An appeal to the Greeks of Australia to make use of the postal vote and vote in the upcoming European elections was made by the Deputy Minister of Home Affairs, Thodoris Livanios, speaking at the Greek Community of Melbourne on Thursday night.
The Greek government spokesman urged the sparse audience several times saying: “It doesn’t matter which party you vote for, as long as you vote.”
And he let it be clearly understood that the more we vote, the stronger our voice will be in Greece.
At the meeting held at the Greek Centre in Melbourne, Livanios gave a detailed briefing on the procedure by which Greek citizens residing in Australia can vote, using the postal vote, which is being done for the first time.
He explained the process of postal voting in all its stages and followed up with a robust Q&A from the attendees.
The minister was introduced to the audience by the president of the Greek Community of Melbourne, Bill Papastergiadis, who stressed the importance of the postal vote for expatriate Greeks and their connection to the motherland.
The event was also attended by the mayor of Melbourne, Sally Capp , who welcomed Livanios “to the third largest Greek city”.
Capp spoke with particular fervour about the expatriate community of Melbourne and the excellent relations between her municipality and the Greek community, while she particularly referred to the Antipodes Festival which, she said, is one of the city’s attractions and this year attracted 100,000 people.
One of the issues that dominated Thursday’s meeting was the inconvenience that expatriates suffer when they want to be served by the Greek consulate, due to lack of staff, despite the diligent efforts of the Consul General and his associates.
Well-known lawyer Ioannis Tripidakis, took the microphone to state that in order to be able to vote, one must first have Greek citizenship and this, he stressed, is a very slow and time-consuming process.
He said, “In order for a Diaspora Greek to obtain a Greek passport and/or to further have the right to vote, he or she must first acquire Greek citizenship, which is mainly acquired by proving his or her descent from Greek parents, grandparents, etc. The amendment of the Land Registry Law in 2021 has created a huge problem.”
Following the meeting Livanios told Neos Kosmos that “in the near future, staff will be hired at the Greek consulate in Melbourne to advance the cases that have been delayed.
These people will be from Australia and will be employed on a limited term contract.
Another issue that was raised was the possibility that along with the recent data leak of expatriates’ emails, other personal details may have been leaked, such as their tax identification number (ΑΦΜ) which the Deputy Interior Minister ruled out.
Livanios stated categorically that this is “a matter that will be investigated and penalties will be handed down where appropriate”.
The Attorney General’s Office and the Privacy Authority, he said, are “two leading independent institutions that we must respect the investigation they are doing”.
Livanios told Neos Kosmos that “no one received an email from the ND MEP because she is now on the postal voting lists” and that the attempted linkage to challenge the postal voting procedures is wrong.
Livanios’ visit to Melbourne concludes on Saturday 23 March. He will then travel to Sydney (24-26 March) and will visit Canberra on 27 March. Theodoris Livanios, will also attend the national anniversary event on Sunday at the Sydney Opera House where he will represent the Greek government.
On Thursday, the Greek minister visited the Victorian parliament and had a meeting with expatriate MPs.
He also met with Bishop Kyriakos of Sozopol and paid a visit to the Hellenic Museum.
On Friday evening he was expected to attend the annual dance of the Greek Community of Melbourne.
On his last day in Melbourne Livanios will visit the “Axion Estin” Monastery at 10.30am and the Panmacedonian Geeek Association of Australia at 12pm.
Postal voting (470 Queens Parade, Clifton Hill VIC 3068)