The two articles debating the proposed Tower which the current Greek community leadership wants to construct on the site of the present Greek Community building in Victoria, made interesting reading.

From the outset, I should declare that I ran in the 2006 election on the ticket headed by Bill Papastergiadis, but was not elected.

In the past, I have also voted for the previous leadership and candidates aligned with them.

The reason why I voted for the Community Renewal team is because I believe the Greek community is in desperate need of a revamp and a redefining of its purpose.

We cannot have a model entirely based on the needs and wants of the first generation, while ignoring the second (many of us in our 30s, 40s, and 50s) and third generations.

On a few occasions, I have been asked if I know of any potential members for the organisation with the view to signing them up. I say: What exactly am I signing people up to?

What kind of organisation are we? What’s our purpose? What can we offer potential members?

These are important issues that need addressing and can help determine the kind of direction that the organisation can take. However, in order to find all this out in a meaningful professional manner, through research etc, we need funds, and according to Bill Papastergiadis, we don’t have them.

And I understand this is the reason why he and others on the committee have decided to back the proposal to build the tower.

“There are things we need to do in order to take the organisation forward, events we should be organising, but the stumbling block always is that we don’t have any income,” he said.

Clearly we have a problem with money.

We cannot operate in some quasi amateurish fashion when we are such a large community, purportedly representing the interests of Greek Australians.

We cannot operate under the guise of the various Greek brotherhoods and associations that are dispersed throughout Melbourne with which the vast majority of Greek Australians of the second and third generations feel little, if no, affinity.

If the opportunities to source an income comes down to Bulleen and the Melbourne CBD, then I vote with the Melbourne CBD.

Apologies to the Venetians, but why do we want some Veneto style club in suburbia as our future home?

Despite the arguments put forward by Messrs Kounelis, Paikopoulos and Tsitas, I find it hard to believe that the Victorian Government would hand over such a large amount of money to the Greek Community if it was convinced that this is some hare brained scheme that has not been researched and assessed carefully.

And all the evidence put forward by Mr Papastergiadis suggests this has happened.

Of course, there are risks. There are always risks, but there’s an even bigger risk with Bulleen.

I mean, come on guys, let’s be realistic. Who wants to hang out in Bulleen? Even people who live in Bulleen, don’t hang out in Bulleen.

Have any of you tried to get there by public transport? I have and it’s a nightmare. It’s not the 1970s and Bulleen is not easily accessible nor a desirable destination. Everyone with any nous knows that.

There are people in the Greek Community who want to live in the past and that’s fine for them, but the vast majority of us want to move on.

I count myself as one of them because if the Greek Community of Melbourne and Victoria doesn’t move on, doesn’t make some attempt to understand the community it represents and actually start to do something to be relevant to them, there will be no point in its existence.

So many in our generation are already totally disinterested and disenfranchised.

We want something substantial and exciting that we can proud of, that our kids will want to go to, that can house exhibitions and performances etc.

If there are issues that need addressing with the proposal for the tower, then let’s work it out.

But let’s not throw the baby out with the bathwater and go chasing unappealing alternatives.

P.S. To avoid any accusations being levelled at me about any possible personal gain for taking this position, I would like to put it on public record that not only didn’t I get an invite to the opening night ‘do’ of the Antipodes Festival, but an event that involved me that was to be part of the festival was cancelled with short notice which caused me great inconvenience and displeasure.

I believe the first happened because I booed noisily at Jeff Kennett at one such event where I was a distinguished guest and the second because it involved the issue of homosexuality – an issue which despite having championed in our classical heritage, we are currently in deep denial.

Jeana Vithoulkas is a freelance journalist and a published author.