The Australian Hellenic Council (AHC) of NSW met on Monday for their quarterly meeting. Delegates discussed how to promote issues affecting Greek Australians in the upcoming federal election.
Secretary of The Australian Hellenic Council NSW Panayiotis Diamadis, stated the meeting looked at the value of Greek-Australians who are members of political parties interested in promoting Hellenic issues.
“There is a particularly important role for Greek-Australians who are members of all political parties – Labor, Liberal, the Greens and National,” he said.
This comes after comments last week from AHC National Co-ordinator Peter Jasonides, where he argued, “privately you can attend any function you want but you can’t go representing the AHC at a party fundraiser.”
Dr. Diamadis declined to comment on the remarks but said it was important Greek- Australians were present at all levels of politics.
“There is a role to be played by Greek politicians, there is a role to be played by members, there is a role to be played by ordinary members of the Greek Australian community with an interest in a particular issue, be it Cyprus or anything else,” Dr. Diamadis said.
The meeting also launched the AHC’s updated website: www.helleniccouncil.org.au. Dr. Diamadis further stated the website was important to enable Greek-Australians to connect with each other based on interest rather than geography.
“We’re looking to move away from the first generation type organisations, towards the second and third-generation ones,” he said.
The council also announced a new award to recognise the contribution of a Greek-Australian in Australia. Dr. Diamadis said the Alexander Award will be presented at the AHC dinner in November.
(source: neos kosmos)
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