The ties between Merri-bek and Sparta have been preserved after a council motion was passed to maintain the near 40-year relationship.
The decision was put to council in a meeting on Wednesday evening, and Councillor Katerine Theodosis moved for the continuation of Merri-bek’s relationship with Sparta after council officers proposed ending it following an internal review.
Supporters of the Sister City program did not take positively to the suggestion, noting the strength of the partnership, which involves supporting cultural programs, international events and exchanges.
Many supporters argued that the relationship helps maintain Merri-bek’s status as a culturally rich and globally connected municipality.
Theodosis addressed the council meeting, remarking on her Greek heritage and the significance of maintaining the Sister City status for cultural, economic and historical ties.
“I am the very proud daughter of two Greek Migrants who moved to our city in the 1970s,” she told the council.
“These migrants worked hard, many in factories, to contribute to building the Merri-bek we know and love today.
Theodosis argued that there is low risk and high reward with the relationship.
“It doesn’t cost the council anything, but the return is substantial – particularly from our community organisations who have strong ties to Sparta,” the councillor said.
Following her speech, the motion was supported unanimously.
Theodosis thanked the community members who supported her motion and the continued relationship between Merri-bek and Sparta.
George Lekakis, Former Chair of the Victorian Multicultural Commission (VMC), who’s currently being charged with the responsibility of a state-wide review of multicultural policies and processes by the Victorian Government, was incensed over the Council’s administrators’ attempt to sink the decades-long sister city relationship with Sparta.
Calling the CEO’s decision a “shameful, disgusting and hurtful episode in the history of the Merri-bek City Council”.
Lekakis, “a Brunswick boy,” said it was “painfully clear to me that the CEO and council staff have shown no understanding of, or respect for, the multicultural heritage of this municipality.”
“The CEO and council staff failed to consult with the community and placed no value on the decisions and actions of past councils that acknowledged the presence and significant contributions of the Laconian Greek community.
“The symbolic sister city relationship embodied this contribution — and to disregard it is both disgraceful and arrogant.”
He went further, saying it was “an act utterly lacking in sensitivity for the past”,
“The decision forced the community to mobilise and lobby for the reversal of a staff recommendation that should never have been made in the first place.
“I thank the councillors for unanimously voting against it.”
