Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Terens Quick attended the events organised by the Greek Community in celebration of Greece’s National Independence Day in Adelaide and Melbourne on the weekend of 24-25 March.
In Adelaide, the Deputy Minister attended the Doxology at the Parish of Prophet Elias, officiated by Bishop Nikandros of Dorileou, and laid a wreath at the memorial to the Australian fallen soldiers. The ceremony was also attended by the Governor and Premier of South Australia. Furthermore, along with Cyprus’ Presidential Commissioner for Diaspora issues, Photis Photiou, they took part in the commemorative events organised by the Greek Orthodox Community.
“We trust the judgement of the governments of Greece and Cyprus when it comes to the decisions they make on national issues. And you, the representatives of our two homelands, shall come here with your head held high and you will always be welcome,” stressed the President and the Secretary General of the Greek Community, Vassilis Gonis and Panagiotis Pyros, during their speeches.
In Melbourne, at the yearly event for Greece’s National Independence Day, organised by the Consulate General of Greece, Mr Quick read the message the President of the Republic, Mr Prokopis Pavlopoulos, addressed to the Greeks abroad, and later announced the following: “As of 1 August, the Work and Holiday Visa Programme is being implemented. Every year, this program will enable 500 young people from both countries to visit each other’s country, with the right to go on holiday for 12 months, as well as the opportunity to work at the same time. It was a painstaking process, with many technical details to work out along the way. It was finally ratified by the Greek Parliament and sealed by the competent Australian Minister, Mr David Coleman.”
Mr Quick also announced that, as of this summer, the Greek Secretariat for Greeks Abroad will re-start the holiday-in-Greece support programme for children between the ages of 8 and 14 from the Greek Australian Community. Twenty children, five from each city – Melbourne, Sidney, Adelaide, Perth – will take part in the programme.
Perth was also the first brief stop of the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs during his visit to Australia. There, he met with representatives of Diaspora organisations and attended a working dinner with prominent Greek-Australian entrepreneurs.
He also had a meeting with the Minister for Emergency Services, Francis Logan, who proposed the inclusion of Greece in the training programme for personnel and agencies concerned, mainly in cases of fires and floods.
Mr Quick’s visit to Australia is also related to the “NOSTOS III” Programme, which is being held in Melbourne, in the presence of his counterparts, Mr Photiou from Cyprus, and the Egyptian Minister of Immigration and Expatriate Affairs, Nabila Makram.
Finally, Mr Quick contacted the acting Protosyncellus of the Holy Archdiocese of Australia, Bishop Seraphim of Apollonias, to express his deep condolences for the passing of Archbishop and Exarch of Oceania, Stylianos, on 25 March.