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Australia’s cultural diversity is good for business and economic growth.

The Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Social Services, Senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, says Australia’s cultural diversity is good for business.

Speaking at the Ethnic Communities Council (ECC) of NSW’s 40th anniversary dinner last week, Senator Fierravanti-Wells said in an increasingly globalised economy, diversity was an advantage.

“Our diversity means Australia can be more productive, invent new ways of doing business with the world, create new opportunities and boost our trade and investment enterprises,” she said.

“It means we can confidently shake hands with far more of the world and its peoples.

“Migration can, and has, delivered social and economic strength, prosperity and unity and continues to contribute to a thriving and cohesive economy.

Senator Fierravanti-Wells – who has special responsibility for Multicultural Affairs and Settlement Services – said Australia’s successful social cohesiveness did not happen by chance.

“It is a big task but Government cannot do it alone and nor can civil society,” she said.

“We need well connected, expert partners in the community such as the Ethnic Communities Council of NSW.”

The senator said that more than 7.5 million migrants have arrived in Australia since the end of WWII, including some 800,000 under humanitarian programs, and that “helping them settle into their new country requires the active support from all Australians.”

Speaking of the ECC, she said the organisation had played a part in “steadfastly building up our national competitive advantage. This national effort helps bring us closer together.”

source:Neos Kosmos

Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders have agreed to open more crossing points and link the mobile phone and electricity networks.

The Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders agreed Thursday to open more crossing points and link the mobile phone and electricity networks to help restore trust between their estranged communities on divided Cyprus.

Practical steps such as integrating the electricity grid and linking the mobile phone networks are seen as non-sensitive issues that would bring Cypriots closer under a renewed climate of reconciliation.

Telephone calls across the UN-monitored ceasefire line are currently rerouted through Turkey, while an integrated power grid would allow one side to help the other in case of a power outage.

The two leaders also agreed to open two more crossings to promote people movement, at Lefka in the west of the island and Dherynia in the east.

The first crossing points opened in 2003 and have since been increased, but the last of now seven crossings was opened nearly five years ago.

UN special envoy Espen Barth Eide hosted Thursday’s second meeting between President Nicos Anastasiades, the Greek Cypriot leader, and his Turkish Cypriot counterpart, the newly-elected Mustafa Akinci.

“Mr Akinci and Mr Anastasiades underlined once again their shared will and determination to reach a comprehensive settlement,” Eide said in a statement.

“The two leaders believe that outcomes at the negotiating table should reflect the positive atmosphere prevailing on the island,” he added.

Long-stalled UN-brokered peace talks — seen as the best chance in years to reunify Cyprus after four decades of division — were launched on May 15.

There is optimism that for the first time in a decade that the two leaders can enter an intensified and results-orientated process.

Thursday’s meeting, held at the UN compound at defunct Nicosia airport in the capital’s buffer zone, “took the next steps towards fulfilling their joint vision for a united federal Cyprus”, Eide said.

“Their constructive dialogue included a range of core issues that go to the very heart of the Cyprus question.”

The leaders, who will next meet on June 17, appealed for people to come forward with any information on hundreds of Cypriots declared missing since 1964 inter-communal clashes and the 1974 Turkish invasion.

Akinci, a longtime champion of reunification, was elected president of the breakaway state in northern Cyprus on April 26, defeating nationalist incumbent Dervis Eroglu.

The conservative Greek Cypriot leader also has peace credentials, having supported a 2004 UN settlement blueprint that 75 percent of Greek Cypriots rejected in a referendum.

Little progress has been made over the past 11 years, with the thorny issues of territorial adjustments, security, property rights and power-sharing the main stumbling blocks.

Any UN-brokered accord will again have to be put to the Cypriot people in separate referendums.

A UN-monitored ceasefire line has divided the island since 1974 when Turkish troops occupied its northern third in response to an Athens-inspired coup seeking union with Greece.

The Turkish Cypriots, who had already pulled out of government institutions in the face of communal violence in 1963, declared their breakaway state in 1983.

The breakaway state is recognized only by Turkey, which provides around a third of its budget.

Source: AFP

Minister for Social Services, Scott Morrison holding a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra about Abbott Government measures to encourage young people into work. Source: News Corp Australia

THE Government today conceded defeat on a much-criticised 2014 Budget measure and dumped a requirement that the jobless aged under 30 wait six months before getting the dole.

Instead, those aged under 25 will have to wait four weeks before qualifying for unemployment benefits, and a number of exemptions will be available.

Social Minister Scott Morrison has had to face the reality he could not negotiate through the Senate the dole delay announced in last year’s Budget.

“We listened hard, and what they said to us was that six months was too long. What they said to us was that (age) 30 was too high. What they said to us was you needed to invest more to get people into work,” said Mr Morrison.

“That’s what this (new) bill does.”

But he warned the young unemployed the new range of assistance intended to get them employable could be abused.

“This document is not an Ikea catalogue to go shopping for benefits. What this is a schedule of benefits and payments that are there a to help people in need,” he said.

The change means that projected savings of $1.8 billion from paying fewer benefits will be cut to $200 million. But the new package comes with a $300 program to prepare young people for work.

Mr Morrison told reporters in Canberra “choosing welfare is not the career we want for” young people.

“We are talking about job-ready young people who we want to see having a go at getting into work,” he said.

“We want to send a very clear message that we want you in work when you are job ready, that you don’t have the option of walking from the school gate to the front door of the Centrelink office.”

The exemption categories include former carers of people with disabilities; those recently released from prison or psychiatric facilities; young people unable to live at home; refugees.

source:news.com.au

Νέο ρεκόρ Γκίνες κατάφερε να κατακτήσει ο 55χρονος Γκάο Μπινγκούο από την Κίνα, αφού κάλυψε το σώμα του με ένα εκατομμύριο μέλισσες και δέχθηκε 2.000 τσιμπήματα.

Πριν το εγχείρημα, ο 55χρονος έκανε ένα μπάνιο γιατί οι μέλισσες συνηθίζουν να τσιμπούν το ανθρώπινο σώμα όταν αυτό μυρίζει έντονα.

Ένας τεράστιος αριθμός από μέλισσες βασίλισσες έπεσαν πάνω στο σώμα του από τα κουτιά όπου φυλάσσονταν, προσελκύοντας και τις εργάτριες μέλισσες. Η θερμοκρασία του σώματός του Gao Bingguo ξεπέρασε τους 60 βαθμούς Κελσίου.

Ο 55χρονος καθ’όλη τη διάρκεια του εγχειρήματός του κάπνιζε για να εμποδίσει τις μέλισσες να τον τσιμπήσουν στο στόμα.

Πηγή:in.gr

Opposition parties urged Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Wednesday to seal an agreement with Greece’s lenders as soon as possible but also to inform them of what it plans to agree to.

“What fiscal measures are on the table, how large will they be and who will end up getting the bill?” said To Potami in a statement demanding answers from the government. “Are we talking about completing the review of the current program or an agreement covering the next few years?”

PASOK also chided Tsipras for failing to inform Parliament about the content of discussions with the institutions.

“Even now, the government is referring to a long-term deal with debt relief and a growth package,” said the Socialists. “This sounds like a third bailout but the government does not bother informing anyone about the length, funding, macroeconomic framework and terms of this agreement.”

New Democracy continues to be divided over how it should approach any agreement brought back to Athens. Party leader Antonis Samaras is not certain the conservatives should vote for the deal but several key officials, including ex-Development Minister Costis Hatzidakis, are adamant this is the only option. “We have to understand, the government included, that we cannot gamble the country’s future,” he said. “We all have to be aware of our national responsibilities.”

source:ekathimerini.com

Leader of the Albanian Socialist Party Edi Rama speaks during a news conference after the elections, in Tirana June 25, 2013. REUTERS/Arben Celi

Relations between Albania and Greece took another turn for the worse on Wednesday after the neighboring country’s Prime Minister Edi Rama called on Athens to renegotiate its maritime borders with Tirana.

“We are not prepared to negotiate away the national interest in the name of good neighborly relations,” said Rama. “We have not pledged to keep our eyes shut when a problem, which we have not created or sustained, presents itself.”

Rama’s comments are the latest incident in an apparent escalation of friction between Albania and Greece. It comes less than three weeks after the Albanian Foreign Ministry issued a formal warning to Greece’s ambassador in Tirana, Leonidas Rokanas, regarding Greece’s plans to search for hydrocarbon reserves in the Ionian Sea. Tirana claims that the area covered by the research includes parts of Albania’s continental shelf.

Rama’s comments on Wednesday prompted an immediate repost from Athens. “The political leadership of our friendly neighboring country is lapsing, in word and deed, every day,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Constantinos Koutras. “A return to the logic of, and to respect for, legality and international law is the surest path for Albania’s European perspective. No further comment.”

There has been a long-running dispute between the two countries regarding continental shelf rights. The two countries signed an agreement in 2009 creating an exclusive economic zone but also settling maritime borders and delineating the continental shelf. However, Albania’s Constitutional Court annulled the deal following action by then-opposition leader Rama, who was elected prime minister in September 2013.

source:ekathimerini.com

Greek PM Alexis Tsipras talking to the press after meeting with Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis in Athens on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said Wednesday that a deal with creditors was “close” and government officials said an agreement was being drafted but representatives of the country’s creditors made it quite clear that they do not share such optimism.

In comments after a meeting at the Finance Ministry, Tsipras said a deal with creditors was “close” and that “very soon we will be able to present more details.” He stressed the need for “calm and determination,” noting that Greece would come under additional pressure in the final stretch of negotiations. He also referred to “conflicting views between institutions” and to “countries with different approaches.” Tsipras added that there is “absolutely no risk to salaries and pensions, nor to bank deposits.”

According to sources, Tsipras was advised to make the statement by aides fearing that jitters were creeping back into the markets and could prompt a new wave of deposit outflows. Tsipras chose to make the statement flanked by Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis to underline the government’s backing for the latter, who has come under fire over his confusing statements about the content of a potential deal.

Earlier in the day, the European Central Bank decided not to raise the ceiling on emergency liquidity to Greece. A Greek government official commented that the Bank of Greece had not requested an increase to emergency liquidity as the current ceiling of 80.2 billion euros is regarded as adequate “following a stabilization of deposit outflows.”

In an interview with Die Zeit on Wednesday, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said it was down to Greece to decide on whether to introduce capital controls. He defended the decision by Greece’s creditors to link loans to further reforms, despite the country’s tightening liquidity problems. “That is the philosophy of the rescue program. The new government is saying: we want to keep the euro but we don’t want the program any more. That doesn’t fit together,” he said.

Earlier, on a stopover in London on his way to a meeting of Group of Seven finance ministers in Dresden, US Treasury Secretary Jack Lew called on Greece’s creditors “show enough flexibility so if the Greeks are prepared to take the kind of steps they need to take, they find a pathway to resolving this without there being an unnecessary crisis.”

But Greece’s creditors appeared not to have changed their position, and a series of officials appeared surprised at claims in Athens that a deal was in the cards.

In an interview with ARD television, Schaeuble said he was “surprised about what is said in Athens all the time, namely that we were very close to an agreement.”

“We do not yet have the catalyst that will allow an agreement,” an ECB official told Kathimerini. Sources in Brussels said they had received no new proposal from Athens since Saturday, when officials had noted progress in talks on value-added tax reform and pensions, with labor reforms and fiscal issues still pending.

But in Athens, a government official said a deal was was already being drafted. The agreement was said to foresee low primary surpluses; non-recessionary measures; the reform of VAT rates (though no scenario for 1.8 billion euros in measures); a long-term solution with debt relief; and some restrictions on early retirements. The official pointed to differences between Greece’s creditors and lashed out at the International Monetary Fund, noting that, “if the IMF’s consent was not required, a deal would have been reached by now.”

source:ekathimerini.com

Mike Sweet with interviewee Antonis Zaharioudakis in Crete. As a child, Zaharioudakis helped Anzac soldiers in the Zaros region. Photo: Costas Mamalakis.

Radio National honours bonds forged in war

The ABC has commissioned Neos Kosmos journalist Mike Sweet to produce a radio documentary telling the story of how two Anzac soldiers were protected by the Cretan people during WWII.

The program will use exclusive research undertaken recently by Sweet in Crete – following the trail of Australian and Kiwi troops who went on the run in June 1941. The documentary will be broadcast as part of Radio National’s newly-created Earshot series.

Sweet has been visiting Crete regularly since 2010, carrying out research into a film on Captain Reg Saunders (the first Aboriginal man to be made an officer in the Australian army) and his time on the island in 1941 and 1942.

Sweet says the ABC’s interest was driven by the profound nature of the Anzac experience on Crete.

“The second Anzacs – a generation after those who fought at Gallipoli – fought in Greece, and as that doomed campaign came to its conclusion, they were looked after with such care and heroism by the Cretan people.

“I am making this program to reveal more about that remarkable example of kinship.”
Hundreds of Allied troops who evaded capture on the island after the Allied surrender found refuge in the mountains and were protected by villagers who risked their lives for the soldiers.

In the past six months Sweet has travelled to Crete twice to carry out research for the production and record interviews.

“I go on a journey of discovery, starting in the village of Chora Sfakia, and ending up on one the secret evacuation beaches in the Heraklion province, so it’s quite an odyssey,” he told Neos Kosmos.

“I need to thank the many people who’ve assisted me in researching this subject in Crete – the Pancretan Association of Melbourne, GOCMV, the Kytherian Association of Australia and the Nicholas Aroney Trust, as well as the generous support of Aegean Airlines and some key individuals.

“Without their help it would have been impossible to realise this production.”

The ABC’s Lyn Gallagher – supervising producer on the production – said that what drew her to the story was the generosity of the Cretan people.

“Even when their lives were under threat they kept their guests safe. As Mike follows in the footsteps of these two Anzacs, we get a real sense of the danger they faced and how the protection they were offered cost their hosts so dearly.

“Mike’s passionate about telling this story and it will be a great show.”

The radio program is currently being edited in ABC’s Southbank studios and is set to be broadcast later this year.

source:Neos Kosmos

«Το συνδικάτα κάνουν πραγματικά καλή δουλειά για τους εργαζόμενους» είπε στους συνέδρους ο κ. Shorten

Στο πλευρό του o Bill Shorten

Σήμερα Πέμπτη ολοκληρώνεται το τακτικό συνέδριο του ACTU, της ομοσπονδίας των συνδικάτων των εργαζομένων της χώρας. Χθες, στο αποκορύφωμα του Συνεδρίου, ο ομοσπονδιακός αρχηγός του Εργατικού Κόμματος, Bill Shorten, δήλωσε ότι το συνδικαλιστικό κίνημα θα πρέπει να είναι περήφανο για την ιστορία του και την στήριξη των εργαζομένων.

«Το συνδικάτα κάνουν πραγματικά καλή δουλειά για τους εργαζόμενους» είπε στους συνέδρους ο κ. Shorten και συμπλήρωσε λέγοντας ότι πιστεύει στη δίκαιη κατανομή του εθνικού εισοδήματος.

Στο Συνέδριο μίλησε και η «Αυστραλή της Χρονιάς» και αγωνίστρια κατά της ενδοοικογενειακής βίας, Rosie Batty, η οποία ζήτησε να υπάρξει πρωτοβουλία από το ACTU για πρόταση να δίνονται από τους εργοδότες άδειες μετ ‘αποδοχών στα θύματα ενδοοικογενειακής βίας. Για το θέμα, το ACTU έχει καταθέσει πρόταση να χορηγείται αμειβόμενη άδεια 10 ημερών.

Αργότερα, η κ. Batty είπε ότι θα ήταν πολύ πιο ακριβό για τους εργοδότες να απολύσουν έναν εργαζόμενο, αντί να τον υποστηρίζουν σε μια δύσκολη στιγμή. Παραδέχτηκε ότι αρκετοί εργαζόμενοι με προβλήματα στο σπίτι είναι απρόθυμοι να συνομιλούν με το αφεντικό τους.

Το Συνέδριο αναμένεται να ολοκληρωθεί με ψήφισμα που θα αφορά την κατάσταση στην αγορά εργασίας, τη βελτίωση των μισθών, των συνθηκών και του βιοτικού επιπέδου για τους Αυστραλούς εργαζόμενους και τις οικογένειές τους.

Επίσης, σήμερα, το Συνέδριο θα εκλέξει την ηγεσία του ACTU.

Πηγή:Νέος Κόσμος

Η μέση τιμή καφέ στην Μελβούρνη είναι $3,95 – πολύ περισσότερο από τα $1,94 που κοστίζει ένας καπουτσίνο στην Ρώμη.

Στις ακριβότερες πόλεις του κόσμου η πρωτεύουσα της Βικτώριας, πίσω όμως από άλλες πόλεις της Αυστραλίας.

Μπορεί να περιλαμβάνεται κάθε χρόνο στη λίστα με τις πόλεις που παρέχουν το καλύτερο βιωτικό επίπεδο, ωστόσο η Μελβούρνη είναι ταυτόχρονα και μία από τις ακριβότερες. Σε αυτό το συμπέρασμα κατέληξε έρευνα του ιστότοπου Expatistan.com, ο οποίος κάνει συστηματικά συγκρίσεις στο κόστος ζωής των πόλεων του κόσμου.

Πραγματοποιώντας έρευνα στις τιμές 1939 πόλεων του κόσμου, βάσει πληροφοριών που παρείχαν 327 χιλιάδες επισκέπτες της ιστοσελίδας, οι υπεύθυνοι του site ανακοίνωσαν την κατάταξη των ακριβότερων πόλεων του κόσμου. Στην κορυφή της λίστας βρίσκονται η Ζυρίχη, η Γενεύη, το Λονδίνο, το Σαν Φρανσίσκο και η Ουάσινγκτον.

Η Μελβούρνη βρίσκεται στην 16η θέση, πάνω από το Παρίσι, το Λος Άντζελες, την Ρώμη και την Βαρκελώνη. Δεν είναι η μοναδική Αυστραλιανή πόλη στην λίστα: πιο ακριβές από την πρωτεύουσα της Βικτώριας είναι το Περθ, το Σίδνεϊ και το Μπρίσμπαν, που καταλαμβάνουν αντιστοίχως την δέκατη, την δωδέκατη και την 14η θέση, ενώ στην 26η βρίσκεται η Αδελαΐδα.

Δύο είναι οι παράγοντες που ανεβάζουν το κόστος ζωής στην Μελβούρνη, σύμφωνα με την ιστοσελίδα: το βασικό είναι οι τιμές των ακινήτων. Υπολογίζεται ότι η μέση τιμή ενοικίασης ενός επιπλωμένου σπιτιού 85 τ.μ. στο κέντρο της πόλης ανέρχεται στα $2766 τον μήνα, έναντι $1838 που κοστίζει αντίστοιχο ακίνητο στην Βαρκελώνη, αλλά πολύ πίσω από τα $4820 που χρειάζεται κανείς στο Λονδίνο.

Ο άλλος παράγοντας είναι το κόστος ψυχαγωγίας. Είναι χαρακτηριστικό πως η μέση τιμή δύο εισιτηρίων κινηματογράφου στην Μελβούρνη ανέρχεται σε $38. Τα αντίστοιχα ποσά για την Ρώμη είναι $24, για το Παρίσι $29 και για το Λος Άντζελες $31. Η Μελβούρνη εξάλλου είναι η τρίτη ακριβότερη πόλη για τους καπνιστές, με το κόστος του πακέτου να ανέρχεται σε $22,31. Πρώτη στην σχετική κατάταξη είναι το Περθ, ενώ και οι υπόλοιπες απαγορευτικές για τους καπνιστές πόλεις βρίσκονται όλες στην Αυστραλία.

Εκεί που φαίνεται να υπερτερεί η Μελβούρνη, έναντι των άλλων πόλεων είναι στο κόστος των καυσίμων, που ανέρχονται σε $1,38 το λίτρο, 75% λιγότερο από τα $2,43 που είναι το αντίστοιχο κόστος στο Λονδίνο.

Πηγή:Νέος Κόσμος