As Greece was gripped in nation-wide strikes and rioting on Wednesday, over 60 representatives from Greek organisations met with the Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Greece, Dimitris Dollis, during a function on Wednesday night in Melbourne.
“We lived beyond our means for a very long time” Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Dimitri Dollis in Melbourne last week.
Since retiring from Victorian parliament in 1992, the former Greek Australian politician has carved a significant political career in the PASOK Socialist Party, in both opposition and now Greek Government.
Speaking at the Greek Orthodox Community of Melbourne, Victoria, (GOCMV), Mr Dollis discussed the Greek government’s plans to work with Greek Australian organisations to create cultural and educational exchange programs. A departure from the past will be the way Modern Greek is supported by Greece.
Speaking to Neos Kosmos, Mr Dollis said, he wanted to make “the Greek language an attractive language” to third generation Greek Australians. Τhrough the training of Greek Australian teachers rather than sending Greek teachers to Australia.
“If you have teachers here from Greece with no idea of the Australian environment, who do not speak English well, and cannot communicate with kids whose Greek is very poor, the possibility of those kids being attracted to Greek are small,” he said, adding “we believes that teachers need to be aware of Australian culture”.
On the issue of Greece’s financial crisis and social unrest Mr Dollis was cautiously optimistic.
“People will strike, they are dealing with deep cuts. Crises bring out the best and worst of people but we are as a government trying to harness the best out of people”.
He said that the Papandreou Socialist Government wants to secure “growth through investment as a way for Greeks to see a light at the end of the tunnel.”
“We lived beyond our means for a very long time” Mr Dollis said, underscoring the need to stop wasting time in “accusing each other, or for looking where the guilt lies and rather harness energy and all our efforts in finding solutions to Greece’s predicament.”
Also on the PASOK Government’s agenda will be to create more liveable cities through a Regional Government approach seeking “to connect the city with the country.”
Mr Dollis highlighted Papandreou’s focus on harnessing Greece’s sun and winds to create new sources of energy. “Green development is to the forefront of our agenda, through creating new energy sources and ways we build our houses with a focus on our capacity to develop renewable energy,” he said.
Easing the labyrinth of paper work, which creates an obstacle to foreign investment, will also generate much need growth in Greece, Mr Dollis said. A major bill, “Fast Tracking” has been passed, cutting Greece’s dense red tape to “absolute minimum.”
“No one wants to invest in a nation which is difficult to negotiate through. We already have a number of projects in the pipe line; all we need to do is complete them and people need to see them,” Mr Dollis said.
Future challenges are inevitable for the debt riddled nation, but this is the first government attempting to change the nature of Greek nepotism, a sclerotic public service and business services and wide spread tax evassion, while enhancing “civic duty”, Mr Dollis said.
“The Prime Minister was clear in his statements that whether we like it, or not, whether we have to drag people kicking and screaming, we will get out of this crisis and the Greece that will emerge will not only be a stronger one but it will be a more liveable one.”
