Expatriate Greek communities around the world are planning to take action in a bid to boost support for their financially troubled homeland.
A website’s been set up to help organise a conference in Athens that would bring expatriate Greeks together to share ideas for the future.
Isobel Roe reports.
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Nadia Haralampou is a proud Brisbane woman, but part of her heart still belongs to Greece.
Attending the Ellines.com conference in Athens would be a chance for her voice to be heard.
Nadia Haralampou, Greek-Australian: “I would bring energy and hope and enthusiasm and optimism, because I really do have a very strong faith that Greece’s people, that Greece’s human capital will overcome this very temporary state of affairs.”
Temporary, but something she feels her generation can conquer.
Nadia Haralampou, Greek-Australian: “The idea of the conference is to unite Greeks from the diaspora and share our vision for the future of Greece which I feel is a very positive future.
It’s hoped the conference will draw the Greek diaspora back to Athens, to share ideas and hope for the future.
Ellines.com will live stream the event on the 14th and 15th of December.
The idea has raised the hopes of at least some of the Brisbane Greek community.
Vox 1: “I think Greece is going to lose a lot of its youth, its educated youth, because of this economic crisis.”
Vox 2: “History will show that it’ll pull out of it as it’s done before.”
But others are not so hopeful.
Chris Kazonis, Greek community leader: “The government doesn’t have a choice. Doesn’t matter what we’re going to tell them. Doesn’t matter what any people are going to tell them in Sydney or Australia, the fact is they’ve got their guidelines of what they need to be doing to bring the country into place.”
Mr Kazonis says the best thing ex-pats can do is to take their money back home.
Chris Kozanis, Greek community leader: “Buy Greek products, stuff that they export, help the market there a little bit. I suppose that’s the best way we can do it. There certainly isn’t going to be people sending millions and millions of dollars across there to help them out because it won’t get them anywhere, really.”
But Nadia Haralampou says any support Greek expatriates can give would be worthwhile.
Nadia Haralampou, Greek-Australian: “It introduced so many wonderful notions to the world of democracy, mathematics, architecture, art, histroy, language. It’s my hope that Greece remains resiliant and overcomes this temporary tragedy.”
Isobel Roe, QUT News.