person to recover from COVID-19 in Greece

A 102-year-old woman has become the oldest person in Greece to recover from COVID-19 after she was hospitalised with the virus.

According to Greece’s state broadcaster ERT, the woman was living in a care home in the city of Ioannina when she was diagnosed with COVID-19.

She was transferred to a hospital on the island of Corfu where “she had a high fever for several days, as well as other symptoms of the disease,” the general manager of the hospital, Leonidas Roubatis, said.

“She did not need intubation,” Mr Roubatis added in an interview with state-run news agency, AMNA.

After 20 days, the woman recovered and was discharged from the hospital. She later returned to her care home in Ioannina.

“We are proud of everyone who is discharged and wins the battle against the coronavirus,” Mr Roubatis said.

READ MORE: 102-year-old Greek-American woman recovers from coronavirus.

Nikoletta Polydorou’s orchestra treats the Queen to a wedding anniversary serenade [VIDEO]

Andriana Simos
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Nikoletta Polydorou’s orchestra treats the Queen to a wedding anniversary serenade [VIDEO]

A children’s orchestra has put a smile on Queen Elizabeth’s face by treating the monarch to a virtual serenade in celebration of her recent wedding anniversary.

During a video call with winners of the Commonwealth Points of Light award last week, Her Majesty spoke to Cypriot music teacher Nikoletta Polydorou, who provides free music lessons and instruments to children from challenged communities.

As the call came only days after the Queen and Prince Philip celebrated 73 years of marriage, Ms Polydorou decided to mark the occasion by surprising Her Majesty with her first-ever virtual music performance.

The performance was given by 45 students from the Sistema Cyprus Symphony Orchestra, who played a beautiful extract from a brand new composition by Cypriot composer, Andreas Michalopoulos.

Watching the orchestra from Windsor Castle, where she’s once again in isolation due to a new wave of COVID-19 in the UK, the Queen appeared enthralled.

The children ended their performance with a message for their royal audience member, saying in unison, “Happy anniversary, Your Majesty.”

“That’s very nice, isn’t it?” she responded, a big grin on her face. “Thank you for letting me hear that.”

Greek ship crew held hostage after kidnapping off West Africa

Andriana Simos
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Greek ship crew held hostage after kidnapping off West Africa

Greek authorities said on Sunday that negotiations are underway to free three sailors kidnapped by pirates off the coast of West Africa.

The crew of the Togo-flagged vessel, Stelios K, was attacked in the Gulf of Guinea on November 16.

Pirates took the captain and two of the crew hostage. Two other sailors who remained on board were able to steer the ship safely to the Nigerian port of Lagos.

A statement from Athens’ Merchant Navy Ministry said all five of the crew were in good health. It added that the ship’s owner, Royal Ship Management, was negotiating for the hostages’ release.

The attack on the Stelios K was the 23rd kidnapping in the Gulf of Guinea this year, with a total of 118 people taken hostage, according to the UK-based maritime security company Dryad Global.

Following the kidnapping, the firm issued a “critical risk rating” for the region, warning vessels to exercise heightened caution after a “sharp increase in incidents.”

Five-nation military exercise in East Mediterranean sends message to Ankara

Andriana Simos
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Five-nation military exercise in East Mediterranean sends message to Ankara

Cyprus and Greece will join Egypt, France and the United Arab Emirates in conducting a joint sea-air exercise off the Mediterranean coast of Alexandria, starting Monday, November 30.

The joint exercise is expected to last until December 6, according to Cyprus’ Ministry of Defense, which announced the exercise via Twitter on Saturday.

READ MORE: Greece, Cyprus and Egypt call on Turkey to stop “imperial fantasies” and join them.

The exercise is dubbed ”MEDUSA” and is the latest development in an area where tensions between Turkey and Greece have been very high since July.

In response to the exercise, Turkey’s Defense Ministry noted that the alliance had conducted successive military drills in the Eastern Mediterranean since August “to provoke Turkey,” according to Turkish media outlet, Daily Sabah.

READ MORE: Greece, UAE forge strategic partnership and condemn Turkish provocations.

Greek helicopters arrive in Australia to help with the summer bushfire season

Andriana Simos
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Greek helicopters arrive in Australia to help with the summer bushfire season

Four S-64 Air Crane helicopters, which were shipped from Greece, arrived in Australia on Saturday night, just in time for the summer bushfire season.

The announcement came via Richard Marles MP on Facebook, who said the helicopters had been delivered safely to the Port of Geelong.

“(The helicopters) will be up in the air, supporting emergency response crews on the ground right across the country,” Mr Marles wrote.

Mr Marles added these helicopters are important to avoid “a repeat of last summers bushfires,” but Australia should still have its own dedicated Australian aerial fire fighting fleet of aircraft.

“The priority needs to be our hardworking firefighters and keeping Australians safe year round,” he said.

The important delivery from Greece came in the face a record-breaking weekend heatwave across most of the south eastern and eastern parts of Australia.

Several fires also broke out in Sydney’s west, with firefighters battling to get them under control until a southerly change on Sunday evening sent temperatures plummeting.

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