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Andrew Liveris on climate change and the need to repurpose Australia’s private and public sector

Andriana Simos
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Andrew Liveris on climate change and the need to repurpose Australia’s private and public sector

Former CEO of Dow Chemical, Andrew Liveris AO, gave a passionate keynote speech looking at the issues of climate change and Australia’s private and public sector during The Australian‘s Strategic Forum 2020.

On the issue of climate change, Mr Liveris said “the debate is no longer the correct debate topic” and Australia needs to focus on affordable, risk management policies to reach the net zero by 2050 goal.

“This is not coal versus renewables. This is not fossil fuels versus green energy. This is an all-of-the-above energy emissions policy that includes a risk-managed and affordable transition,” Mr Liveris said during the forum.

“We need energy efficiency standards… the optimisation of the fossil fuel mix, the pursuit of safe and reliable alternatives such as hydro, solar, wind, batteries for storage and even nuclear.”

Andrew Liveris. Photo: The Greek Herald / Andriana Simos.

Mr Liveris added that Australia needs to give a “firm signal to the market” that the country is serious on climate change.

“A signal such as proactively enabling renewables to be a part of a redesigned national electrification market with no subsidies.”

Repurposing Australia’s private and public sector:

Mr Liveris went on to discuss Australia’s private and public sector, saying the private sector “has to deliver on its role in the social contract” and become more aware of its social responsibility to “drive purpose and community as much as profit.”

He later added that Australia struggles with bringing people in from the private sector and putting them into public sector roles.

“This struggle comes at the cost of the quality of public policy outcomes. Many in public service are not well-informed about demands on the private sector and there is resentment between the two sectors as well as ignorance and superstition,” Mr Liveris explained.

“Measures to deal with this include much more exchange between the two sectors and personnel, including swaps and internships at very high and low levels in the organisations.”

Going further, Mr Liveris says Australia has a “long history of high quality policy debate and innovation” and continues to be a “bold experimenter of new policy approaches.”

“This spirit is still alive and it needs to be focused on the redesign of our institutions and the re-invigoration of the policy mindset,” he said.

“The system needs to be designed to reflect the dynamics of technology and science. We need an education system that retrains Australians for meaningful and rewarding work.

“We also need to look at the new manufacturing paradigm… that translates Australia’s brilliant innovation engine into high quality products, jobs and values.”

An ambitious outlook on the future of Australia by proud Greek Australian bussinessman, Andrew Liveris.

Hellenic Initiative Australia launch their Winter Appeal for Greece

Andriana Simos
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Hellenic Initiative Australia launch their Winter Appeal for Greece

The Hellenic Initiative has today launched its online Winter Appeal for Greece to support people facing severe hardship over the coming months.

Funds raised will assist THI Australia’s trusted partner charities in Greece, which face additional challenges supporting the vulnerable and the destitute during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“As we look forward to summer after an extremely challenging year, the onset of the second wave of COVID-19 in Greece is bringing new challenges for those at risk this winter,” said THI Australia President, Nicholas Pappas AM.

The Winter Appeal for Greece will help organisations such as Emfasis Foundation provide basic necessities and support services to people at risk during this winter, including sleeping bags, hygiene products, face masks, sanitiser, SIM cards, food vouchers and access to psychological support.

READ MORE: THI Australia renews support for homeless in Athens through Emfasis grant.

COVID-19 has hit just as Greece was emerging from a decade of economic hardship, and the disruption to international tourism in 2020 has already had a severe impact on the local economy.

“This has been a crippling summer for many people, particularly those reliant on the tourist season, and many families will struggle to cover essentials such as food and electricity bills during winter,” Mr Pappas said.

“We are more determined than ever to continue providing financial assistance to our respected partner charities in Greece to ensure they can keep supporting those most in need.

“As Christmas approaches, we are calling on Greek Australians and philhellenes to join our Winter Appeal and help support Greece during these uncertain times.”

If you would like to donate to THI Australia’s Winter Appeal, you can do so here.

Coroner hands down findings on Gargasoulas’ 2017 Bourke Street rampage

The Greek Herald
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Coroner hands down findings on Gargasoulas’ 2017 Bourke Street rampage

James Gargasoulas’s murderous Bourke Street rampage was helped by a “perfect storm” of police deficiencies, which led to a “confluence of events” that worked in the killer’s favour, a Victorian coroner has found.

Gargasoulas is currently serving at least 46 years in jail for murdering six people and injuring 27 others by driving a Holden Commodore through the Bourke Street Mall on January 20, 2017.

Coroner Jacqui Hawkins delivered her findings following an inquest into the deaths, and said “poor planning, a lack of assertive leadership [and a] lack of adequate resources,” combined with “inflexible attitudes,” allowed Gargasoulas to roam across Melbourne before speeding through the lunchtime crowds in Melbourne’s CBD.

James Gargasoulas’s murderous Bourke Street rampage was helped by a “perfect storm” of police deficiencies, a Victorian coroner has found.

Ms Hawkins said a plan to persuade Gargasoulas to surrender was destined to fail. She said a formal pursuit should have been called, and a failure to do so led to a lack of oversight.

But the coroner said she was unable to determine if the murders would have been prevented if any circumstance had been different, saying stopping moving offenders was “incredibly difficult.”

‘Strategy never had a chance of succeeding’:

Gargasoulas had been pursued by police since the early hours of the morning of January 20 after he stabbed his brother Angelo.

Gargasoulas is serving at least 46 years in prison for killing six people and injuring 27 others. Photo: AAP/Stefan Postles.

A search for him began about an hour after the stabbing, but police failed to stop him until after his deadly attacks at about 1:30pm.

About half an hour before the killings, Detective Murray Gentner, who had several previous interactions with Gargasoulas including at his bail hearing six days earlier, tried to negotiate for Gargasoulas to surrender.

“The strategy never had a chance of succeeding,” Ms Hawkins said.

The coroner noted police came agonisingly close to stopping Gargasoulas as he drove towards the city, but said police were fearful of the consequences of ramming his car.

She said police had done much “soul searching”, and that a number of changes to policy on pursuits had already been made, limiting the need to make drastic findings.

Out of respect for the families of the dead, Ms Hawkins did not use Gargasoulas’s name when delivering her findings.

Source: ABC News.

Greek candlemaker gives his Santa candles a makeover with masks

The Greek Herald
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Greek candlemaker gives his Santa candles a makeover with masks

A Greek candlemaker has come up with a novel way of highlighting the need to wear a mask to curb the spread of the COVID-19 – putting them on his Santa candles.

Alexios Gerakis, in the northern town of Thessaloniki, has made decorative candles featuring Father Christmas with a big blue surgical mask covering his white beard.

A Greek candlemaker has put masks on his santa candles.

“Because of the times, we are trying to convey a message that health comes first, then everything else,” Gerakis, 37, told Reuters Television. Snowmen are also sporting a mask.

Thessaloniki has been hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic in a second, more aggressive surge which resurfaced in the autumn, forcing Greek authorities to reimpose a nationwide lockdown which expires at the end of November.

“We are trying to convey a message that health comes first,” Greek candlemaker, Alexios Gerakis, told Reuters.

READ MORE: Greece to enter second nationwide lockdown.

Greece registered a further 3,209 cases and 60 deaths on Wednesday. It has reported a total of 82,034 coronavirus infections since February, and 1,288 deaths.

“Christmas is a bit of a question mark for all of us this year I think, we don’t know how this will end. We have to be optimistic, but it’s uncertain what will happen,” Gerakis said.

Source: Reuters.

Greece to build new refugee camps, cut reception stays on islands

The Greek Herald
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Greece to build new refugee camps, cut reception stays on islands

Greece, on the front line of migration into Europe, promised on Wednesday to build new reception centres for asylum seekers and refugees, and cut the maximum stay in camps on its now-overcrowded islands.

The country bore the brunt of a large influx of refugees and migrants into Europe in 2015 and 2016, many arriving via its outlying Aegean islands close to Turkey.

The flow has since ebbed significantly, though more than 90,000 migrants remain in Greece, of which about 19,000 live in filthy temporary camps, some for months or years.

Refugees make their way into Kara Tepe camp on the island of Lesvos, Greece. Photo: Reuters/Elias Marcou/File Photo.

READ MORE: Europe scrambles to address fate of homeless refugees after Greek camp fire.

Authorities will have finished the construction of better-equipped camps on the islands of Lesvos, Samos, Chios, Leros and Kos by the autumn of 2021, Migration Minister, Notis Mitarachi, said. None of the asylum seekers would be on an island for more than six months.

“In 12 months from today we should not have any of the legacy reception system we are seeing today,” Mitarachi told a news conference called to present the country’s migration strategy over the next two years.

Authorities were restructuring the asylum service to introduce remote and digital applications in order to faster process a backlog of about 87,000 asylum requests, he said.

In September, a fire razed Greece’s largest migrant camp on Lesvos, leaving about 12,000 people stranded. Most of them have now been moved to a temporary tent camp.

READ MORE: ‘A wake up call’: An Australian’s volunteering experience in Greece’s refugee camps.

The conservative New Democracy government, elected in July 2019, has taken a tougher stance towards migration than its left-wing predecessors. It has placed limits on an appeals process which previously took months or years to navigate.

Source: Reuters.

Lonely Planet names Greece the top travel destination for sustainable food

Andriana Simos
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Lonely Planet names Greece the top travel destination for sustainable food

Each year, Lonely Planet produces a much-anticipated bucket list ranking of the top spots to travel to in the following year called ‘Best in Travel.’

This year, the ‘Best in Travel 2021‘ list was re-imagined to “reflect how the world and attitudes to travel have changed” and “(recognises) places and people demonstrating a genuine commitment to sustainability, community and diversity.”

And in some exciting news, Greece was listed as the top travel destination in the entire world in the “Sustainable Food” category. 

READ MORE: Traditional Greek Recipes: Keftedes (Meatballs).

In a statement, Lonely Planet explains that Greece won the category thanks to its “organic produce markets and island seafood.”

“Greece is an unintentional leader of the world’s most sustainable food locales,” Lonely Planet writes.

Greece may not be known worldwide for implementing formal initiatives surrounding sustainable practices, but informally, Greeks have been green for centuries.

READ MORE: Traditional Greek Recipes: Melitzanes Papoutsakia.

The age-old habit of growing vegetables, harvesting olives and preparing silky oil, and cooking up a storm with tomatoes, fresh fish and wild greens is the norm for most folk whether they live on an island or the mainland.

But nothing is more genuine than the massive serving of filoxenia (hospitality) extended to anyone and everyone – it’s a way of life for the Greeks. 

Victoria Malliaras stranded in UK after inbound international flights to Adelaide cancelled

The Greek Herald
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Victoria Malliaras stranded in UK after inbound international flights to Adelaide cancelled

At 22 weeks pregnant, Victoria Malliaras fears she and her husband will become “homeless” if they aren’t able to return to South Australia this week.

They were scheduled to board a Qatar Airways flight from London to Adelaide on Thursday, where they were to undertake mandatory hotel quarantine before returning home to Melbourne.

But as the city grapples with a fresh outbreak of coronavirus, the South Australian Government has cancelled all inbound international flights — including theirs.

“The anxiety I feel right now is extreme. I can’t concentrate [on anything else],” Ms Malliaras told ABC News.

There are now more than 20 confirmed cases of COVID-19 linked to Adelaide’s Parafield coronavirus cluster. Photo: ABC Radio Adelaide/ Spence Denny.

“I feel extremely vulnerable with my pregnancy and I’m very worried about how this anxiety is impacting the health and development of our baby. I’m literally not sleeping at the moment as I’m so stressed.”

Mrs Malliaras has received little information about the status of their flight despite constantly refreshing the Qatar Airways app and repeatedly calling the airline’s contact centre.

“We’ve had radio silence from Qatar. [It appears] there has been a total breakdown of communication between Qatar Airways frontline staff, Qatar head office and the Australian Government — no-one has been able to advise us on what the contingency plan is,” she says.

“With less than 48 hours to our scheduled flight, we’re feeling totally dejected and hopeless. We’re in limbo. We’ll be homeless if we don’t get home this week.”

The Board of Airline Representatives estimate 30,000 Australians remain stranded in the United Kingdom due to a cap on the number of citizens and permanent residents allowed to return each week.

There are now 20 confirmed cases of COVID-19 linked to Adelaide’s Parafield coronavirus cluster, which genomic testing has determined originated from a traveller staying at the Peppers Waymouth medi-hotel.

Source: ABC News.

Greece, UAE forge strategic partnership and condemn Turkish provocations

Andriana Simos
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0
Greece, UAE forge strategic partnership and condemn Turkish provocations

Greece and the United Arab Emirates have agreed to forge a strategic alliance that includes not only economic cooperation, but also extends to the areas of cooperation in defense and foreign policy, PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Wednesday during his visit to Abu Dhabi.

“My visit to the United Arab Emirates today and the signing of the relevant agreements constitute a strategic upgrade of Greece-United Arab Emirates relations,” Mitsotakis noted.

Greece’s Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, met with the UAE’s Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

“There is now a clear roadmap for how relations between the two countries can become even closer. Both countries are facing the challenges in the East Med through the same perspective. They remain committed to the peaceful settlement of disputes and respect for international law.”

In a joint statement after the meeting between Mitsotakis and Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the two sides condemned Turkish violations of the territorial integrity and the sovereign rights of Greece and Cyprus.

They also decried Ankara’s aggressive behavior in the Middle East, the Southeastern Mediterranean and the South Caucasus region, describing it as a blatant violation of international law.

“Greece and the UAE underline their steadfast commitment to international law and the UN Charter as the foundation for peace, security, good neighbourhood relations and the peaceful resolution of problems for all the countries of the region,” they wrote in the statement.

Both governments also reaffirmed their commitment to the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries of the region. 

‘Help us fight this’: Students urge community to show solidarity to keep Greek Studies Program alive

Argyro Vourdoumpa
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‘Help us fight this’: Students urge community to show solidarity to keep Greek Studies Program alive

More than 50 people, members of the Australian Greek community, current and former La Trobe students and representatives from community organisations attended the online information session held on Wednesday afternoon by the National Union of Greek Australian Students (NUGAS Victoria) and hosted by students of La Trobe University’s Modern Greek Studies Program, Anthea Banousis and Meg Smith.

The purpose of this session was to discuss the university’s current proposal to discontinue the Greek Studies Program and to detail ways in which the public can support the continuation of the only Greek tertiary education program in Victoria.

Anthea Banousis: ‘I want to use Greek in my profession’

Anthea Banousis, the student ambassador for the Modern Greek studies program, discussed the university’s current proposal and spoke about her experiences as a La Trobe University student majoring in Greek Studies.

“A decision has not been made yet. This week is really critical to show our support,” Ms Banousis said and went on explaining the reasons that motivated her to take up Greek studies.

“I’m currently studying a double degree, a bachelor of law and bachelor of arts and although law is what I want to practice, I chose La Trobe specifically for the Greek Program. 

“I stopped learning Greek at a very young age and even though I speak Greek at home my reading and writing skills needed improvement….I studied Greek because I wanted to use it in my profession and communicate with clients in Greek about legal matters,” Banousis said.

“I believe Greek is a really important language. It connects us to who we are.”

READ MORE: Federal MPs express disappointment over La Trobe’s proposal to cut Greek Studies

Meg Smith: ‘Through the program I learnt about my identity’

Meg Smith, has been studying Greek for three years and she started as a beginner.

“Through this program I’ve learned about my identity, about my culture and about my family and I’m disappointed from La Trobe’s decision to discontinue this program.

“As a third-generation Greek woman, I only had one Greek parent at home and never learnt how to speak Greek as a kid. That’s why I chose La Trobe. Because I found it as my only opportunity to learn Greek,” Meg Smith said.

“I strongly believe that cutting this program will rob other people of the same opportunities that I am so thankful for.”

Ms Smith urged the Greek community to raise their voices to the university’s proposal by signing the online petition, by sending letters to La Trobe and by contacting their local Members of Parliament (MPs).

The information session, concluded with questions from the attendees and the organisers thanking the community for their support.

Earlier this week, during an urgent meeting chaired by the President of the Greek Community of Melbourne Bill Papastergiadis, a committee was created to look into different ways and coordinate the efforts in order to reverse La Trobe’s proposal to discontinue the Greek Studies Program in 2022.

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

* You too can sign the petition to save Modern Greek Studies at La Trobe University here 

Peter Lambos has been doing Movember for 14 years in honour of his brother-in-law

Andriana Simos
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0
Peter Lambos has been doing Movember for 14 years in honour of his brother-in-law

Globally, one man is lost every minute to suicide. That’s seven men a day in Australia, according to Australia’s leading men’s health organisation, Movember.

That’s seven men too many. We can’t sit back and accept this.

One Greek Australian who has been leading the charge in bringing awareness to this issue and men’s mental health more broadly is Peter Lambos.

Since 2006, Peter has taken part in Movember’s annual moustache-growing campaign, which encourages ‘Mo Bros’ and ‘Mo Sisters’ to rally in support of men’s mental health, suicide prevention, prostate cancer and testicular cancer.

For Peter, his interest in the campaign is personal. His brother-in-law, Andrew, took his own life in 1997 after a battle with depression.

Peter has taken part in Movember’s annual moustache-growing campaign since 2006. Photo supplied.

“Every year since then on September 5, it’s one of those days where you sort of just don’t want to wake up, particularly for my wife and her family,” Peter tells The Greek Herald exclusively.

Add to this the fact that Peter works in fund management, which is considered a very male-dominated and high-stress industry.

“The industry I work in has had its fair share of suicides and people suffering from depression… I’ve lost a couple of friends and work colleagues to suicide. So when Movember came around, I could relate to it.”

This year, Peter says Movember is even more relatable as the coronavirus pandemic has “amplified the meaning of the campaign.”

He’s not wrong.

Figures released earlier this year by Movember, as part of a global study carried out by the Social Research Centre,  found that 23 percent of men said their mental health worsened in the first six weeks of the coronavirus pandemic, with 30 percent noting increased feelings of loneliness.

Peter Lambos before he grew this year’s moustache. Photo supplied.

Movember’s Global Director of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention, Brendan Maher, says it’s not surprising the impact of COVID-19 has hit men hard.

“We know men aren’t great at asking for, or seeking help at the best of times, so we need to do as much as we can to buffer some of the problems they’re facing, now,” Mr Maher says.

Peter wholeheartedly agrees and that’s why he’s put out all the stops this year to raise $10,000 for men’s mental health. This will be added to the $50,365 he’s already raised over the years.

“The challenge this year is that because I’m in Melbourne, we’re all wearing masks down here so I’ve been growing the moustache but not many people are seeing it when I’m out and about,” Peter explains.

“I thought that if I can raise $10,000, then I’ll keep the moustache for a year and once the masks are gone the moustache will still capture people’s thoughts.

“I really think there’s an opportunity for us Greeks to lead the charge and get involved with the Movember cause. We are known for growing great moustaches, so why not put it to good use!”

Especially, Peter says, because the issue of mental health, anxiety and depression “resonates strongly with the Greek community.”

“The challenges that many Greek migrants faced leaving their family behind to come to a foreign country plus the care and responsibility they took on to forge a new life and a new family, would have been a significant burden for many and potentially too much for some,” Peter says.

“So I think it’s important, not only for the elderly but for those in their 30s and 40s, to talk to their friends and family.

“Go and see the doctor and get a blood test as well. Get yourself checked. It’s a lot easier than you think and you could save your life. You could even save someone else’s life.”

A powerful message on an important men’s health issue which deserves to be in the spotlight.

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