Thousands of migrants are set to get their papers legalised in Greece in an effort to alleviate acute labor shortages affecting crucial sectors of the economy.
Greece’s Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis has pushed through legislation on Tuesday to legalise the status of 30,000 unregistered laborers, causing turmoil within his center-right party.
According to The Guardian, migrants will be able to legalise their status more quickly under the bill, obtaining residence permits in three years rather than seven if they can demonstrate employment.
Rescued migrants at the port of Kalamata following a rescue operation. Photo: Yahoo News.
Despite some who disagree with the legalisation, Greece’s migration and asylum minister, Dimitris Kairidis, defended the one-time move, telling The Guardian, that it will assist with not just labor shortages but also societal cohesion.
The measure has been hailed at a time when anti-immigrant sentiment is fueling far-right support across Europe, with the left seeing it as long overdue.
Over 100 guests attended the lunch, taking part in the activities and food sharing. Donations were also made towards the Community’s Christmas Appeal.
Over 34 bags of food were donated and well over 150 toys collected at St George’s Church in South Hobart.
In a Facebook post, the Greek Community of Tasmaniashared their gratitude for all those who attended, along with sponsors who made the joyous event possible.
“A massive thank you to all those who donated to the Greek Community’s Christmas Appeal,” the Facebook post reads.
“Thank you to the Hobart City Mission who partnered with the Greek Community to assist in distributing all donations to those in need.”
Sturt Street Primary School student, Zefyros Louca won the Greek Orthodox Community of South Australia (GOCSA) Award for Excellence in Greek this month.
Zefyros was presented with the award by GOCSA President, Peter Gardiakos and Administrative Council Member, Sandra Scounos Sifis.
The state member for Adelaide, Lucy Hood MP also attended the award presentation.
In a post on Facebook, the GOCSA congratulated Zefyros for his achievements in the Greek language.
“Bravo Zefyros! We are so proud of you!” the Facebook post wrote.
The Greek Christmas Carols event returned to Melbourne, Victoria on Saturday night and honoured the late Maestro Stelios Tsiolas.
The Cypriot-born music composer and conductor passed away last month, leaving behind a significant musical legacy.
This year’s annual carols event was organised by the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia and took place at St John’s College Preston.
Present at the carols was Bishop Evmenios of Kerasounta, as well as Stelios’ wife Roula and his three sons with their wives.
Bishop Evmenios welcomed everyone to the event and invited Roula and Stelio’s children to the stage to present them with a plaque in honour of the musician.
The night was complete with young children performing traditional Greek Christmas carols, a special performance from Santa Clause and fireworks.
Greece’s Ambassador in Australia George Papacostas made an official visit to Perth, Western Australia from December 9 – 14. He was accompanied by his wife Gohar Badalyabn.
During his visit, Mr Papacostas held a number of high level meetings with prominent members of Perth’s Greek community. He was accompanied to all meetings and visits by the Consul of Greece in Perth, Georgia Karasiotou.
On Sunday, December 10, Mr Papacostas attended the Feast Day celebration of the Church of St Nicholas in Bunbury. Later that night, the management of the Hellenic Community of WA held a welcome dinner for the Ambassador.
The next day, Mr Papacostas visited the Offices of the Archdiocesan District of Perth, where he met with Bishop Elpidios of Kyanea. He then visited the only Greek Orthodox Day School of Perth, St Andrews Grammar, where he was met by Principal Craig Monaghan who gave him a tour and presented to him the ambitious expansion plans of the school for the next three years.
On Tuesday, December 12, the Ambassador visited the Greek Football Club “Floreat Athena” where he was given a tour and an overview of the history of the Association, followed by dinner with members of the Committee.
On the last day of his visit, Mr Papacostas met with the Lord Mayor of the City of Perth Basil Zempilas.
In the evening, he attended the Hologram Concert of Maria Callas, which concluded its Australian tour (after Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide) in Perth. The concert was brought to Australia by the European Union Delegation to Australia and was organised in Perth in partnership with the Consulate of Greece and with the support of the WA Government.
World No. 6 Stefanos Tsitsipas has set his sights on claiming the Australian Open (AO) title in 2024.
According to ausopen.com, the 25-year-old reigning finalist hopes to make the Australian Open his first ever grand slam victory.
“[Australia] is one of my favourite destinations, my ‘home slam’ is located there,” the Greek tennis player said.
“The very first time I visited Australia I got an understanding of just how warm and nice people are there, but also the Greek community, let’s not forget about them, they’re so vibrant and so intense, they bring so much energy every single year.”
Tsitsipas lost to tennis legend, Novak Djokovic last year in the AO final and says the Serbian still poses a “problem” for him.
Despite the challenge, Tsitsipas hopes he can use the beginning of the year as a mental reset and is determined Australia is the perfect place for him to claim victory.
Nathan Amanatidis made his Isuzu UTE A-League debut for Sydney FC on Saturday, December 16.
According to sydneyfc.com, the Sky Blues went down 3-0 to Melbourne Victory after goals from Daniel Arzani, Zinedine Machach and Bruno Fornaroli sealed the win for the Victorians.
Sydney FC struggled to contain the Victory attack in the immediate aftermath of the opening goal.
Back when Amanatidis had signed with Sydney FC.
The loss will help the highly rated 17-year-old Amanatidis look to dominate in the next game, building further rapport and strategy with his team mates in the meantime.
Sydney FC will next look to their ‘Christmas Cracker’ game against Western United on December 23.
Funding has gone towards initiatives that support Parramatta’s diverse community such as migrant and youth activities, educational programs such as water safety education and resources to build better social connections within the local area.
City of Parramatta Lord Mayor Cr Pierre Esber said the community grants program supported the work of the City’s dedicated community organisations, volunteer groups, sporting clubs and social enterprises.
The City of Parramatta Council in Sydney has awarded its local Let’s Go Greek Festival a $10,000 grant to go towards the community event in 2024. Photo copyright The Greek Herald / Andriana Simos.
“This is an investment in the groups who invest so much of their own time and energy in making our community so special,” Cr Esber said.
“Our people are the backbone of our community and we recognise the time and hard work involved to deliver these services.”
Council also announced $37,750 in environmental educational grants including $9250 each for Parramatta East Public School, Epping Public School and Toongabbie Public School for their kitchen gardens.
Other recipients included Epping After School Care at Epping Public which received funding to address food waste issues by composting and worm farming and Cumberland High School which received funds to plant new gardens which will grow natives and bushfood species.
The future of the Modern Greek Studies Program at Macquarie University in Sydney has been uncertain following a proposal by the University to move away from the discipline of Languages and Cultures and instead establish a Discipline of Global Studies.
At the time, the MGSF responded immediately to the University’s proposal, submitting a lengthy written statement against it and holding face-to-face meetings and discussions with the Vice Chancellor of the University and the Executive Dean of the Faculty of Arts.
The Greek Herald newspaper, in partnership with the Macquarie University Greek Association (MUGA), also initiated a petition to rally community support and save the beloved Modern Greek Studies program at Macquarie University. The petition has so far garnered over 2,500 signatures.
A number of community and political leaders in Greece and Australia further added their voices to the fight, writing to Macquarie University in strong support of the continuation of the Modern Greek Studies Program.
The campaign has been actively supported by Greece’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Giorgos Kotsiras; Greece’s Secretary General for Greeks Abroad and Public Diplomacy, John Chrysoulakis; the General Secretariat for Higher Education of the Greek Ministry of Education, Religious Affairs and Sports of the Hellenic Republic, Odysseas – Ioannis Zoras; the Consul General of Greece in Sydney, Ioannis Mallikourtis; and Archbishop Makarios of Australia.
Macquarie University is the only certified Examination Centre in NSW for the Certificate of Attainment in the Greek Language.
Other supporters included two federal members of the parliament, Steve Georganas MP and David Smith MP; the NSW Minister for Multiculturalism, Steve Kamper MP; the NSW Minister for Work Health and Safety, Sophie Cotsis MP; the President of the Greek Community of Melbourne (GCM), Bill Papastergiadis; the President of the Greek Orthodox Community of NSW (GOCNSW), Harry Danalis; and the former President of the Greek Orthodox Community & Church of Canberra (GOCCC), John Loukadellis; among many others.
In a media release issued on Monday, the President of the MGSF, Theo Premetis, thanked political, community and faith leaders for their support. He also praised Dr Patricia Koromvokis, Lecturer in Modern Greek Studies at the University, and Leon Bombotas, Board Member at the MGSF, for all their hard work over the past few months.
Mr Premetis said a final decision on whether the Modern Greek Studies Program would be discontinued is expected to be made by the middle of 2024.
“Discussions with the University are continuing…” Mr Premetis said in the media release.
“At present, the status quo regarding the Modern Greek Program remains unchanged, and new enrolments are taking place for the 2024 academic year, as well as all other scheduled academic and outreach activities, such as the maintenance of Macquarie University as the only certified Examination Centre in NSW for the Certificate of Attainment in the Greek Language, which is the largest such centre in Australia and one of the most significant in the whole world.”
Mr Premetis also said events are already being planned for next year, such as the Awards Ceremony for the Certificates of Attainment in the Greek Language scheduled for early February 2024, celebrating the International Day of the Greek Language.
