Daily Archives: November 18, 2014

8,000 Greeks have arrived in Victoria since the outbreak of the economic crisis.

More than 8,000 Greeks have returned or migrated permanently to Victoria since 2010, as Greece has been in the grip of an unprecedented economic crisis.

The promising ‘Lucky Country” is here to welcome their dreams and meet their expectations. Only after they set foot into Australian reality do they realise they may have decided to set sail in a sea of loneliness and frustration.

An eye-opening study was presented earlier this week by the executive director of the Australian Greek Welfare Society (AGWS) Voula Messimeri; ‘The Journey of New Greek Migrants in Australia: Opportunities and Challenges’. The study is based on research conducted by Dr Constantine Tsigas, and was launched at the Immigration Museum in Melbourne by the Federal Minister of Human Services Kevin Andrews.

According to research done by the Australian Greek Welfare Society, from 2010 until the end of the financial year 2012-2013, about 6,000 Greeks have arrived in the state of Victoria alone in search of a better future.

It is estimated, though, that another 2,000 Greeks have settled in Victoria over the last five years. Sixty per cent of them are Greek Australians who had previously returned to Greece with their families, yet severely stricken by the economic crisis, they were forced to repack their bags and return to Australia.

However, 40 per cent of Greeks are taking the leap of migration for the first time, looking to Australia as the Greek-friendly motherland.

Commenting on the report, AGWS CEO Ms Messimeri said “that with jobs in Greece being scarce, many people are moving in search of work opportunities to other countries, including Australia”.

The report shows that difficulties arise across a range of areas during the pre-migration planning and preparation stage. It also shows that the challenges new Greek migrants face on arrival vary depending on the thoroughness of their pre-migration preparation, financial resources available, differences on visa stream, the presence of family, relatives or friends, the duration and quality of support they provide, awareness of and access to formal support services, and the capacity of those services to respond sensitively and effectively.

“The study reinforced that this group of people are mostly university educated, intellectually adept, articulate, confident and in search of opportunities to unleash their talent and drive to achieve,” Ms Messimeri said.

“They present a unique human capital for Victoria’s Australian Greek community and the general Australian community, which if harnessed appropriately will bring significant benefits to Australia.”

At the launching of the report, Alcmene Balda and Odysseas Tzibrakos recounted their experiences to the audience, underscoring the difficulties they both encountered when they arrived alone in Australia without money and connections.

Alcmene Balda stressed the struggle of young and highly-educated people from Europe and other countries to have their qualifications recognised, while Mr Tzibrakos shared his deeply touching story. He was given shelter in the monastery of Axion Esti and then managed to bring his family to Australia as well.

Even more migrants with university qualifications, especially when they have families, accept low-skilled positions, even high-risk jobs, in pursuit of employment in Australia. This fact is a growing concern, whilst Australia has become a cosmopolitan country with more guest workers than settled skilled migrants. It is no longer easy to be shortlisted for a job in one’s qualification – young migrants have a lot of competition to overcome. Young migrants and refugees face similar risks and challenges, with their vulnerability extending to both employment and accommodation.

Greek welfare services have had to adapt to the increased demand for support but many positives have come out of the newly arrived.

While Greece is going through a brain drain as the young leave the country in search of a better future, the diaspora of Australia seems to be entering a period of revival.

After settling down, the young are making positive contributions to businesses, economic growth and productivity. They are eager to share their knowledge and meet challenges in the workforce and society. The Greek Australian community has been offered the chance to polish its Hellenic cultural identity, strengthen Greek language education and help the aged care sector.

The AGWS survey was created to quantify the amount of newly arrived migrants and see where their needs lie. They hope to use the findings to seek funding from government bodies and show them if their service delivery is under-performing for this community group.

“AGWS looks forward to working closely with the state and federal governments, as well as the Australian Greek community, ensuring that the key recommendations made in this report are implemented in order to expedite the settlement of people newly arrived from Greece and Cyprus, thus enabling them to become fully engaged members of the Australian community,” Ms Messimeri says.

source: Neos Kosmos

Some 7,000 officers were dispatched to police a rally in central Athens on Monday, which went off peacefully though some scuffles were reported.

The march, marking the 41st anniversary of a bloody student uprising on November 17, 1973, against the 1967-74 military dictatorship, was attended by an estimated 20,000 protesters.

It began in downtown Athens and headed to the US Embassy, prompting police to shut down central metro stations and major roads.

There were reports of minor scuffles and some 30 protesters were taken in for questioning.

source: ekathimerini.com

Culture Ministry general secretary Lina Mendoni is seen in a file photo.

 As speculation mounts following the discovery of human remains at a huge ancient tomb at Amphipolis, northern Greece, Culture Ministry’s general secretary Lina Mendoni revealed on Monday that it could take more than eight months for experts to complete DNA tests that will yield clues about the individual’s identity.

The ministry’s general secretary told Skai TV that authorities have not yet assigned the task of conducting the tests to a specific university or other institution. Archaeologists are discussing the possibility of comparing the DNA of the remains from the tomb in Vergina of Philip II of Macedon, the father of Alexander the Great, with the remains found in Amphipolis.

Mendoni said the challenge was no easy one as the bones found at Amphipolis had been burned and the remains at Vergina were discovered more than 50 years ago, when conservation procedures were less thorough.

source: ekathimerini.com

Smartphone and tablet app Uber has arrived in Greece, allowing non-professional drivers to turn their private cars into taxis and offer transport services, despite having drawn a strong reaction from cabbies.

The ride-sharing service through Uber is likely to harm established taxi businesses as it represents a direct form of competition, especially if it comes with the high level of service it advertises, including an objective method for calculating fares and round-the-clock operation.

Uber is planning to develop three types of services in Athens: UberX, for non-professional drivers with a four-door medium-sized or large car, UberBlack, for drivers with a professional license who own a black vehicle or SUV (for more luxurious rides), and UberTaxi for cab drivers who also own a taxi.

It remains to be seen how the first category, in particular, will operate, given that Greece’s legislative framework forbids such a service by non-professional drivers. There is of course a counterargument to that: How often are professional drivers actually checked and how many illegal taxis operate in Athens?

In fact Uber intends to expand beyond the capital to major cities such as Thessaloniki and Patra, as well as to tourism destinations such Rhodes and Santorini.

source: ekathimerini.com

Senator Penny Wong has expressed Labor’s concern over the Australia-China free trade agreement. Source: News Corp Australia

AUSTRALIAN barriers to Chinese ownership of agricultural land are still too high, Labor has said, as unions warned the Free Trade Agreement could see thousands of workers imported on lower wages and conditions.

Trade Minister Andrew Robb and Chinese Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng yesterday signed a declaration of intent to implement a widely-praised agreement finalised between the two governments.

The wording of the FTA will soon be tabled in parliament and scrutinised by a parliamentary committee.

Opposition trade spokeswoman Penny Wong accused Mr Robb of “a political sop” to the Nationals by imposing a lower threshold for agricultural land purchases to be scrutinised by the Foreign Investment Review Board.

“It’s inconceivable that we can scale up our agricultural industries without foreign investment. Why is it in our interest to make it more difficult for investors to invest here?” Senator Wong told ABC Radio.

“Labor doesn’t agree with lower thresholds for agriculture. I think that is nothing more than a political sop to the National Party.”

“I would have hoped that the National Party might have focused on things like including sugar in the FTA rather than simply  putting in place what is really a political position.

“The National Party has copped this exclusion of sugar again from a trade agreement without so much of a murmur.”

Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce, the Nationals deputy leader, said: “While I am disappointed that some key commodities were excluded, this agreement represents the best outcome we could achieve at this time. Importantly, the agreement has a built-in review process so that three years after it enters into force, Australia and China will discuss further market access.

“And it isn’t an endpoint — it’s a beginning of a new relationship with China and one which we will use to continue to press for improved market access for our producers and exporters.”

Ged Kearney, president of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, criticised the government for lowering the threshold for major projects from $2 billion to $150 million.

Ms Kearney warned Australian authorities were ill-equipped to enforce pay and conditions on major Chinese projects with “possibly a thousand workers or maybe even more”.

“We don’t think that’s scaremongering; It’s actually seeing how the Chinese model works around the world,” she told ABC Radio, citing the experience of African and Pacific nations.

“The labour market testing requirements that we have now — and even under the previous government — are deeply, deeply flawed. We know that they are rorted all the time.

“We see a lot of it around. We know that there are workers who tell us they put their name down on big projects to get jobs, they don’t even get an interview, and yet the big projects can bring in temporary workers.”

Mr Robb said the labour market testing provisions were substantially unchanged from what existed under the previous Labor government.

“The trade union movement shouldn’t have been out of the blocks before they even knew the details. All they’re doing is frightening people unnecessarily,” Mr Robb said.

Ms Kearney said: “It’s very difficult not to sound xenophobic in this situation. Don’t get me wrong; there are bona fide skills shortages where they can’t get labour, the trade unions are really very supportive of skilled migration. But we have fears that they have lowered the threshold so low, the current system doesn’t work well, and this could be a real problem for Australian workers.”

source: the Australian.com.au

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten speaks during an official dinner given by Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Margie Abbott for Chinese President Xi Jinping at Parliament House. The latest Newspoll found a a jump in support for Mr Shorten, with 43 per cent of voters nominating him as preferred prime minister. Photo: Getty Images

Support for Prime Minister Tony Abbott and the Coalition has fallen, with the government’s focus on international affairs and high-level summits failing to cut through with the electorate.

Federal Labor’s two-party preferred polling is at a four-month high of 55 per cent, up one point in the past fortnight, while the Coalition is 45 per cent, down one point, according to a Newspoll published in The Australian on Tuesday.

The poll also found a a jump in support for Opposition Leader Bill Shorten, with 43 per cent of voters nominating him as preferred prime minister, up 5 points, while Mr Abbott’s support fell two points to 37 per cent.

Another federal poll, published by Roy Morgan on Monday, has Labor on 54 per cent on a two-party preferred basis, up 0.5 points in the past fortnight, while the Coalition is down by the same amount to 46 per cent.

These results contrast with the inaugural Fairfax/Ipsos Poll, published at the start of November, which showed Labor on 51 per cent on a two-party preferred basis and the Coalition on 49 per cent.

The Fairfax/Ipsos Poll more closely matched what MPs noticed after speaking to constituents in their electorates, – that terror and foreign affairs have helped drown out earlier budget anger.

In the past fortnight, Mr Abbott attended the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Beijing and hosted the G20 summit in Brisbane.

The polls were taken prior to the historic China free trade agreement being finalised and announced.

Overall, the three polls – all based on how voters directed their preferences in the 2013 federal election – show a swing against the government of at least 4.5 percentage points since the September 2013 election.

The two-party preferred polls are based on preference flow at the last election.

source:afr.com