MARCH 2010 Tel. (02) 9559 7022 Fax: (02) 9559 7033 E-mail: vema@bigpond.net.au

THE GREEK AUSTRALIAN

VEMAThe oldestcirculating

Greeknewspaper

outsideGreece

KozaniAlthough blighted by a large electricity plant,

this prosperous district has preserved muchof its impressive architecture and traditions.

COPING WITH TEENAGERSPAGE 3/21

The 2010 SydneyRoyal Easter ShowAt Sydney Showground from April 1 to 14

Held by the Royal Agricultural Society of NewSouth Wales each year at Easter time, the Syd-ney Royal Easter Show is more than a farm fair.

PAGE 19/37

Papandreou saystalks with Obamasuccessful

PAGE 12/30

PAGE 17/35

St Andrew’s Theological

College enters

25th year of teaching

PAGE 2/20

The eurozone has agreed to a multibillion-euro bailout forGreece as part of a package to shore up the single curren-cy after weeks of crisis, the Guardian has learnt.

Senior sources in Brussels said that Berlin had bowed tothe bailout agreement despite huge resistance in Germanyand that the finance ministers of the "eurozone" - the 16member states including Greece who use the euro - wereto finalise the rescue package on Monday 15 March.

The single currency's rulebook will also be rewritten toenforce greater fiscal discipline among members.

The member states have agreed on "co-ordinated bilater-al contributions" in the form of loans or loan guarantees toGreece if Athens finds itself unable to refinance its soaringdebt and requests help from the EU, a senior European com-mission official said.

Other sources said the aid could rise to €25bn (£22.6bn),although it is estimated in European capitals that Greececould need up to €55bn by the end of the year.

Germany, the EU's traditional paymaster, but the most re-luctant to come to the rescue of a fiscal delinquent in thecurrent crisis, has played the pivotal role in organising therescue package, the sources added.

The rules governing the operation of the single currencyproscribe a bailout for a country on the brink of insolvency.Berlin, in particular, has been worried that any bailout ofGreece could be challenged in its constitutional court.

The senior official said the agreement - which will not in-volve any contribution from the UK taxpayer - had been tai-lored to respect the bailout ban and avoid a supreme courtchallenge in Germany.

Alongside the financial relief package for Greece, the Eu-ropean commission is rushing through tougher rules for theeurozone, using powers conferred by the recently enactedLisbon treaty to try to establish a system of rigorous "bud-

getary surveillance" of all 16 participating countries. The aimis a new regime of "reinforced economic policy co-ordina-tion" in the EU.

"This is the essential lesson that has to be learned fromthe Greek case," Olli Rehn of Finland, the new commission-er for economic and monetary affairs, told the Guardian(and four other European papers).

"The Greek case is a potential turning point for the euro-zone," said Rehn in the interview. "If Greece fails and wefail, this will do serious and maybe permanent damage tothe credibility of the European Union. The euro is not only amonetary arrangement, but a core political project of the Eu-ropean Union … In that sense, we are at a crossroads."

While ready to bail out the Greeks if only on terms of "rig-orous conditionality", European leaders are hoping that therescue will not be needed, that the draconian package ofausterity measures announced by Prime Minister GeorgePapandreou will be enough to calm the markets and sta-bilise the euro.

EU leaders are to rule on whether Papandreou is doing e-nough to slash the 12.7% budget deficit by four percentagepoints this year, part of his ambition to cut the deficit by 10points over three years.

Rehn said he would unveil new proposals next month, en-shrining a new single currency regime of "rigorous surveil-lance of national budgets" and that Eurostat, the EU's statis-tical agency, would need to be given formidable new audit-ing powers over the books of eurozone member states,a demand that may be resisted by EU governments.

"That's the hard core of our proposal. [The surveillance]should be automatic," said Rehn.

"We have an immediate corrective instrument for theGreek case, plus another framework to prevent new Greekcrises."

GREECE DEBT:

EU AGREESBAILOUT DEAL

A scientific view of the adolescent brain

The Greek Australian VEMATO BHMA2/20 MARCH 2010

ST ANDREW’S THEOLOGICAL COLLEGEENTERS 25TH YEAR OF TEACHING

Thursday 18th February markedthe official opening of the academicyear at St Andrew’s Greek OrthodoxTheological College in Sydney. Forthe 25th consecutive year, the tradi-tional Doxology Service was celebra-ted in the College Chapel of St Johnthe Evangelist and Theologian by theDean, His Eminence Archbishop Sty-lianos of Australia, among Facultymembers, staff, alumni, studentsand guests.

His Eminence warmly welcomed all tho-se present, among whom was His GraceBishop Nikandros of Dorileou from Ade-laide. He further welcomed Sister (Dr) Mar-garet Beirne RSC as a permanent part-timemember of staff, teaching in the field ofNew Testament Studies, as well as Collegegraduates Antony Papantoniou and MarioBaghos who join the teaching staff in theirroles as tutors and assistant teachers inPatristics and Church History respectively.Not least, His Eminence wholeheartedlywelcomed the four first-year seminarianstudents: Harry Hadjigeorgiou (Perth), An-drew Laoutas (Melbourne), Dimitrios Mar-cou (Melbourne), and Chrysovalantis Side-ris (Adelaide).

After welcoming everyone His Eminencereflected briefly on the task of theologywithin the Church and College, mentioningalso the following:

“We are fortunate to celebrate; actuallythe right word is not ‘fortunate’ becauseonly the secular world speaks of ‘fortune’.[Rather] we are blessed to be able to gath-er and celebrate the beginning of thetwenty-fifth year of operation.”

“Theology today, unfortunately, as we allknow, seems to be somehow neglected oroverlooked; not estimated as it should be.And yet, the need for theology was neverso great, so deep, and so profound. Be-cause the more critical the times become,the more theologically interesting they be-come. Danger is always a factor which canbring those who would like to serve the

goals of the Church to come closer and tospeak a more convincing language, be-cause only out of need does the humanbeing become sincere and properly pious.

“I do not need to stress the importanceof the mission which our College has inthis country. I repeat this every time whenwe commence a new academic year. Andyet, we know that we are not sufficient,we are not capable enough to respond toso many needs, and to so many responsi-bilities which are to be found in our parish-es and in society.

“I thank all those who are working hardto make our presence here not merely vis-ible, but fruitful. But this is not up to usalone; it is up to the grace of God alongwith the dedication we should each haveboth personally and collectively.”

His Eminence thanked the NSW Bible So-ciety which each year generously donatescopies of the critical edition of the GreekNew Testament to commencing students.

The establishment of evening lecturesfor the first time this year was also notedas a further effort by the College to extendits outreach in theological education to abroader student base, particularly at grad-uate-level. The ongoing interest engen-dered by the well-established summer andwinter intensives is seen as an encourag-ing sign too.

The customary group photograph in thecourtyard of the College was followed bya luncheon generously prepared by thetireless ladies’ auxiliary of the Archdiocese.

St Andrew’s Greek Orthodox TheologicalCollege is a tertiary institution establishedin 1986 by the Greek Orthodox Church of-fering undergraduate and postgraduatedegrees fully accredited by the NSW De-partment of Education and Training andequivalent to those of Australian universi-ties. These degrees have international va-lidity. They focus on Orthodox Theologyand its related subject areas such as Bibli-cal Studies, Church History, Liturgical Stud-ies, Patristic Studies, Orthodox Art and Ar-

chitecture as well as Pastoral Education.They can lead to priesthood within the Or-thodox Church. They can also be a path-way for further university studies leadingto careers such as teaching and socialwork. They are also particularly useful forenriching one’s own Orthodox Christianfaith.

The College currently serves twelve full-

time undergraduate seminarian studentsas well as nineteen students engaged inpart-time graduate-level and elective theo-logical studies. For more information aboutOrthodox Christian theological educationplease visit the College’s website onwww.sagotc.edu.au.

T. KalogerakisRegistrar

The customary group photograph in the courtyard of St Andrew’s Theological College The Dean, His Eminence Archbishop Stylianos with His Grace Bishop Seraphim of Apolloniasand His Grace Bishop Nikandros of Dorileou, with the four first-year students.

Visit the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia website

www.greekorthodox.org.au

The Greek Australian VEMA TO BHMA 3/21

EditorialMARCH 2010

Wednesday, March 3, 2010, will go down in historyas the day that a modern Greek government made aconscious effort to bring the country and its economy inline with reality. It is most appropriate that the unprece-dented step was taken by a PASOK government, head-ed by George Papandreou, as it was under PASOK, inits first term in power under Papandreou’s father, An-dreas, that Greece slipped the bonds of economic real-ity and began to live way beyond its means. But theNew Democracy party, with which PASOK has alternat-ed in power since the restoration of democracy in1974, is no less guilty of bloating the public sector andbuying “social harmony” by giving workers whateverthey wanted, leading to a relentless rise in wages andpensions irrespective of what the country produced. Asdeficits and the country’s debt burden grew, govern-ments just kept on borrowing - borrowing to meet theirobligations in terms of wages and pensions, borrowingto import more than Greece exported, borrowing to payoff previous debts. There was no effort to break theborrowing habit. In addition, membership of the euro-zone brought monetary stability and historically low in-terest rates, prompting a massive boom in mortgagesand consumer loans, which hid the economy’s underly-ing weaknesses.

The late Andreas Papandreou’s strategy in the 1980s

was to give the disenfranchised, who formed the bulkof PASOK’s voters, a shot at living like the middle class.If this meant throwing European assistance and subsi-dies around like political favors and giving pensions topeople who had never contributed to social security(such as farmers), then so be it. At last, all those whohad been shut out by the right-wing establishmentwhich triumphed in the Civil War in 1946-49 - andwhich was thoroughly discredited by the dictatorship of1967-74 - would get to share in the wealth of the na-tion. The fact that this new middle class was foundedon wealth that the country was not producing meantthat the economy broke free from all logic and went in-to its own orbit. PASOK established the National HealthSystem and poured money into education but it also un-dermined the gains by destroying any semblance of hi-erarchy, accountability and recognition of merit in thepublic sector. This meant that no one really knew howmuch money was being spent nor whether those whodeserved it most were getting it. Costs rose while pro-ductivity plummeted. A wasteful public sector, in turn,condemned the private sector to inefficiency and lack ofcompetitiveness. New Democracy, especially in the2004-09 period, made the situation worse by doing al-most nothing to cut costs and increase revenues, al-lowing the economy to career out of control.

The easy money of the past three decades had adevastating effect on the economy and on the Greeksthemselves; they now have to come to terms with thebasics of finance - that you cannot spend more thanyou earn, that you should not borrow more than youcan afford. The terrible legacy of the past years is thatnot only is the country deep in debt but the irrationalityof the borrowed, unearned funds allowed the publicsector to get away with being a drain on the country’sresources and a plague on its people. No one reallyknows the true size of the monster. And though the flowof funds to it may be curbed by 7 or 8 percent annual-ly, this will not make it any more efficient.

Now that PASOK has finally got itself to break with thepast, it will have to stand firm against the rage of op-position parties and unions - and of its own supporters.George Papandreou has finally realized that runningGreece does not depend only on appeasing the mostvoracious sections of his own supporters - he has tomake the country more efficient and its economy viable.But the sacrifice will come to nothing if the public ad-ministration and education system are not reformedradically so that they can serve the needs of their coun-try rather than narrow political interests. Wednesday’smeasures were a good start. But only a start.

ATHENSPLUS

This month’s column follows some research into thebehavioural patterns of children which to my dismay donot provide me with the comfort I sought. It seems thatwhile I might feel that there is no communication be-tween me and my children from time to time, the fact isthat this is not yet the most difficult stage that I will en-counter with them, and there will be some more‘bumps’ to negotiate along the way.

A common frustration among parents of adolescentsis that, seemingly overnight, children go from beingcheerful, loving, obedient and communicative to surly,antagonistic and looking like they need a note pinned tothem saying ‘what this person is wearing is not my ideaof good taste’. Whilst homework was formerly donewithout fuss the teenager now spends countless hourson the computer and homework is not done with anyenthusiasm. The child who formerly cuddled up against‘mummy’ before going to bed no longer asks for adviceand when you give it, you are confident that it will be ig-nored. It seems that while you were sleeping, someonezipped open your child and put someone else inside!

In the past it was raging hormones that were blamedfor all the problems associated with adolescence butmore recently, research has focused on what is hap-pening above the neck with today’s developed brain-imaging techniques allowing us to see what is happen-ing inside the brain and the results are astounding.Hormones aside, the adolescent is undergoing signifi-cant changes in the activity, anatomy and neurochem-istry of the brain!

We have known for a long time that the brain growsby expanding and pruning the connections (synapses)between cells, keeping those used the most and gettingrid of the unused ones. We also know that one of the

most active periods of this kind of reorganisation occursin early life. At approximately two years of age, a hugebuild up of neural connections occurs in a child’s brain.This is followed by a pruning which allows the strongestand most competent connections to function more effi-ciently. The erratic behaviour that children tend to dis-play during the ‘terrible twos’ reflects the changes thatare taking place in the brain. Until recently scientists be-lieved that this period of growth and winnowing awayoccurred only in early-childhood and that practically allthe major changes in the brain occurred before adoles-cence. This was likely to be based, among other things,on the fact that the brain reaches its full size by puber-ty.

It turns out though, that what many teachers suspect-ed is true. The brain is not fully ‘installed’ until aroundthe age of twenty and that many complex changes takeplace during adolescence.

It is now known that between the ages of 9-10, thefrontal lobes undergo a second wave of reorganisationand growth. This growth represents millions of newsynapses between cells to process information. At ap-proximately 11 a pruning of these connections takesplace which is not complete until early adulthood.

Although it may seem that the more connections, thebetter, the fact is that the brain is actually consolidatingand facilitating further learning by pruning away theleast used connections, ensuring that only the most use-ful synapses are maintained in order to allow efficientbrain operation.

The final process in developing an ‘adult’ brain is theprocess of myelination which involves the coating of n-erves with a fatty material called myelin. The myelinsheath which wraps around the axons (neurons) ofbrain cells allows electrical impulses to travel fasterand more efficiently. Myelination occurs in the moreprimitive areas of the brain first and then moves tohigher level functioning areas. This is one reason that atoddler is less coordinated than a nine-year-old andwhy the same nine-year-old does not have the samecapabilities for higher order thinking as an adult.

As the frontal lobes are undergoing their final periodof growth, the area immediately behind the forehead,the pre-frontal or orbito-frontal cortex which is respon-

sible for the functions including the ability to makesound judgments, goal setting, planning, impulse inhibi-tion, and emotional and self control, all of those skillsthat teenagers seem to be lacking, is undergoing itsown period of reorganisation. The teenage brain is justnot ready to take on the role of CEO!

Another area of the brain undergoing its final reor-ganisation is deep in the centre of the brain in a groupof structures called the limbic area. These structuresmediate emotion. One of the greater areas here is theamygdala, a small almond-shaped structure that playsan important role in instinctive emotional responses.This structure is engaged and allows us to react quicklywhen we are faced with dangerous situations. It over-rides thoughtful reflection, something that you don’tneed when you simply need to pull your hand awayfrom a slamming door. In the adolescent brain howev-er, there is more function in the amygdala and very lit-tle in the frontal lobes. This results in adolescents’ in-ability to identify emotion, reading social signals (eventhough all they seem to do is socialise!) and their payinglittle attention to adults’ warnings concerning risk be-haviours. Quite simply: your teenager misunderstandingyour emotions which lead to a miscommunication interms of what he/she thinks you are feeling.

One may wonder what hope there is given the factthat biological changes seem to determine adolescentbehaviour and practices. The truth is that while thereare challenging changes which parents and childrenface during adolescence, a loving home environmentbuilt on the model of the Church helps both the adoles-cent and the parents cope with these changes. A familybuilt on the foundations of faith, where every memberunderstands their role in the life of the family andChurch will be better prepared to navigate these wa-ters. The teenager who has grown to love Jesus Christand is actively involved in the life of the Church willovercome the challenges and make a quicker andsmoother transition from adolescence to adulthood.

To comment, agree or disagree, visit http://peter-mav.livejournal.com/

* Peter Mavrommatis is a teacher of Orthodox Studies and PersonalDevelopment at St Spyridon College Senior School, Sydney.

By PETERMAVROMMATIS *

COPING WITH TEENAGERSA scientific view of the adolescent brain

Back down to earth with a bang

The Greek Australian VEMA MARCH 20104/22 TO BHMA

“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” By Andrew Georgiadis

During the Service of the Holy Passion of Our Lord JesusChrist, held on Thursday evening of Holy Week, we hearthe priest read twelve excerpts from the Gospels. The fol-lowing phrase from the seventh Gospel excerpt hasdrawn attention over time.

‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’(Matthew 27:45-46 & Mark 15:34)

This phrase has raised questions as to how Jesus couldbe God, if He cried out to God in such a way. ‘Forsaken’after all means deserted, abandoned and hints at a feel-ing of desolation and despair. In the past those that at-tacked Jesus used this very phrase for that purpose. Weknow that those who attack the Church do likewise by notquoting a whole passage but a small part, which is opento wide interpretation. Indeed, we read the Devil did thisvery thing when he set out to test Jesus during His 40days and nights of fasting in the desert:

• The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Sonof God, tell these stones to become bread.”

Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live onbread alone, but on every word that comes from themouth of God.’ “ (Matthew 4:3-4 / Deuteronomy 8:3)

• Then the devil took him to the holy city and had himstand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are theSon of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is writ-ten: ‘He will command his angels concerning you, and theywill lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike y-our foot against a stone.’ Jesus answered him, “It is alsowritten: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’“(Matthew 4:5-7 / Psalm 91:11-12 / Deuteronomy 6:16)

• Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain andshowed him all the kingdoms of the world and theirsplendour. “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bowdown and worship me.” Jesus said to him, “Away fromme, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God,and serve him only.’“ (Matthew 4:3-4 / Deuteronomy 6:13)

In researching the Old Testament we find “My God, myGod, why have you forsaken me?” at Psalm 22:1.

The following are excerpts of Psalm 22 along with theNew Testament Parallel:

• “But I am a worm, and no man; A reproach of men,and despised by the people. All those who see Me ridi-cule Me; They shoot out the lip, they shake the head, say-ing, He trusted in the LORD, let Him rescue Him; Let Himdeliver Him, since He delights in Him!” (Psalm 22:6-8)

“Those who passed by hurled insults at him” (Matthew27:39). “He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if hewants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of God’“ (Matthew27:43)

• “They divide My garments among them, And for Myclothing they cast lots” (Psalm 22:18)

“Then they cast lots to share out his clothing” (Luke23:34)

There are also a few lines in the Psalm which indicatethe person being referred to is being crucified, at lines 14-15 and in particular line 16 which reads: “Dogs have sur-rounded me; a band of evil men has encircled me, theyhave pierced my hands and my feet” (Psalm 22:16).

We know that Jesus was well versed in the Old Testa-ment, and therefore based on the above, we can concludethat he was reciting Psalm 22 because he not only recitedthe first line, but was also experiencing what occurred inthe Psalm.

The lesson from this Psalm however, should not stopthere because it is more than a prophecy. In the beginningit demonstrates Jesus suffered, felt pain and cried out justas we would when we suffer.

The Psalm then demonstrates that, although Jesus suf-fered, he had hope and trust in God, just as we should:

• “In you our fathers put their trust; they trusted and youdelivered them. They cried to you and were saved; in youthey trusted and were not disappointed” (Psalm 22:4-5)

• “Do not be far from me, for trouble is near and thereis no one to help” (Psalm 22:11)

• “But you, O LORD, be not far off; O my Strength, comequickly to help me” (Psalm 22:19)

Finally, it concludes with a proclamation of God:• “All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to

the LORD, and all the families of the nations will bow downbefore him, for dominion belongs to the LORD and he rulesover the nations. All the rich of the earth will feast andworship; all who go down to the dust will kneel beforehim - those who cannot keep themselves alive. Posteritywill serve him; future generations will be told about theLord. They will proclaim his righteousness to a people yetunborn - for he has done it” (Psalm 22:27-31)

It can therefore be concluded that when Jesus cried outMy God, my God, why have you forsaken me? it was a cryof abandonment, desolation and despair, but it was alsoan example of faith, hope and love in God through thecomplete reading of Psalm 22.

Even on the Cross Jesus continued to set an examplefor us all not to lose faith, hope and love in God. Indeed,Psalm 22:26 states:

“The poor will eat and be satisfied; they who seek theLORD will praise him - may your hearts live forever!”

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CERTIFICATE OF ATTAINMENT

IN GREEKThe Education Office of the Consu-

late General of Greece in Sydneyhas informed us that the deadlineto apply for the Certificate of At-tainment in the Greek Language isMarch 22, 2010.Applications must be submitted at

the Education Office (Level 2, 219-223 Castlereagh St, Sydney 2000)in person. Applicants must have inhand their passport or driver’s li-cense.

The Certificate of Attainment inGreek is the official state certificatethat certifies the knowledge ofGreek as a Second/ Foreign lan-guage. It is offered at levels A-D,where D is the highest and re-quires exceptional knowledge ofGreek as a second/foreign langua-ge.It is important to note that this

Certificate is recognized in the la-bour market throughout the Euro-pean Union. It is also considered tobe a necessary condition for em-

ployment in various professionswithin Greece. The certificate al-lows citizens of European Unionmember states to participate in theexamination of the Supreme Cou-ncil of Personnel Selection (ΑΣΕΠ)for civil service positions or to pur-sue a Masters Degree in Greece. Level C allows foreign students

or Greeks from abroad the abilityto enrol in a Greek university.

Furthermore, Level D enablesEuropean citizens to be appointedto Greek universities.

The examinations are oraganizedannually by the Centre for theGreek Language, which is over-seen by the Greek Ministry ofEducation. This year, the examina-tions will be held on May 11 and12.

For further information visit thewebsite of the Education Office orphone (02) 9283 3800.

Visit the website

of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia

www.greekorthodox.org.au

The Greek Australian VEMA TO BHMA 5/23

Easter MessageMARCH 2010

By ARCHBISHOPSTYLIANOSOF AUSTRALIA

S T Y L I A N O S

By the grace of God Archbishop of AustraliaTo all the Clergy and devout faithfulof our Greek Orthodox Archdiocese

Brother Concelebrants and beloved children in Christ who is Risen,

The basic stages we passed through liturgically this year, before Holy Pascha, are well-known to allthe faithful:

• Triodion• Holy and Great Lent• Holy and Great Week of the Passion and Resurrection

In between (for spiritual relief and consolation within the period of fasting), we experienced the ‘Salu-tations’ and the ‘Annunciation of the Mother of God’, followed by the ‘joyful sorrow’ of ‘Palm Sunday’.

The Grace of God, who loves all humankind, has once again enabled us to taste all the above in re-pentance, for the edification and salvation of our own selves and the entire world.

This year we had the pleasure of celebrating the triumph of Pascha together - that is, at the same time- with Christians of the West. And we recognize how much easier the simultaneous celebration is for thedaily lives of working people, especially where there are minorities of faithful from various denomina-tions.

With these undoubtedly blessed presuppositions, we are called once more to continue with en-durance our strenuous journey between the harsh ‘Symplegades’ of recent times, keeping our spirit ofthe Resurrection upright, no matter to what extent the darkness of the present world may alarm us.

However, maintaining the ‘spirit of the Resurrection’ does not mean indifference or an underesti-mation of the new dangers that threaten all of humanity at this time.

This would be an unacceptable hypocrisy and a false triumphalism concerning the Resurrection,which would be irreconcilable with our Christian Faith.

It would also be an inexcusable betrayal of the redemptive message and example of the Apostlesthrough the centuries.

At this very point it should be mentioned that the ‘Apostles’ were not only the Twelve Disciples ofChrist. Nor were they only the 500 or a multiplication of this number to whom the Risen Lord subsequent-ly appeared at various intervals.

The Apostolic character of the Church (just as with all other charismata granted by the Risen Lord)cannot be ‘monopolized’ in some manner by the ‘spiritual Shepherds’ and ‘Teachers’. It is simply thatthese gifts are exercised by them in essence, with the ‘consent’ and ‘collaboration’ of Clergy and laypeople.

Only in this manner can the whole Church be understood in an Orthodox manner (i.e. genuinely andauthentically!), with Christ being its irreplaceable Head, and all the faithful - both men and women - asMembers of His Sacred Body.

See then, brothers and sisters, that even in times of various impasses, such as today, the Cross ofChrist, who Suffered and Rose for all people, is able to transform the most tragic circumstances of theworld into a ‘Resurrectional mobilisation’ of those who pray. Provided that we firmly remain believing,hoping and loving in the name of the only God-Man, who reconciled us forever with our Creator God,elevating us from children of ‘wrath’ into children of ‘adoption’.

To Him be all glory and veneration unto the ages.

Easter 2008

With fervent prayers in Christ who is Risen

Archbishop S T Y L I A N O S

[translation by DK]

The Greek Australian VEMATO BHMA6/24 MARCH 2010

Revd Dr Doru Costache *

The intention of this series is to prove from within theecclesial tradition that Orthodoxy has no share in whatsecular people today designate as the Christian aversionto the body; furthermore, that from the viewpoint of ourtradition there is more to be said about the body than anysecular mind can conceive.

We walk now toward a different horizon of symbolicimagery. In a book whose reference I long forgot, JeanKovalevsky, that fascinating bishop and mystical theolo-gian, rendered a definitely scriptural metaphor along theselines: human beings are uprooted trees and the trees arerooted human beings.

By such a beautiful association, I presume he conveyeda range of meanings. First, that there is a striking physiog-nomic symmetry between the architecture of the humanbody and that of the trees; this symmetry seems to bebest exploited by the kabbalistic Sephiroth tree represent-ing the body as a tree whose parts symbolically map thewhole reality. Second, that there is an existential similitudebetween people and trees, if we think of the expectationsfor both trees and people to bear the appropriate fruits.Third, that unlike the trees that cannot free themselvesfrom the soil and the earthly things, we do have that ca-pacity. Fourth, that beyond the fascination they exercise bytheir splendour, trees remind us of an existential failure:that of being reduced to our definition as earthlings (con-sider the signification of the Hebrew word ‘Adam’ i.e. therelative of the earth) instead of attaining - like JonathanLivingstone the seagull - our celestial stature.

Are all these meanings biblical? In other words, are theyfamiliar to God’s people? I believe they are. Reading thepassage about the healing of a blind man (Mark 8:24), wecome across the statement of the man saying: “I can seepeople, but they look like trees, walking.” This at least in-dicates that within the common ‘imaginal’ world of theJews the metaphor was well established. Let us check theaccuracy of this claim.

In a prophetic address on the divine judgment upon thequality of human deeds, St John the Baptist employs the

metaphor in a straightforward manner, without botheringto interpret it: “Even now the axe is lying at the root of thetrees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit iscut down and thrown into the fire” (Matthew 3:10; Luke3:9). Obviously, it is not the trees that will be judged andcut down from the face of the Lord; it is us, the witheredand fruitless trees that fail to undertake a virtuous life. Inthe same context, the prophet urged the arrogant Phar-isees to “bear fruit worthy of repentance” (Matthew 3:8),reinforcing the meaning of the metaphor.

On people bearing fruits, we see also the Lord exhort-ing us to exercise our discernment by evaluating the hu-man deeds in order to avoid being fooled by their plausi-ble but hypocritical statements (see Matthew 7:15-20). Fur-thermore, like in the story of the dry fig tree (cf. Matthew21:19), the wicked among God’s people are likened to the“autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, uprooted” (Jude1:12). Here, the state of being uprooted does not bear anypositive connotation (as in “attaining some measure of de-tachment from the earthly things”) but rather representsthe sign of a departure from tradition.

The source of this imagery is the Old Testament. I willprovide the reader with just a few examples. Perhaps themost interesting use of the tree metaphor is the one re-ferring to the cedars of Lebanon. As majestic as they are,the cedars of Lebanon play a double role in the Scriptures,on the one hand as images of the arrogant people whostand against God’s plan, and on the other hand as im-ages of the righteous who are blessed by the grace of theLord. The first meaning is illustrated by Psalm 28:5 (LXX),which reads: “the Lord will crush the cedars of Lebanon.”Although the phrase might be taken by the environmental-ists as one of the ‘grey’ passages in the Bible, it definite-ly refers to God’s reprimanding of the arrogant sinnersand not the destruction of the Lebanese biosphere. Thesecond meaning is allegorically conveyed e.g. by Song ofSongs 5:15, where the beloved is presented as handsomeas the cedars of Lebanon; a non-literal interpretation (likethat of Origen and St Gregory of Nyssa) might see herethe crown of beauty associated with virtue and the stateof being deified.

The second meaning is indirectly confirmed by Psalm1:3 (LXX), which refers to the righteous person as an un-specified yet definitely fruitful tree: “he will be like the treethat was planted by the channels of waters, which willyield its fruit in its season, and its leaf will not fall off.”Here, the righteous one is likened to the paradisiacal treeof life from Genesis 2, opening a very interesting her-meneutical avenue: the story of the garden ultimately rep-resents a parable of the spiritual life and becoming. Fur-thermore, the same image of the tree of life is applied toChrist in Revelation 22:2 (with some echoes from John15:1-6), where we read: “On either side of the river [or the“water of life,” in the previous verse] is the tree of life withits twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month; andthe leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.”This final image casts a stronger light upon the metaphorunder consideration, suggesting that as God’s people weare called to become increasingly Christ-like, bountifultrees, lush gardens - or, to paraphrase the saintly theolo-gian Fr Dumitru Staniloae, “spiritual bread for others.”

Christians, at least in the Byzantine tradition, truthfullyfollow these lines of thought, demonstrating appreciationfor the multilayered structure of the human being, includ-ing the body. Embellished through virtues, the human be-ing is ascetically reconstituted as a personal paradise, soto speak, restored to its divine vocation that was termedby the ancients Greeks as καλοκaγαθία, beauty and good-ness, the splendour of nobility. This ideal is magnificentlyexpounded by our iconography, the ecclesial architectureand hymnography, being practically conveyed through adistinct ethos of balance and creativity within the parame-ters of tradition.

There is nothing “spiritualistic” with us, and no mineralstillness characterise our rhythms. Even when we take abreak, that is just in order to prepare ourselves for newundertakings that will lead us to be like the fruitful trees ofthe Kingdom.

* Revd Dr Doru Costache lectures in Patristics at St Andrew’sTheological College, Sydney

Glimpses of a Symbolic AnthropologyPart Seven: People Like Trees

Greece does not need to sell islands: PMPrime Minister George Papandreou says Greece does

not need to sell some of its uninhabited islands to raisecash and plug its gaping budget deficit, as suggested bysome German MPs.

"I think that more creative solutions exist to tackle thedeficit than selling Greek islands," Papandreou told re-porters in Berlin after talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Greece has around 6,000 islands off its coast, of whichonly 227 are inhabited, according to the National TourismOffice. Two allies of Merkel suggested selling some. It

was unclear if they were joking."We give you cash, you give us Corfu," the mass-circu-

lation daily Bild commented.The proposal added to tensions between the popular

press and some politicians of the two countries as Greeceseeks to restore trust in financial markets in its solvency.

Germany, as Europe's biggest economy, is seen as firstin line for any bailout but any such move would be deeplyunpopular with voters.

German newspapers have carried angry editorialsabout alleged Greek corruption and wasteful spending.

The mass-circulation Bild wrote its own "letter" to Pa-pandreou, telling him he was visiting a country where, un-like his own, people "get up early and work the wholeday".

"No one here has to pay thousands of euros in bribes toget a hospital bed. We don't give pensions to generals'daughters who can't find a husband... Taxi drivers give re-ceipts and farmers don't get billions of euros in EU subsi-dies for non-existent olive trees," the newspaper thun-dered.

German magazine Focus printed a cover image of thefamous Venus de Milo statue making an obscene handgesture. The accompanying article called Greece the "trai-tor" of the euro for its excessive deficit spending.

All this has irked Greek politicians and newspapers,with some claiming that Germany still owes Greece mon-ey from World War II, accusing the Germans of stealing allthe gold from the Greek central bank.

Papandreou and Merkel both moved to soothe tensions.

"We haven't asked the German taxpayer to bail us out,to pay for our pensions and our holidays. That is not fair,"Papandreou told the Frankfurter Allgemeine daily in an in-terview.

"Nor do Greeks have corruption in their genes any morethan Germans have National Socialism (the Nazi ideology)in theirs. It is very dangerous when we use stereotypeslike this."

Merkel said that "everything to do with negative emo-tions is not helpful".

"We should find other solutions to our problems," shetold reporters.

AFP

Lenten Prayerof St Ephraim the Syrian

O Lord and Master of my life!

Take from me the spirit of sloth,faint-heartedness, lust of power, and idle talk.

But give rather the spirit of chastity,humility, patience, and love to Your servant.

Yes, Lord and King! Grant me to see my own errorsand not to judge my brother,for You are blessed unto ages of ages.

Amen.

Prime Minister George Papandreou with Chancellor Angela Merkel

The Greek Australian VEMA TO BHMA 7/25

Facts & StatsMARCH 2010

Theodorakis honoured with gold discRenowned songwriter and composer

Mikis Theodorakis was bestowed a golddisc by the Legend company on February 25for his release Ta Themelia mou sta Vouna(My Foundations Up On the Mountains),which features guest appearances by Glyk-eria, Paschalis Terzis and Dimitris Bassis.

The popular singers and the Mikis Theo-dorakis Orchestra performed a selectionfrom the award-winning release at thepacked P. Kyriakides Bookstore on Mitro-poleos St, where the event was hosted.

The 85-year-old composer who attendedthe event was sharp as ever when com-menting on current affairs.

“Cretans organised the Popular PatrioticFront. Something is in the making, but I’mafraid that people are disarmed. I don’tknow how this flame will come alight andwhether I’ll still be around to witness it,” hesaid.

“I’ve made an effort through the internet,”Theodorakis added. “I’ve pointed to threebig issues that preoccupy people: Cyprus,Macedonia and the deconstruction of Hel-lenism. I got thousands of emails. I was sur-prised by the feedback I got and the rich-ness of the responses. I’ll have them pub-lished.”

Theodorakis was poignant in his remarkson Greece’s national heritage of “stupiditywhich we carry along to this date”.

“There is no end to corruption. We oncehad a sense of decency. We were knownfor out hospitality and sense of honesty. Allthis is gone now,” he said.

He expressed his bitterness over “cultu-

red” representatives from Europe whorushed “to put us back into order. But theyjust show up for financial things. I don’t seeanyone coming here for our culture. Be-cause we do have culture.”

Referring to the often grim content of his70s songs, he said: “Our songs are some-how sad. Imagine that my first record wasentitled Epitaphios and my first song “MyMother Cries on the Grave”.

Even when Glykeria paid me a birthday

visit at Vrahati, she performed “Ston AlloKosmo Pou Tha Pas” (When You Go to theOther World) for me.”

The event was attended by representa-tives of the Greek press, publisher YiorgosKyriakides, NEP vice-president Michalis Kyr-iakides, NEP board member Areti Sidirokas-tritou, poets Michalis Ganas and ManosEleftheriou, and author Mimis Androulakisamong others.

ATHENS NEWS

ECB chiefhails Greek

austeritymeasures

European Central Bank headJean-Claude Trichet (photo above)praised new Greek austerity mea-sures but gave short shrift to apossible bid for IMF help thatAthens said it had to consider.

"We appreciate enormouslywhat has been decided becausewe judge it appropriate, commen-surate to the difficulty and con-vincing," Trichet said after the ECBgoverning council met at thebank's Frankfurt headquarters.

The Greek government has un-veiled a second set of emergencymeasures to slash 4.8 billion eu-ros ($A7.26 billion) from its publicbudget to persuade EU peers andmarkets it can avert bankruptcy.

"Greece today is in a much bet-ter state... than it was before,"Trichet said.

The ECB president did not feelhowever "that it would be appro-priate to have the introduction ofthe IMF as a supplier of helpthrough stand-by" agreements, inwhat might be shaping up as agame of poker between Athensand its eurozone partners.

Earlier the Greek governmentspokesman George Petalotis saidAthens "cannot exclude" seekinghelp from the International Mone-tary Fund, a step many eurozoneleaders would not approve.

An appeal to the IMF could por-tray the eurozone as unable todeal with internal problems and"we hope not to reach this point,"Petalotis told state radio Net.

"But it is a possibility that nobo-dy can exclude," he added, asGreek Prime Minister George Pa-pandreou prepared to visit Berlinand Paris for crucial talks withGerman Chancellor Angela Merkeland French President NicolasSarkozy.

Merkel will make it "very clear"to Papandreou that it is up toAthens alone to solve its prob-lems, German economy ministerRainer Bruederle said in the Ger-man capital.

AFP

Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia

GREEK WELFARE CENTRE

Centre Based Day Care

Crows Nest

The Greek Welfare Centre provides Day Care Centre respite for the Greek speaking frail aged living in the Lane Cove, Mosman, Willoughby and North Sydney Local Government Areas.

The broad aim of the program is to provide centre based day care for the frail aged of Greek speaking background, so as to assist them to remain in their homes and provide respite for their carers

What is included in the program?

The program includes transport to and from the day care centre, meals, activities, exercises and outings, for a small cost.

Who is it for?

To be eligible for the service an assessment will need to be undertaken. Applicants must be 65 years of age or over who are frail or have a disability and live in Lane Cove, Mosman, Willoughby and North Sydney Local Government Areas.

How to apply:

For more information regarding the program contact Fiona Keene on (02) 9516 2188

This service is supported by Department of Human Services NSW, Ageing, Disability and

Home Care

Greece's Aegean,Olympic

announce mergerGreece's two major airlines, Olympic Air

and Aegean Airlines, are merging to create a"national airline champion", the companiessay.

The two airlines together have 97 per centof the Greek domestic air travel market andwill use the name Olympic Air after a transi-tion period in which the Aegean name will beused in parallel.

The companies say they are combining tobetter compete within the European Unionand preserve jobs in the industry.

The combined airline is not expected to op-erate before October 2010 at the earliest,sources said.

The merged company will have 5850 em-ployees, including Aegean's 2500, OlympicAir's 1300, as well as 2000 in Olympic Han-dling and 50 in Olympic Engineering, whichwill be 100 per cent subsidiaries of the newcompany.

Olympic Air is the successor airline tostate-owned, debt-ridden Olympic Airways,later Olympic Airlines, which accumulatedmassive deficits for all but one of its 34 yearsof state ownership, from 1975 to 2009. It wassold to MIG, after several unsuccessful pri-vatisation attempts. It flies on 41 domesticand 15 international routes, a drastic cutbackfrom its heyday in the 1980s.

Aegean Airlines flies to 24 domestic and 26international destinations. It is a regional part-ner of Lufthansa and collaborates with Brus-sels Airlines, Portugal's TAP and Britain's bmi.

AP

Mikis Theodorakis (centre right) with NEP president and publisher Petros Kyriakides (l)

The Greek Australian VEMATO BHMA8/26 MARCH 2010

Time to heed the words of the Lady with the LampJanis Tripodakis says Florence Nightingale’s legacy should be honored

BY JULIA PANAYOTOU

A century has passed since the death of Florence

Nightingale. The founder of modern nursing and nursing

education, also known for her work in community and so-

cial issues and human rights, Nightingale earned the title

“Lady with the Lamp,” as she would tend to wounded sol-

diers during the Crimean War nightly, lamp in hand.

Created to honor her legacy, grassroots movement the

Nightingale Initiative for Global Health (NIGH) is marking

the centennial and has designated 2010 as International

Year of the Nurse.

The milestone will be celebrated, organizers say, to “ac-

tively involve the world’s nurses in a celebration of com-

mitment to bring health to their communities, locally and

worldwide.”

“Nightingale’s message is that we need leadership and

that health is fundamental in sustaining our world,” Janis

Tripodakis, a member of NIGH’s International Advisory

Board, told Athens Plus.

“We must stand together with leadership, advocacy and

global action to ensure health so that it is possible for

every person, in every community worldwide to have

equal access to healthcare.”

NIGH works to empower nurses and to increase global

public awareness about the priority of health.

While there are over 15 million nurses worldwide, Tripo-

dakis says there is not enough awareness about the crit-

ical role they play. Tripodakis explained, “The nurse’s role

in healthcare is so fundamental that its significance is of-

ten and easily overlooked, thereby making their contribu-

tion practically invisible.”

An economist who runs her own consulting company,

Tripodakis currently lives in Athens and has served over

several decades on boards that include the Muscular Dys-

trophy Association of Greece - MDA Hellas (founding mem-

ber), the American Farm School of Greece (as co-chair of

the Athens Development Committee), Habitat for Humani-

ty and Krikos Zois (the Society of Patients and Friends of

Patients with Inherited Metabolic Disease).

A Red Cross volunteer who played a major role in bring-

ing Greece to the forefront of the Nightingale Initiative for

Global Health, Tripodakis negotiated for Greece “to be

one of the five lead nations in this global campaign.”

Tripodakis sees NIGH as “a catalyst for public awareness

of the critical role nurses play in improving health world-

wide.”

It is also “a vehicle for engaging over 15 million nurses

around the world to stand together in support of global

health.” Tripodakis urges anyone who is interested to vis-

it www.nightingaledeclaration.net.

She also stresses that nurses and non-nurses alike

should “continue being ambassadors in serving their fellow

human beings, in order to create a healthier and more sus-

tainable world.”

According to Tripodakis, “nursing is about service and

caring.” Nurses “have the privilege of accompanying vul-

nerable people through health, illness and death.”

On a local level, ”the fundamental structures are pres-

ent in Greece,” she says. But work still needs to be done.

“There are incredible opportunities to elevate and ex-

pand the role of nurses in education, awareness and re-

search.

This must be done, not only in hospitals but throughout

all communities.”ATHENSPLUS

Michael Rann:

“FYROM president steals Greek history”

“I do not intend to apologize and

I think President Gjorge Ivanov is

stealing Greek history,” said the

Premier of the state of South Aus-

tralia Michael Rann, Skopjean A1 tel-

evision station reports.

The media in Australia cited FY-

ROM ambassador Pero Stojanovski

as saying FYROM’s support for Aus-

tralia‘s candidacy for a non-perma-

nent member of the UN Security

Council would depend on Rann’s

apology.

Mike Rann has sparked an inter-

national diplomatic furore by accus-

ing the Former Yugoslav Republic

of Macedonia (FYROM) of stealing

Greek culture and its leader, Gjorge

Ivanov, of “stirring up trouble in the

most dangerous way”. A videotape

of a speech given by the Premier in

November has sparked outrage ac-

ross the globe.

Washington-based ‘United Mace-

donian Diaspora’ president Metodija

Koloski flew to Adelaide for a confi-

dential meeting with Multicultural

Affairs Minister Michael Atkinson

and delivered a protest letter ad-

dressed to Mr Rann.

In the controversial speech, Mr

Rann affirms his commitment to

Adelaide‘s Greek voters and promis-

es his Government will “remain firm

and unswerving in our support for

your cause”.

“It is important because no one is

entitled to steal another nation’s

history or culture,” Mr Rann said.

“We have a leader in Mr Ivanov

who is stirring up trouble in the

most dangerous way.”

Mr Koloski told The Advertiser

that his people had been “slan-

dered” and demanded an uncondi-

tional apology.

Mr Rann said he would not be “si-

lenced or muzzled” and would “con-

tinue to speak out on issues I be-

lieve in”.

Sources: FOCUS Information Agency,

The Advertiser

Premier of S. Australia, M. Rann

Families in fear as energy costs soar

"Fuel poverty" may become part of Australian

life, with electricity prices expected to continue ris-

ing.

NSW Energy and Water Ombudsman Clare Petre

says calls from people who fear they will have

electricity disconnected are up a third this financial

year. Last financial year more than 18,000 NSW

households had their power cut off.

Prices shot up 18-22 per cent on July 1, adding

about $200 to the average annual bill, and the num-

ber of people struggling to pay soared, The Daily

Telegraph says.

The largest retailer, Energy Australia, has an ex-

tra 36,000 customers on bill extension or payment

plans - 30 per cent more than last year. The sec-

ond-largest retailer, Integral Energy, has 19,000

more customers in assistance schemes - up 10 per

cent. But the real concern is that more big increas-

es will be too much for many of these households

to bear.

"We are already receiving complaints from peo-

ple who can pay now but are worried about their

capacity to pay in the future," Ms Petre said. She

said these increases could cause "fuel poverty".

Fuel poverty - a household spending more than

10 per cent of income for an adequate 21C warmth

- contributed to nearly 37,000 English and Welsh

deaths in 2008-09.

In Australia, it isn't the cold, it's the heat. High

temperatures were linked to 374 deaths in Victoria

last year.AAP

Jobless rate rises in February with few new jobs created

The jobless rate edged up to 5.3 per cent in Feb-

ruary from a downwardly revised 5.2 per cent in

January, with the number of people employed bare-

ly rising.

This was the first rise in the jobless rate since

peaking at 5.8 per cent last October. Just 400

jobs, seasonally adjusted, were added to the work-

force in February, Australian Bureau of Statistics

data showed on Thursday.

There were 11,400 full-time jobs created, but

these were partly offset by an 11,000 drop in part-

time workers. Economists had expected the jobless

rate to edge up to 5.4 per cent with 10,000 jobs

being created in February. The rise in the jobless

rate was led by a jump to 6.4 per cent in Tasma-

nia, from 5.3 per cent the previous month.

The unemployment rate also rose in South Aus-

tralia, to 4.7 per cent from 4.4 per cent, and in

Queensland, to 5.7 per cent from 5.5 per cent.

In the ACT, the rate rose to 3.9 per cent from

3.8 per cent. However, the jobless rate in NSW fell

to 5.4 per cent from 5.6 per cent and in the North-

ern Territory it declined to 3.2 per cent from 3.3

per cent. The rates in Western Australia and Victo-

ria were both unchanged at 5.0 per cent and 5.3

per cent, respectively.

The Greek Australian VEMA TO BHMA 9/27MARCH 2010

ENROL NOWPositions available in some classes/years

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ST EUPHEMIA COLLEGE202 Stacey Street, Bankstown, NSW 2200

LEARNING FOR LIFESince its founding in 1989, St Euphemia College has forged a reputation for academic excellence, a caring pastoral program, a disciplined and safe environment that is responsive to individual student needs and fostering a love for lifelong learning.

What does St Euphemia offer?* Dedicated and enthusiastic staff* Small class sizes* Specialised teachers and facilities* State of the art computer laboratories* Competition sport* Literacy and Numeracy support programs* Enrichment programs* A wide range of subjects* Opportunities for community service* Expanding facilities* Instruction in English in all Key Learning Areas

Scholastic Success* Consistent top 3 School rank in the Bankstown area* Attainment of State rankings in HSC Design &

Technology, IPT and Modern Greek* Numerous Band 5 and 6 results in HSC subjects* Very high proportion of tertiary entrance* Ongoing excellent results in NAPLAN, Selective

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For the bibliophiles...Australian Gourmet Traveller:

The Greek issueMarch 2010

Okay, hands up all those who didn’t receive at least one reminder from a friend orrelative to go out and purchase this month’s copy of Australian Gourmet Traveller?What do you think is the main attraction? The magazine’s editor, Anthea Loucas, isGreek-Cypriot and over the years we have come to respect her work, but why makesuch a fuss over this particular edition? Could it be the mouth-watering photos ofgrilled octopus, or the plateful of loucomades alongside that most beautiful of all fruit- fresh figs? Is the attraction due to the article on Kastellorizo by Sydney’s own NickPappas, or the tribute to Tess Mallos, whose recipes have instructed many youngAustralian Greeks who left home before being taught to cook by their mothers or yia-yias? Or could it be George Calombaris’ feature on the flavours of Cyprus, or thespectacular photograph of the Vathia towers of the Mani peninsula (don’t you justlove the image of Melia Tsatsouli holding the baker’s paddle)? More than likely, it’s amixture of all of this, and the fact that we Greek Australians, like everyone every-where, simply like to read something about ourselves once in a while.

A.C.

NEW FROM ST ANDREW'S

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This 100-page book contains the inspired words of 40 major hymns with accompanying CD in Greek by Basilios Psilacos, lecturer in Byzantine Music at St Andrew's Greek Orthodox Theological College and Chanter at St Andrew's Parish, Gladesville.

Hymns of the Resurrection, the 12 Major Feast Days, the

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'I am certain that, among the faithful, there will be many interested listeners who will benefit from this devoted effort of our beloved co-worker' - Archbishop Stylianos of Australia

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Overseas tourists flocking to Victoria

Victoria is attracting more overnight in-ternational visitors than ever with 30 percent of tourists who came to Australia in2009 making the garden state a stopover.

A Tourism Research Australia's Interna-tional Visitor Survey showed Victoria'stourism industry was outperforming everyAustralian state with the number of over-night visitors increasing by 3.5 per cent,compared to the national average of 0.2per cent.

"When you consider all that Victoria wentthrough in 2009 with the devastating BlackSaturday bushfires, swine flu and on top ofthe global financial crisis, these figures aretruly remarkable," Victoria's Tourism andMajor Events Minister Tim Holding said.

"While many other parts of Australiahave seen a downturn in tourism, Victoriais attracting more people from overseas,who are spending more and staying

longer." Mr Holding said the government'sfocus on major events, increased air serv-ices to growth markets in Asia, as well astargeted marketing campaigns were be-hind the growth.

"We had a large number of visitors com-ing to attend our major events like the Aus-tralian Open tennis, Tiger Woods at theAustralian Master's golf and the Formula 1Grand Prix and we saw big attendances atinternational business events at the Mel-bourne Convention Centre," he said.

The biggest increases were from Ma-laysia, up 38.1 per cent, India (26.1 percent), Singapore (10.1 per cent).

Victoria has secured five new interna-tional airlines to fly from Melbourne Airportover the last 18 months providing evenmore access for international visitors.

AAP

The Greek Australian VEMATO BHMA10/28 MARCH 2010

The Attorney General of NSW, John Hatzistergos MLC(left) and Mr George Bizos SC (right) are shown enjoyingthe Australian Lawyers Phil-Hellenic Association’s (ALPHA)symposium lunch held on Sunday 7 March 2010 to honourthe renowned South African Greek lawyer who is visitingAustralia.

George Bizos SC has been practising at the Johannes-burg Bar since 1954 and has defended numerous accusedagainst the might of the apartheid regime, including Nel-son Mandela and Walter Sisulu and was a counsel in theinquest into the death of Steve Biko. More recently, he de-fended Morgan Tswangarai, leader of the Opposition inZimbabwe, against a charge of treason.

Symposium to honour South African Greek lawyer,

George Bizos SC

US joins fight against speculators Greek PM elicits Obama’s support for joint action

at White House meeting; deal on visas also agreed Prime Minister George Papandreou said after meeting

US President Barack Obama at the White House thatWashington is willing to work with the European Unionto regulate the international financial system so specula-tors cannot target countries with troubled economies asthey have done with Greece in recent weeks.

Papandreou said that the interest shown by Obama inworking together with the EU was a “positive message”that meant “order can be restored to the internationalmarkets.”

The Greek premier did not go into any details aboutwhat form this joint action might take but said that the is-sue would be discussed at the G20 summits in Canadain June and South Korea in November.

Apart from economic issues, the two leaders also dis-cussed foreign policy matters such as the reunificationof Cyprus, Greece’s relations with Turkey and the Mace-donia name dispute.

However, it was in the area of bilateral relations thatPapandreou was able to announce a breakthrough ashe revealed that Obama had agreed to immediately al-low Greece to join the visa waiver program, which willallow Greeks to travel to the US without needing a visa.Greece had been the only EU country not included on thelist.

In a bid to underline his views on the financial situa-tion, Papandreou also wrote an op-ed for the Interna-tional Herald Tribune in which he emphasizes the stepsthat his government has taken to get its public financesin order, but he also stressed the need for the US andthe EU to work together to combat the threat of specu-lators.

“Despite the radical reforms my government haslaunched, opportunistic traders have forced interestrates on Greek bonds to record highs,” wrote the primeminister. “Some of these speculators are making a for-tune by betting on our nation’s misfortune.

“If global economic growth is to be sustainable, weneed better coordination and greater solidarity betweennations. If we let market forces alone dictate the terms,our fragile economic recovery will almost certainly fal-ter.”

Papandreou said it is vital for Washington and Brus-sels to work together to provide better regulation of theglobal financial system. “The crisis in Greece should bea wake-up call for bold reforms well beyond my owncountry,” he wrote. “Democratic governments worldwidemust establish a new global financial architecture, asbold in its own way as Bretton Woods, as bold as thecreation of the European Community and European Mon-etary Union. And we need it fast.”

KATHIMERINI

The Greek Australian VEMA TO BHMA 11/29MARCH 2010

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The Greek Australian VEMATO BHMA12/30 MARCH 2010

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www.standrewsorthodoxpress.com.au

An initiative of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia

Papandreou says talks with Obama successful Greek Prime Minister George Papan-

dreou expressed his absolute satisfactionover the results of his meeting with USPresident Barack Obama at the WhiteHouse on Tuesday 9 March, since not onlydid he find understanding regarding pro-posals on the joint handling of profiteers,but secured the visa waiver for Greek citi-zens visiting the United States as wellwhich, as the prime minister said, Presi-dent Obama decided.

Speaking to reporters, Papandreou ter-med the visa waiver "a vote of confidence"to Greece and noted that the Greek gov-ernment is determined to respond to itsobligations and cooperate closely at inter-national level on the tackling of terrorism.

"I briefed President Obama on the stateof the economy in our country and on thedetermination that we showed in takingdifficult measures," Papandreou said, un-derlining that with the institutional changesbeing promoted by his government not on-ly in the economy but in other sectors alsosuch as education, health and public ad-ministration the country is entering acourse of sustainable growth and is be-coming competitive and attractive.

The Greek Prime Minister stressed thathe briefed the US president on his and oth-er European leaders' initiative such asGerman Chancellor Angela Merkel, FrenchPresident Nicolas Sarcozy and eurozonepresident Jean Claude Juncker that aims at

confronting profiteers and restoringGreece's image in international markets.

Papandreou called on the US to con-tribute to a common direction with the Eu-

ropean countries at the next G20 summit.The Greek Prime Minister said that the USpresident reassured him that he considersthis initiative useful and positive and thatthe US will move in the same direction sothat "order is put in the international mar-kets."

The Prime Minister made it clear thatGreece did not request economic aid fromthe US and termed "every voice of supportpositive," particularly when it comes fromthe biggest economy and the strongestcountry in the world politically, whilespeaking of "recognition of the difficultmeasures that we are taking."

Papandreou also said that apart from theeconomy, he discussed with PresidentObama Greece's initiative for the acces-sion of all the countries of the westernBalkans to the European Union by 2014, adevelopment that he characterised as be-ing stabilising for peace in the wider re-gion and the solving of specific bilateralproblems.

In regards to relations with Turkey, Pa-pandreou briefed the US president on thevisit to Athens by Turkish Prime MinisterTayyip Erdogan in the coming months, aswell as on the will of the Greek side to re-vive the procedure on the normalisation ofGreek-Turkish relations and the solving ofdifferences, such as the case of the conti-nental shelf.

AFP

Prime Minister George Papandreou addressing reporters after his talks with US PresidentBarack Obama at the White House. (Photo ANA-MPA)

The Greek Australian VEMA TO BHMA 13/31

HealthMARCH 2010

‘FLU VACCINE : NOW ISTHE TIME FOR YOUR

‘FLU SHOT!Each year at this time I like to remind people that the

influenza vaccine, more commonly called the flu vaccineis now available. The influenza virus is constantlychanging so it is important to receive vaccination gainstthe flu every year in order to be protected against themost common strains.

This year the seasonal influenza vaccine will includeone strain of the Influenza A (H1N1) also known as thePandemic strain or swine flu strain.

Getting an annual flu vaccination is a very importantand effective measure in preventing the illness. And thetime to be vaccinated is in March or April to ensuremaximum protection. The protection develops twoweeks after getting the injection and lasts up to a year.Therefore every year people need to be re-vaccinated.

People who have been vaccinated for the swine fluvaccine should also be vaccinated with the 2010 sea-sonal influenza vaccine.

Influenza is a highly contagious infection of the nose,throat and lungs. Its effects are rapidly felt throughoutthe whole body. Every year during the winter months,most parts of the world experience an outbreak of in-fluenza known as ‘flu.

Most young and fit people will recover fairly quicklyfrom influenza, but for others, it can be a serious life-threatening illness. In an average year it’s estimatedthat 1500 Australians die and 20,000 to 40,000 are hos-pitalised as a result of the flu.

Influenza is caused by a virus. There are two mainviruses which cause the disease, influenza A and in-fluenza B. Each year, the virus changes slightly so thatdifferent forms of one of these viruses appear everyyear. The health authorities in this country go to greatlengths to try to anticipate the change so that a vaccinecan be developed.

The Australian Influenza Vaccine Committee have en-dorsed the World Health Organisation recommenda-tions and approved the strains for season 2010.The2010 influenza vaccine is a purified inactivated, split vi-ron (split virus) vaccine and each 0.5 mls contain thefollowing virus strains:

• A/California/7/2009 (NYMC X-181) (A/California/7/2009 (H1N1) - like)

• A/Wisconsin/15/2009 (NYMC X-183) (A/Perth/16/2009 (H3N2) - like)

• B/Brisbane/60/2008 (B/Brisbane/60/2008 - like)

These are the three strains expected to circulate thisyear.

Influenza is generally spread by ‘droplet infection’.That means it is spread by the coughs and sneezes ofan infected person which create little droplets whichhang in the air. These droplets are then inhaled by oth-er people.

The infection starts in the nose and throat of the re-cipient person and may spread further down into thelungs which can result in bronchitis or pneumonia.

The patient with influenza will typically complain offeeling cold shivers or a high temperature which maycome on suddenly, aching muscles or (myalgia) and jointpains, a sore throat and a bad cough. The person feelsvery unwell and may be tired and lethargic for severaldays.

Almost anyone can get influenza, but there are anumber of ‘high risk’ groups who are likely to be af-fected.

The single most important preventative measure onecan take is to be vaccinated against the ‘flu. The vaccineis a single injection which can be given by your familydoctor.

The aim of the immunisation is to expose an individ-ual to either a dead or inactive virus so that the bodycan mount an antibody response. The response is re-membered by the immune system so that if it is ex-posed to a real influenza attack, the body can mount amuch quicker and larger response to it.

The best time to be vaccinated is before influenza oc-

curs in the community. This is usually Autumn, but vac-cination can still take place in the first few months ofWinter.

For the 2010 influenza season the following groupsare eligible for a free influenza vaccine.

• All people aged 65 years and over• All Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged

15 and over• All people aged 6 months and over who are at se-

vere risk of outcomes from seasonal influenza, such asthose with chronic conditions, including cardiac disease,cystic fibrosis, diabetes and renal failure

• Pregnant womenIn addition, people who can transmit influenza to per-

sons at an increased risk such as staff at nursinghomes, nurses, volunteer workers and persons whoprovide essential community services should considervaccination.

The vaccine should not be given to anyone who suf-fers from severe egg or chicken feather allergies. Thevaccine is a safe vaccine. It can cause redness or sore-ness at the injection site, but severe side effects areextremely rare. Inactivated influenza vaccine has beenavailable for over fifty years. Since that time, the formu-lation has been continually improved resulting in farless adverse reactions.

Now’s the time!... Talk to your family doctor about theflu vaccine.

Most people are aware of the benefits of having avaccination each year to protect themselves against in-fluenza.

The National Health and Medical Research Council al-so recommends that all people over 65 years of ageshould have an additional vaccine known as the PNEU-MOCOCCAL VACCINE. This vaccine is now providedfree to all Australians over 65 years of age. This winterbe fully covered: add pneumococcal vaccination to your‘flu vaccine. Talk to your doctor about the pneumococ-cal vaccine and if you have previously been vaccinated,remember a pneumococcal booster vaccination is re-quired after five years.

Immunisation is there to protect you against disease.Now is the time to talk to your doctor about both the

pneumococcal vaccination and the seasonal influenzavaccination.

*The information given in this article is of a general nature andreaders should seek advice from their own medical practitionerbefore embarking on any treatment.

HEALTHNEWSNEWS

WITH DR. THEO PENKLIS *

By STEPHEN JOHNSON

Doctors' groups have backed aspects of the federalgovernment's plan to reform the nation's hospital systembut unions are concerned public health bureaucrats couldlose their jobs.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has declared the shake-up ofpublic hospitals to be the biggest health reform since theadvent of Medicare in 1984.

Under the plan, the federal government will take $90 bil-lion over five years - $50 billion over the first three - inGST revenue from the states for a new National Healthand Hospital Network.

In return, the commonwealth will fund 60 per cent ofhospital services, up from 35 per cent, and take over fullfinancial and policy responsibility for general practice andprimary care.

Local networks would run anywhere from one to fourpublic hospitals.

"For the first time, eight state-run systems would be-come part of one national network," Mr Rudd told the Na-tional Press Club in Canberra on Wednesday.

The Rural Doctors Association supported the plan to givelocal communities a greater say in how their hospitalswould be run, but chief executive Steve Sant said the gov-ernment had failed to address the shortage of generalpractitioners and medical specialists in regional areas.

From July 2012, federal activity-based funding would

emulate a system operating in Victoria and South Aus-tralia, where hospitals are given a fixed amount for spe-cific medical procedures to encourage efficiency.

Australian Medical Association president Andrew Pescesaid the level of extra funding would determine the suc-cess or failure of the reforms.

"The prime minister ... seemed to acknowledge that," hetold reporters.

Mr Rudd flagged moving health bureaucrats to areas ofneed, citing the example of shifting a position in Sydney toPort Macquarie, on the NSW mid-north coast, in a bid toimprove primary health services.

The Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU), which

represents commonwealth public servants, said any gov-ernment reform needed to respect the rights and entitle-ments of workers.

"Obviously, we have some industrial concerns as aunion," the CPSU's national secretary Stephen Jones said.

"As long as they're not forcibly transferred, the majorityof public servants ... would get behind reforms to our na-tional health system."

But the Australian Nursing Federation was less con-cerned about job losses, arguing health professionalswere in short supply everywhere.

Federal secretary Ged Kearney urged state premiersnot to reject the plan.

"It's a very worthy proposal," she said.Catholic Health Australia chief Martin Laverty gave Mr

Rudd "full marks" for considering the use of private hospi-tals if public beds were in short supply.

But the Cancer Council was disappointed the federalgovernment had not committed to taking over patient trav-el from the states.

"Many benefits in a streamlined system will still bypasscancer patients in rural and remote areas," council chiefexecutive Ian Olver said.

The federal government will put its plan to state pre-miers and territory chief ministers at the next Council ofAustralian Governments (COAG) meeting in April.

AAP

Doctors back aspects of hospital reformPrime Minister

Kevin Rudd

The Greek Australian VEMATO BHMA14/32 MARCH 2010

By Peter Souleles B. Com LLB.

The hard-nosed leaders of Europe, despite much talk,still remain a little unclear as to how they propose to dealwith Greece. Should they demand further draconian meas-ures by Greece in return for assistance or should she beexpelled from the EU before she contaminates the rest ofthe European family and perhaps the world?

Is Greece a recalcitrant child or is she really an abusedmother? Is she the birthplace of Western civilization andthe cradle of democracy or will she be the graveyard ofglobal economics? Has Greece been imprudent in herborrowings or were others lax in their lending? WillGreece be saved as a matter of principal or will she besacrificed to protect the collective posterior of others?

Will Europeans and the Western world wake up to thelarger picture or will they die a slow death whilst being“colonized” by Islam without seeking reciprocal rights fromIslam? Will Europe take the opportunity of Greece’s per-ilous situation to display leadership and strength or will itcrumble as it flaunts its indecision and disagreements? IfGreece is removed from the E.U. will they go on to savePortugal, Italy and Spain because they are too big to fail orwill they instead continue to disembowel their member-ship?

GREECE BEGINS HER BATTLE WITH HER HANDS TIED

As a member of the Euro club, Greece does not havethe option of quantitative easing (money printing) that theUSA and Britain have availed themselves of so richly. Nordoes she have the option of unilaterally devaluing the Eu-ro in the same way that Venezuela recently devalued itsown currency. Her only options (if she was to remain inthe EU) would be to submit to either the EU’s expectationsof expenditure cuts and tax increases or to invite the I.M.F.into the country. Either option is fraught with danger.

DEATH AND TAXES

Greeks have never had a problem with confrontingdeath but taxes are another matter. After almost 400years of Ottoman rule they have been left with a healthydisrespect for authority and an outright distaste for taxes.Yet this in fact may be one of the most effective avenuesfor improvement in its budgetary mess.

Tax evasion is so endemic in Greece that even captur-ing 20-30% of evaded taxes may have the two-fold effectof not only helping to reverse the deficit but also of boost-ing the Gross Domestic Product of Greece without any ad-ditional production. All of a sudden one would also witnessthe deficits falling away as a percentage of GDP.

ESCAPE CLAUSE FOR EUROPE

In return for making progress, Europe possibly can pro-vide itself with an escape clause and Greece with a limit-ed window of opportunity to reverse its position. Europecan give a guarantee on any borrowings up to a certainlevel for the next 12 months in return for adherence tocertain performance indicators. If Greece performs, thenall is well and good. If not, Europe and the world have 12months to prepare the divorce and eviction papers with-out allowing a domino effect to take place.

If Europe instead cuts Greece off without some oppor-tunity to restore good governance, it will be Europe that isin fact cast adrift. Failure to save a nation with only 2.5%of Europe’s GDP would be quite telling of Europe’s depthand commitment to the EU. The flow of funds that hasbeen witnessed from the dollar to the Euro for both politi-cal and economic reasons will cease and possibly re-verse. Such a move would also expose the fragility of Eu-rope as a whole and in particular its southern member-ship. Dominoes will fall in quick succession.

Make no mistake, cutting Greece off and allowing her todefault may in fact be a gift to Greece in the longer rundespite short term chaos. Modern Greece since 1821 hasspent a great deal of its time in default so once morewould not be a black mark. In any case chaos is a highlyenergizing atmosphere for many Greeks.

LESSONS FROM THE DISTANT PAST

The west must also realise that the Hellenic world andin particular Ancient Greece, have already given the worldthe formulas for economic management and success,which the West in particular has sought to ignore. Consid-er briefly the following points:

1. The Ancient Athenian coinage, the famous silvercoin with the owl and Athena, was recognisedand used throughout the Mediterranean and MidEast for centuries. The strict adherence to a cleansilver coin that was not in any way adulterated bytin or lead gave Athens great status and access inall ports of call. This was in fact the first recog-nizable silver standard of the world and it fulfilledALL of the characteristics of money includingdurability, divisibility, consistency, convenienceand intrinsic value. This definition was given to usby Aristotle and is still in use today. It was theRomans who started the concept of fiat moneyand currency debasement by eventually circulat-ing coins which had only a film of silver on them.

2. The next great coinage of the Greek world wasthe solidus or bezant of the Byzantine Empire.Once again this coinage was the reserve curren-cy of its day due to its purity and lasted for oversix centuries. In short, the Hellenic Worldhas provided the longest periods of honestmoney.

3. It must also not be forgotten that the mammothdebt burden of this day was also experienced byAthens more than 2,500 years ago. Debt levelshad led to whole families becoming indenturedslaves until the famous law-giver Solon decreedthe write-off of such debt which in turn restoredbalance. This is the inevitable solution for today’sworld economy, which unfortunately banks andgovernments believe they can solve only by issu-ing further debt.

4. Furthermore, the great lesson that investment issuperior to consumption was also taught to us byAncient Athens. In the 5th century BC it hadbecome clear that the great Persian King hadevery intention of invading and conqueringGreece. Athens could see the great build-up butwas hamstrung by finances to react. But then amiracle (which Greeks have a virtual monopoly

on) took place. In 484-3 a deep, rich and seem-ingly inexhaustible lode of silver was discoveredin the largely marginal silver mines of Athensowned by the State in Laurion. The public debatethat ensued was whether the profits should bedistributed to the adult citizenry, or used to buildships for defence. The famous Themistocles wonthe day, had the fleet built and Athens went on tolead a crushing defeat over the Persians at theBattle of Salamis. The approach of the Atheniansstands in stark contrast to the stimulus handoutsof modern day governments that achieved littleother than to increase government debt, inflameproperty prices further and encourage mindlessconsumption.

5. Finally, readers must be reminded that the CityState of Athens kept her gold on public display byhaving it incorporated as detachable sections onthe statue of Athena in the Parthenon. The Greeksknew and understood the weakness of men, sothey devised this brilliant method of transparency.When war or some other emergency requiredmoney, the sections were removed and used tofund their requirements. Where is the transparen-cy in today’s finances? In fact to this day, theUnited States Government refuses to conduct anaudit of its stated gold stockpile of 8,135 tonnesdespite strong and persistent rumours that it haslargely disappeared through arrangements.

The examples could go on and on, and the finer detail isboth didactic and cathartic. I urge readers to read thegreat scholars who have brilliantly narrated the aboveevents. Unfortunately the convenience of fiat money andthe schemes it enables have instead given the world afront row seat to an unfathomable abyss. So just remem-ber that while Greece may be marinating in the sins of itseconomic and political mismanagement, the world in factis on a spit with a bed of live coals beneath it. Greece’spredicament has simply exposed the soft underbelly ofcorrupted and uncontrolled globalization.

UNDIPLOMATIC DIPLOMACY

The outbursts of indignation by Deputy Prime MinisterPangalos, directed at Germany for the gold and moneystolen from Greece during World War I, achieved little inthe scheme of things. Perhaps it would have been wiserfor him to remind Germany that it had received the prince-ly sum of $1.4billion dollars under the Marshall Plan fromthe USA despite being the perpetrator of the most damag-ing human conflict the world has seen.

The German press and some politicians were quick torespond with their own brand of invective. The headlinein the German publication Bild responded with, “Sell your

GREECE MAY BE MARINATING BUT THE WORLD IS ON A SPIT

The Greek Australian VEMA TO BHMA 15/33MARCH 2010

Cont. from previous page

islands, you bankrupt Greeks! And the Acropolis too!” In itsFebruary issue the German magazine FOCUS also pitchedin with a front cover showing the famous statue ofAphrodite of Milo making an obscene gesture with hermiddle finger under the headline, “Cheats in the EuroFamily.”

Such outbursts rarely provide any solutions but never-theless expose the inner psyche of the respective camps.It was inevitable that tensions would manifest themselvesin a “family” that wears the same uniform (the Euro) butwhose members march at different speeds. The currentdifficulties simply lay bare the inadequacies of both theconstituent agreement as well as the failures of the auditand compliance regime within the EU.

THE ROLE OF GOLDMAN SACHS

It is now no longer a secret that Greece in reality did notmeet the criteria to qualify for membership of the EU. In2001 the US global investment banking and securities gi-ant Goldman Sachs helped Greece circumvent EU rulesand gain membership by allowing her to quietly borrowbillions. Banks provided Greece with upfront cash in re-turn for pledging future government revenues from airportlanding fees and lottery proceeds. The deals were struc-tured in such a way so as to allow Greece to show thedeals as sales rather than as loans. The rest is history.

Goldman Sachs has been recently described by MattTaibbi as a “great vampire squid wrapped aroundthe face of humanity, relentlessly jamming itsblood funnel into anything that smells like money.”These are strong words that may carry a great deal oftruth, yet we must understand that Greece and other cus-tomer nations of investment banks, were willing partici-pants in the schemes they concocted.

The consistent attacks by Prime Minster Papandreou onthe opportunistic manoeuvrings of various “bankers” con-veniently omit to recognize that it is successive Greekgovernments that have exposed Greece’s Achilles Heel tothe opportunistic arrows of such entities.

CALLING A SPADE A SPADE

There is no doubt that Greeks must relinquish a life-styleand a mentality that cannot any longer be sustained underthe present circumstances. It must be remembered thatbeginning with the Ancient Greeks there has always beenan aversion to sustained physical effort. In fact the Greekword for “work” is derived from the word for “slavery”. Itshould also be noted that Ancient Athens had an extreme-ly large percentage of its population made up of slaves. Inrecent times the influx of Albanian and other minoritieswas resented at one level but accommodated on the oth-er as it provided a source of both willing and cheaplabour. As the old saying goes, “history does not repeat it-self, but it sure does rhyme.”

Charles Calomiris of Columbia University summed upthe situation as follows:

“I think we need to focus on the unsustainablesituation that Greece has gotten itself into, withthe highest consumption to GDP ratios in Europe,one of the lowest labour force participation ratesin Europe, one of the highest government socialprotection rates in Europe, and deficits that havebeen outsized for several years during the boom,and of course the fraudulent accounting. I shouldalso note that within the Eurozone, Greece hasthe worst corruption score according to Trans-parency International which is a problem becauseit is telling you that the institutional quality ofthe Greek government for reforming itself is verylow.”

I might also add that the dismal corruption score is alsowhat accounts for poor accountability.

Certainly the recent history of Greece is highlighted by amutually parasitic relationship between the governmentand the voters. Governments have indulged in much “votebuying” whilst the voters from their end realised that theycould profit from “vote selling”. As a result much of thefunding from the EU has been squandered by both politi-cal parties and the mismanagement of the nation’s fi-nances was only worsened by large borrowings at cheap

interest rates as a result of joining the Euro. The invest-ment and productivity gains have thus been poor.

THE MESS IS DEEPER THAN WE THINK

The official debt level of Greece is presently around123% but according to research by Jagadeesh Gokhale atthe Cato Institute in Washington, the figure would blow outto 875% if pension obligations were brought back onto thebalance sheet. The nations of France (76%) and Germany(69%) would have their debt to GDP ratio blow out to 549%and 418% respectively if such obligations were included.

The bottom line is that EVERYWHERE retirement age willrise and continue to rise and taxes will similarly rise tomeet this challenge.

One must also remember that French, Swiss and Ger-man banks have an exposure of over 200 billion Euros toGreek debt. In any case numerous economists, analystsand commentators are highlighting that the USA and theUK will be the ‘next Greece’.

A WORKERS’ PARADISE

A great deal of resentment has also been aroused in Eu-rope owing to some incredible retirement arrangementsthat have been forged over the years by compliant gov-ernments and oversized and powerful unions. For exam-ple some 700,000 employees or 14% of the workforcehave an early retirement age of 50 for women and 55 formen if they work in any of the 580 job categories deemedto be hazardous. Apart from hairdressers, bomb disposalexperts and coalminers, this arrangement also includes,“radio and television presenters, who are thoughtto be at risk from bacteria on their microphones,and musicians playing wind instruments, who mustcontend with gastric reflux as they puff andblow.” This would all sound tremendously amusing hadthe outcomes not been so serious.

In Greece and elsewhere, the worsening demographics,increased pressure on healthcare, poor investment per-formance of retirement funds and general downturn in theeconomy, require a re-calibration of retirement age andexpectations.

PROPOSED MEASURES

The proposed measures by the Government will en-deavour to achieve a reduction in the budget deficit from12.7% of Gross Domestic Product last year to 8.7% thisyear. Europe of late has been applauding the austeritymeasures and supplying expressions of support but no“cash”. Prime Minister Papandreou on the other hand is re-peating his mantra of “we are not asking for aid... weonly want to borrow on the same terms and con-ditions as other European nations.” This is a nobleand dignified approach but does not answer the questionof why anyone would rather lend to an almost “bankrupt”nation at a preferential rate.

The various measures include increases in value-addedtax, fuel taxes and luxury taxes. There will also be an av-erage of 12% cuts in the civil service entitlements of allworkers in the public sector and a 7% cut for those in s-tate-owned companies. Pensions will also face certaincut-backs and restrictions. No doubt the tax evader will behigh on the list of targets.

THE $64,000 QUESTION

Will Greece reverse its current plight? The followingneed to be considered:

• What if any tangible assistance would Europe extendto Greece if it is needed?

• Greece needs to raise 53 billion euro in debt this yearwhich will take its debt to 290 billion Euros or A$435 bil-lion. Will these borrowings be achieved at reasonablerates or will some of her debt offerings fail?

• Will the new taxing measures succeed in raising addi-tional revenue or will they kill growth and consumptionand send the black economy deeper underground?

• Will the Greek economy become more competitiveand productive or will workers resist further change andwill capital be reluctant to take further risks?

• How successful will the Government be in reining inthe black economy?

• How long and how disruptive and damaging willstrikes and demonstrations become?

• Will Spain, Italy and Portugal crumble as well?• How will the world as a whole hold up in the months

ahead?There is very little doubt that no group within Greece is

going to be a willing participant to either higher taxes orlower pay. Given that these outcomes are inevitable thereal challenge will be to ensure that all sides are seen tobe making sacrifices and contributions, otherwise labourwill erupt or capital will flee. Economics will be side-linedas politics takes centre-stage once again. According tosome estimates around 10 billion in Euros have alreadyleft the country.

In recent days the government reported a successfulauction of 10 year bonds for 5 billion Euros at 6.25%. Giv-en that the rate was almost 3% higher than what would bepaid on German bonds, it can hardly be called a success.

IN CLOSING

The world needs to remember that every great battlefought by Greece from antiquity to World War II requiredsacrifice which she made without complaint. While othershave received and continue to receive apologies, monu-ments and compensation for their suffering, Greece hassimply made do with polite compliments.

While others have taken her monuments or reproducedher designs and literature for profit, Greece has neversought royalties. Her words form an irreplaceable founda-tion of the English language and her ideas and conceptsare the yeast of the Western world, yet she is content tosimply be a proud but often impoverished mother. Per-haps it is time for the Western world to repay a debt ofgratitude by not allowing its birthplace to be subjected tothe tyranny of opportunistic political and economic ma-noeuvrings by nations, corporations and individuals withlesser ideals than those that Greece bestowed uponmankind.

There is no doubt that the challenge of Greece is a greatfulcrum for Europe and that the choice of either side couldprove disastrous for the world as a whole. Nevertheless,this is the first great test for the EU and if it fails to sup-port Greece meaningfully and fairly, it will be subjected tothe old Greek saying: “he who urinates in the sea willfind it in his salt.”

My late father often stated that “Greeks inventeddemocracy so they could all talk at the sametime”, but perhaps the moment has arrived to heed thewords of Daphne Christodoulou, a 42 year old teacherwho said, “We’re going to have to sit down andshut up at some point. There are some things thatmust change.” In the meantime expect more strikes anddemonstrations as the Greeks exercise their democraticrights.

The Greek Australian VEMATO BHMA16/34 MARCH 2010

Students from Asquith Boys High School tour Greece and Cyprus for first time

Asquith Boys High School, in the north of Sydney, is sending twoFootball Teams to Greece and Cyprus over the Easter period forwhat promises to be an exceptional trip.

Thirty boys have been invited each year by Asquith FootballHead Coach George Moscos and for the past eight consecutiveyears they have played in countries such as New Zealand, Vanu-atu, Fiji, Malaysia, Thailand, China and Vietnam. Now, in their firstforay into Europe, the Coach has drawn upon his heritage andbackground as Head of the History Department to play gamesagainst the likes of Olympiakos Piraeus and Olympiakos Nicosia inwhat promise to be outstanding and competitive games.

“Over the past eight years, we have identified, invited and tak-en 277 boys on these tours and they have been an outstandingproject” he stated.

“The boys have trained hard and many have paid for the toursthemselves. Boys have taken on part-time work, kept their mindsfocussed on their work at school and contributed positively to thetone of the school community. This is all part of the project. Someboys and parents have found it so worthwhile that they have ac-cepted a second and third invitation to travel. Nine boys havegone four times.

“We feel that we have developed some great leaders throughthis project and to be selected as Tour Captain is an honour equalto being a School Captain,” he continued.

George Moscos is well known to the Greek Orthodox Archdio-cese of Australia. As well as being an Ancient History HeadTeacher, he was also Supervisor of the Higher School CertificateExamination from 2002 until 2006 and was awarded the Premier’sMilitary History Scholarship and a Federal Government Award forTeaching Excellence in 2003. He has also been involved in theParish Committee at St Michael’s Church at Crows Nest for mostof his adult life.

In 2008, he was honoured to be asked to present the Occa-sional Address at a function for His Eminence’s Archbishop Sty-lianos’ Nameday at the Palais Lounge.

George feels that the boys will be very competitive and excel-lent ambassadors for Australia as they have been in the past. “MrChris Lepouris, our Travel Agent from Sun Line Holidays has put

together an excellent package, once again. If it wasn’t for the sup-port of people like Chris who believes passionately in the projectand the financial support of REED Constructions, the boys wouldnot be able to afford such a wonderful experience.”

The Asquith Boys completing their highly successful Tour of Vietnam in 2009 with a final and emphatic win (8-0) in Hanoi.

Making schoolsmultilingual

Public schools will offer immigrantpupils langauge lessons in their mothertongue. The Education Ministry is cur-rently hammering out a multimillion-eu-ro programme to promote the integra-tion of increasingly high numbers ofimmigrant children in public schools.

If all goes according to plan, some20 million euros in European Unionfunds will be invested for the creationof new programmes this Septemberthat are aimed at teaching immigrantchildren their mother language andteaching Greek to their parents.

The government’s intention to pro-mote bilingualism in public schoolswas announced by Education MinisterAnna Diamantopoulou during a confer-ence on immigration in Athens recently.

“The idea is that we will introducethe mother language in a project weare now submitting to the EU for fund-ing,” Thalia Dragona, the educationministry’s special secretary for inter-cultural education, stated.

“We are proposing after-school les-sons,” she adds. “We are not yet at thestage of introducing bilingual schoolslike the ones in Canada or Australia.There’s really no tradition of bilingualschools in Europe.”

Policy initiatives - aimed at turningthe mother tongue of immigrant pupilsinto a sort of bridge between cultures -are expected be implemented in Sep-tember in schools with an immigrantstudent body of 20 percent or more,Dragona said.

Chris Lepouris of Sun Line Holidays, Dulwich Hill being appreciatedby the boys from Asquith for his excellent efforts in organising

successful tours

Public schools will offer immigrant pupilslanguage lessons in their mother tongue

ΕΛΛΗΝΑΣ ΥΔΡΑΥΛΙΚΟΣ

SPECIALISING IN

- HOT & COLD WATER

- EXTENSIONS RENOVATIONS

- BLOCKED DRAINS, TOILETS

- LEAKY TAPS, PIPES

- GAS, REPAIRS, MAINTENANCE

The Greek Australian VEMA TO BHMA 17/35MARCH 2010

Travel

The district of Kozani in west-ern Macedonia offers somesharp contrasts: Its overwhelm-ingly mountainous terrain hostsan abundance of flora and faunabut also includes one of thecountry’s most environmentallydamaged areas, around the po-wer production complex nearPtolemaida. Plus, its rich archi-tectural heritage is a far cryfrom the dominance of poorlystyled urban apartment blocks,particularly in the town of Ko-zani itself, the capital of the dis-trict (population 37,000).

The Public Power Corporationcomplex in Ptolemaida is the lar-gest power production center inthe country and one of Europe’smost polluting - spewing thou-sands of tons of carbon dioxidefrom burning lignite into the at-mosphere and causing serioushealth problems to the inhabi-tants of surrounding villages.While it is a sight, it is best avoi-ded, except perhaps in the con-text of an educational visit. Aquestionable benefit of this pre-sence of heavy industry is thatthe Kozani prefecture boasts thefourth-highest income per capitain the country after those ofAthens, Attica and Thessaloniki.

Apart from this relatively smallarea, the district is well worthexploring for its natural environ-ment and heritage, which inclu-

des ancient and Byzantine cities(Apidea, Aiane, Servia) as wellas churches, stone bridges andmansions.

The landscape is marked byGreece’s longest river, the Aliak-monas, in the western and east-ern parts, as well as the artificialPolyfyto Lake. Until about twodecades ago, Kozani town, de-void of character and color, pre-sented scant reason for a visit.

The dullness was best ex-pressed by songwriter YiannisKakoulidis in “Ti Lozani ti Kozani”- “Two coffee shops, two cine-mas/sesame candy bar, ouzoand pastrami/ girls abound, menare few/ and the evenings arebitterly cold.” Since then, much

restoration work, developmentand pedestrianization in the citycenter have considerably im-proved this glum picture, includ-ing a number of surviving tradi-tional and neoclassical man-sions.

It is worth seeing the 1664Cathedral of Aghios Nikolaos -with excellent frescoes - and theMunicipal Library, one of therichest in Greece, with more

than 100,000 volumes, manu-scripts, Ottoman edicts and rarepublications, including a copy ofthe map (“Charta”) of the Balkansby 18th-century Greek patriotRigas Velestinlis.

The town is livened by a con-siderable student population.

Siatista (population 6,000), 28kilometers west of Kozani, is aworthy destination by itself, hav-ing retained much of the charmof its heyday in the 18th and19th centuries, when its furs andwines were highly sought afterfrom as far away as Venice andMoscow.

Its traders and artisans for-med a wealthy community, who-se prosperity and lifestyle is re-

flected in the two dozen or sosurviving mansions, like small,three-story castles with fine in-ternal decoration featuring artfulwoodcarved ceilings, colorful fi-replaces and stained-glass win-dows.

The 1677 Church of Aghia Pa-raskevi has wonderful frescoes,including - curiously - severalancient Greeks such as Solon,Plutarch, Thucydides and Aristot-le - a reflection of contact withWestern classicists. Most house-holds are still occupied in the furand leather industry and the tra-ditional, sweet wine is still pro-duced. A stroll around Siatista’scobblestone streets takes youback in time.

Some 43 km south of Kozani,at Mikrolivado, are the rare“bouharia” and “nochtaria” geo-logical formations - first publi-cized only in 2004 - which areclusters of pillar- and pyramid-shaped formations of red earth,some with large stones bal-anced on top. South of Kozani isthe extensive archaeological siteand royal necropolis of Aiane,with finds dating back to the14th century BC.

A number of villages aroundKozani engage in the extensivecultivation of Crocus sativus, theflower of which is used to pro-duce saffron.

Source: ATHENSPLUS

Where to stay

Prices per double room includebreakfast. In Siatista (area phonecode 24650): Iberis (tel 47054), newlybuilt hotel on the edge of town, verygood and friendly service, from 70euros; Siatistino Archontariki (tel 470-20), traditional, ambient guesthouse,from 50 euros; Siatista (tel 47047),welcoming, wonderful mountainviews, mixes traditional and modernelements, good breakfast, from 50euros. In Kozani (area code 24610):Elena (tel 30294), quiet hotel on theedge of town, very good service,from 90 euros.

Museums

In Kozani: the Archaeological Muse-um (tel 24610. 26210) is expected toreopen in a new building this year;the rich Historical, Folk Art and NaturalHistory Museum (tel 26713, see Page43); the Vourkas Mansion, a listedmonument; and the Lassanis Mansion,hosting an exhibition of old maps ofCrete until March 14. In Siatista: theexcellent Bourinos Botanical Museum(tel 24650.21353); the PaleontologicalCollection (see Page 43). Ptolemaida’sPaleontological and Historical Muse-um (tel 24630.54444) includes mam-moth bones and elephant tusks.

Where to eat

In Kozani: Trata, award-winning re-staurant (2009) specializing in fish andseafood, menu includes organic dish-es section, excellent wine list; Plata-nos, very good local dishes; Kliougi,Anatolian meat dishes. In Siatista: Pe-trino, classic Greek and grilled dishes;Gravadika, popular taverna, local andgrilled dishes. Sample the fish in oneof the many lakeside tavernas aroundPolyfyto Lake. In Ptolemaida: Tothelo,modern bar-restaurant. In Siatista,look for saliaria - sweets stuffed withwalnuts and spices.

What to see & doThe remains of a Byzantine fort and

acropolis at Servia, on the eastern si-de of Polyfyto Lake and next to a gor-ge with intriguing human- and animal-shaped rocks. The lake is crossedover by the longest highway bridge inthe Balkans (1,372 meters). Other op-tions in the area include touring thelakeside, water-skiing and visiting thepretty, leafy little town of Velvento -famed for its fruit orchards and as thebirthplace of Giorgos Zorbas, whoprovided inspiration for Nikos Kazan-tzakis’s “Zorba the Greek” -and thewaterfalls at Skepasto.

Saffron

Greek red saffron, which is grownin a number of villages around Koza-ni, is considered the best in the world.Saffron is the most expensive spice,one that gives particular flavor andcolor to various dishes, beveragesand cheeses. It comprises the driedstigmas of the Crocus sativus flower.One kilo of saffron includes about150,000 stigmas. A local cooperativehas exclusive rights to collecting andselling the product. Annual productionvaries between 6 and 8 tons.

21 3 4 5

KozaniAlthough blighted by a large electricity plant, this prosperous district has preserved much of its impressive architecture and traditions

A powerful attraction

The Greek Australian VEMATO BHMA18/36 MARCH 2010

Arts, Food & WineLet the author beware

Editor: Imogen Coward

By Dr Ann Coward

If the talk-jocks and media personalities are to be be-lieved, ebooks are the next ‘big thing’ in Australia. Ebooks,which can be downloaded at the click of a button andviewed on dedicated gadgets such as Kindle or the iPadfor less than the printed, bound version, may be attractiveto consumers; especially for reading journals, newspa-pers and other time-sensitive, frequently updated content.The advent of ebooks has meant that many publishershave had to move quickly, producing a sizeable quantity ofebooks to ensure their continuing viability in this rapidlychanging environment. The traditional relationship be-tween author and publisher is also challenged by theebook. With computers and the internet making self-pub-lishing easier than ever (especially if you are publishingan ebook) authors are having to take another look at theirrole in the publishing industry and their changing relation-ship with publishers.

In 2001 Random House in the USA sued Rossetta Booksfor publishing some of its books as ebooks. The electron-ic rights, which had not been covered in the authors’ con-tracts with the print publisher, were sold directly to Ros-setta by the authors. Part of the issue involved the idea ofa book’s ‘content’ and part of it involved the reference incontracts to ‘other editions’. The legal battles make for in-teresting reading if you have the time, and the solutionsdemonstrate clearly that big business is in the business ofmaking money.

One site dedicated to the community intent on the distri-bution and continuation of free and open source software(among other things) points out in one of its articles on thebattle over Google’s ebook publishing rights, that whenlitigants are those in control of electronic media, it is pos-sible that vital information will not be transmitted to the

public via the ‘airwaves’ they control. One thing is certain:there’s a lot of wool being pulled over authors’ eyes by allsorts of people and companies in an attempt to rob themof their royalties.

In order to limit legal tussles, many of the larger, tradi-tional print publishers now try to cover all possibilities byincluding in their contracts words something along thelines of publishing by “all communication means knownnow and to be developed in the future”. The Arts Law Cen-tre warned music composers and singers/performersagainst signing contracts like these at the beginning of thedigital revolution, but of course, people are eager to getthere work ‘out there’ and artists get caught up in all thehoopla and enthusiasm, often generated by those trying toget their hands on the creator’s ‘product’.

At the present time one major Australian publisher stip-ulates that electronic rights are covered in their contractswith authors. As already mentioned above, Random Housein America earlier tried to convince authors that electronicrights had been covered in previous older contracts underthe reference to granting rights to all editions. This wasdisputed by the American Authors Guild. At the time, Ran-dom House was willing to pay 5% royalties for ebooks,which is very much on the low side in today’s standardsconsidering that there are very few costs associated withpublishing an ebook, in contrast to printed bound books.At present, a major Australian publisher offers a maxi-mum of 20% ebook royalties, while Amazon recently an-nounced it will offer a 70% royalty.

But where does this leave the ordinary garden varietyauthor? Wary, hopefully. For example, major publishers inAustralia now want authors to refer to their books as‘work’ in contracts, because this refers to the content,rather than use the word ‘book’ so that they , the publish-ers, cover themselves as newer and cheaper technologi-cal advances in publishing become available to them.Cheaper is not necessarily a bad thing. Neither is makinga profit bad in itself. Not passing on any savings to au-thors (by increasing their royalties) or to consumers(through lower prices) is a bad thing, though. At the sametime, we need to keep in mind that not all publishers arejust in the business of making money. Many specialistpublishers, for example, are quite aware of, and devotedto their authors and readers and take their responsibilitiesas publishers to heart.

If you have a book you want published, the wisest stepis, firstly, to become a member of an organisation such asthe Australian Society of Authors, which provides relative-ly inexpensive legal advice for its members on publishingcontracts. It is a society dedicated to Australian authorsand their interests, and a quick look at their list of mem-bers reveals that ‘anyone who is anyone’ in the Australianliterary scene belongs to the society. There is also TheArts Law Centre of Australia. Navigating your way aroundthe legal contracts is a minefield, so many (but not all) au-thors choose to get an agent, although this is not a simplematter.

There are very few literary agents in Australia and youvirtually need to audition to be accepted by one. They thentake 20 - 25% of your earnings from any book of yoursthey represented for the entire time that book earns youroyalties. You don’t need a literary agent to have a manu-script looked at by an Australian publisher, or by most UKpublishers. However, in the USA publishers will only ac-cept manuscripts from agents (and the same applies tofilm scripts).

How important are ebooks to the future of publishing?The answer is quite simple: no-one really knows, althoughthe increased availability in ebook readers should mean,at least for a while, the ebook will be fashionable. Printingon demand at a booth set up in a bookstore may not be abad idea if the physical quality of the book is unimportantto the customer. Frequent flyers, that is, travelling busi-nessmen or women, could well do with a Kindle or andiPad to keep up-to-date with journals or newspapers, butwhether or not ebooks spell the death of traditional printis doubtful, especially as the cost per ebook increases, asit no doubt will.

Computers, supposedly signally the beginning of thepaperless office, have not lived up to this forecast, withsales of printing inks and paper increasing steadily.Books, however, are another matter as, unlike newspa-pers, which in the industry are referred to as “today’snews, tomorrow’s fish and chip wrappers”, can give greatcomfort on a physical level to those who treasure theircontents. Browsing through a library or a bookstore is tru-ly a treat for bibliophiles; being glued to an electronicslate somehow just doesn’t have the same appeal. Onething that is certain, however, is that when it comes topublishing, the times are ‘a-changing’.

To find out more about legal stoushes between tradi-tional and electronic publishers you could begin with thefollowing website, http://news.cnet.com/Random-House-sues-e-book-company-overcopyrights/2100-1023_3-253287.html

For discussion on ebook royalties go to, http://www.thestandard.com/news/2010/01/21/amazon-boosts-e-book-royalties-ahead-apples-tablet

or, check out the issue from both the publishers’ view-point (noting that traditional publishers tend to accentuatethe small profit margin associated with printed books) orfrom authors’ points of view. You could begin with, http://tworavenspress.wordpress.com/2010/01/08/the-thorny-issue-of-e-book-royalties/ and, http:// book-square.com/random-house-resets-ebook-royalties-misses-the-point/

For information about legal issues on free and opensource software go to, http://www.groklaw.net/index.php

The website for the Australian Society of Authors is,http://asauthors.org

The Arts Law Centre for Australia may be found at,http://www.artslaw.com.au/

Écoutez!Arts Review

Tamburlaine Verdelho 2008The past few years have seen a significant shift in

Australian consumers’ attitudes about where and howtheir food is produced. The advent of genetically modi-fied food (GMOs) and a greater awareness of the eco-logical impact of high intensity farming and the use ofsynthetic fertilisers, pesticides and herbicides beencountered with a growing interest in certified organicfood. Indeed, organic produce certified by our mainAustralian organic bodies such as BFA, ACO and NASAA,has grown from a niche market to become prominentin mainstream green grocers, butcher shops and su-permarkets. Now certified organic wines are also join-ing the ranks. Produced in the Hunter Valley, and certi-fied organic (processor) by ACO, Tamburlaine 2008

Verdelho displays veryfruity, sweet aromas.The flavours are of ripefruit with hints of limeyzest and star fruit, butthe finish is quite dry(more so than thearomas lead you tobelieve). The finishis smooth but couldhave a little moreacidic bite and lift.Best consumedlightly chilled.

Cost: under $20

FFoooodd && WWiinnee

Catherine the Greatby Virginia Rounding

(published by St Martin’s Griffin, New York, 2006)

Empress Catherine IIof Russia, better knownto us as Catherine theGreat, is surely one ofthe most intriguing fig-ures in history. Round-ing’s carefully docu-mented research andeasy writing style ma-kes this book a veryreadable introduction tothe history of Catherinethe Great’s rise to pow-er. From her betrothalto Grand Duke Peter(later Peter III), to seiz-ing power to becomeempress and sole ruler her own right, the mixture ofhistorical biography and extracts from personal let-ters, depict Catherine as a determined and capableperson who firmly believed in her own destiny andcalling to rule Russia, letting nothing and no-one standin her way. The reader is presented with insights intothe woman - daughter, wife, mother and grandmoth-er - and the empress, and the many political and per-sonal intrigues that surrounded her life. Rounding’sepilogue charts the fate of the imperial dynasty afterCatherine, contrasting the political and cultural flour-ishing of Russia that occurred during her long reign, tothe fate of Russia and future tsars up to Nicholas II.

I.C.

The Greek Australian VEMA TO BHMA 19/37MARCH 2010

The 2010 Sydney Royal Easter Show is scheduled to takeplace at Sydney Showground from April 1 to 14.

Held by the Royal Agricultural Society of New SouthWales each year at Easter time, the Sydney Royal Easter

Show is more than a farm fair. The Royal Easter Show is anational icon that celebrates all things Australian from thebush to the latest entertainment.

Certainly it has massive displays of Australian farm pro-

duce and the biggest and best of them, and they are verymuch a sight to behold.

But, more than this, the Sydney Royal Easter Show is anannual extravaganza including some of the latest andmost heart-stopping carnival rides, rodeo events, motor-cycle and skateboarding stunts, livestock races, wood-chopping competitions, diving (if not flying) pigs, a varietyof parades, fashion shows, food stalls of various kinds,and a showcase of new and popular products.

Returning to Australian shores for the very first time inover a decade, all the way from the USA especially for thisyear, Show goers will be able to exclusively experienceRobosaurus, the largest robot of this kind ever construct-ed. This Jurassic heavyweight will be unleashed as thestar attraction of the 2010 Sydney Royal Easter Show.

Robosaurus rips and roars his way into the2010 Sydney Royal Easter Show

This is larger than life entertainment and Robosaurusonly appearance in this country. “Simply put, there is noth-ing else like him in the world,” said by the General Man-ager of the Sydney Royal Easter Show Mr Michael Collins.

Robosaurus will headline the entertainment action in theMain Arena twice a day throughout the Show, roasting andfeasting on cars at 12.20pm and 8.10pm

How do you get to the Royal Easter Show? All tickets to the Sydney Royal Easter Show include pub-

lic transport. The ShowLink tickets include entry to the show and trav-

el on all CityRail trains, Sydney Olympic Park major eventbuses, “blue and white” Sydney buses, and Sydney ferries.(Premium bus and ferry services and travel on privatebuses are not included in the ShowLink ticket.)

ShowLink tickets can be bought at most CityRail ticket of-fices, CityRail ticket vending machines, and on board Syd-ney Olympic Park major event buses.

Special Theme Days and Promotion:u Opening Day Ceremony - 1st Aprilu Opening Day Carnival Offer - 1st April (unlimited

rides for $30 from 10am to 2pmu School Day 1st Aprilu Seniors Days - 6th - 7th Aprilu Excellence in Agriculture Day - 8th Aprilu Scouts Day - 14 Aprilu NRL Day - 14th Aprilu Kids Day - 14th April. $11.00 entry for kids.

Sydney Royal Easter Show fast facts:Show dates Thursday 1 April - Wednesday 14 April,

2010.Buy your tickets and plan your day at www.easter-

show.comShowLink ticket prices: Adult $33.00, Concession $26.00,

Child $22.00 Pre-purchase a family ticket online and saveup to 15%. If you can’t find what you are looking for on thewebsite, please call one of the following numbers:

All Easter Show ticketing enquiries 1300 730 631.General customer enquiries ring our recorded informa-

tion line on: 02 9704 1000

September 2010 Wednesday

Evenings242 Cleveland Street, Redfern, in the Main Hall

For enquiries, please contact the Registrar at (02) 9549 3100 or registrar@sagotc.edu.au

On site parking is limited. Please, consider alternatives

St Andrew’s Patristic Symposium 2010

St Gregory the Theologian or The Poetry of Theology

Inaugural address by His Eminence Archbishop Stylianos, Dean of the College. The proceedings of the 2009 St Andrew’s Patristic Symposium will be launched. A series of scholarly papers, exploring the legacy of St Gregory the Theologian

Throughout the month of September, St Andrew’s Greek Orthodox Theological College invites you to a celebration for the heart and mind

THE 2010 SYDNEY ROYAL EASTER SHOW

Let the fun begin...

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The Greek Australian VEMATO BHMA20/38 MARCH 2010

Bank of Cyprus Australia, supporting Australian PeacekeepingThe Bank of Cyprus Australia recently presented a

$5000 cheque to the Australian Peacekeeping MemorialProject (APMP) to assist in the building of a $3.5 million na-tional memorial in Canberra.

The Memorial is being created to appropriately honourthe sacrifice of Australian Peacekeepers in the service ofinternational peace and security, and recognise the coura-ge and professionalism of Australian Peacekeepers in theface of the particular challenges of their operations.

The presentation occurred at one of the Bank of CyprusAustralia’s branches in Sydney where Mr George Tacticos,Managing Director of the Bank of Cyprus Australia handeda $5000 cheque to Major General (Retired) Tim Ford, AO,Chairman of the Australian Peacekeeping Memorial Pro-ject Committee.

“All Australian Peacekeepers, military, civilian and police,past and present, will be delighted that the Bank of Cyprushas made this significant donation to the Australian Peace-keeping Memorial Project. The Bank of Cyprus is nowawarded the status of being an APMP “Friend of Peace-keeping ”, said General Ford.

While discussing the progress of the project Mr Tacticostold attendees he hoped more Corporations and individu-als pledged their support to this important national project.

“Bank of Cyprus Australia fully supports this project, themessage it conveys and the values it aims to pass on tofuture generations”, said Mr Tacticos

Attending the presentation was His Excellency Mr Yian-nis Iacovou, Cyprus High Commissioner, Mr Christodoulou,President of the Cyprus Community of New South Walesand Inspector (Retired) Denis Percy, Member of the Aus-tralian Peacekeeping Memorial Project Committee and Na-tional President of the United Nations Police Association ofAustralia (UNPAA). The winning design concept for thePeacekeeping Memorial features two large stone mono-

liths with backlit stone on their inner sides allowing thepassage between them to glow with light.

The Memorial will be located at the southern end of AN-ZAC Parade in Canberra and is planned to be dedicated

on Australian Peacekeepers and Peacemakers Day (Sep-tember 14) in 2012.

For more information on the APMP or to make a dona-tion visit www.peacekeepingmemorial.org.au

Caption (L to R) Bank of Cyprus Australia Managing Director Mr George Tacticos, Mr Yiannis Iacovou, Cyprus HighCommissioner, Mjr General Tim Ford, APMP Chairman, Mr Dennis Percy, UNPAA Representative and Maroubra’s Senior

Relationship Manager at Bank of Cyprus Australia Mr Con Pavlou