The 50th Annual Conference of the Federation of Cyprus Communities of Australia and New Zealand officially commenced on Friday, 23 May, and was held over the weekend, hosted at the Cyprus Community of Melbourne and Victoria.
The conference included the Federation, PASEKA (Pan-Australian Justice for Cyprus), and NEPOMAK (Youth Committee for Overseas Cypriots).
Community leaders and members travelled from across Australia and New Zealand, including Sydney, Adelaide, Perth, Darwin, Brisbane, Wollongong, Canberra, and Wellington, New Zealand.
The evening was MCed by Federation Secretary Ms Stephanie Demetrios, who also shared a message from Ms Theodora Constantinidou, Ambassador and Director of the Service for Overseas and Repatriated Cypriots at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cyprus.
Speakers throughout the evening reflected on the importance of preserving culture, language, and religion in the diaspora and praised the growing involvement of youth in community life.
Notable addresses were delivered by Father George Frangos representing His Grace Bishop Kyriakos and His Eminence Archbishop Makarios; Hon. Theo Theophanous, President of the Cyprus Community of Melbourne and Victoria; Mr Michael Christodoulou AM, President of the Federation; Mr Michael Christodoulides, Alternate President; Mr Chris Koulinos, President of PASEKA; Mr Andreas Nicola, President of NEPOMAK Australia & New Zealand; and Mr Bill Papastergiadis, President of the Greek Community of Melbourne and His Excellency Mr Antonis Sammoutis, High Commissioner of the Republic of Cyprus to Australia, Mr Anthony Cianflone MP and Mr Evan Mulholland MP.
His Excellency Mr Antonis Sammoutis, High Commissioner of the Republic of Cyprus to Australia, also presented a medal of honour to Mr Andreas Neroupos of Melbourne in recognition of his service in EOKA 1955–59, which was followed by an address from Father Kyprianou who detailed his story.
Victorian Members of Parliament Mr Anthony Cianflone MP (representing Premier Jacinta Allan) and Mr Evan Mulholland (representing the Leader of the Opposition Brad Battin) both spoke of their own Calabrian heritage and reflected on the contributions of post-war migrant communities, like the Hellenic community in building modern multicultural Australia.
