The Advertiser - 18 JUN 2009, Page 16
Italian connection
PREMIER Mike Rann, who has written to Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi expressing concern at the proposed closure of the Italian consulate in Adelaide (The Advertiser, yesterday), has my support.
Yet, judging by recent accounts of Mr Berlusconi's private life, I fear he may be too busy to read Mr Rann's letter in time to prevent the consulate closing.If this occurs, perhaps the Premier could write again, this time to the Italian Government (which may not be so busy), in order for it to consider making a donation towards the proposed McLaren Vale Piazza.
The Piazza, which will be located in the centre of McLaren Vale, will be a permanent reminder of the valued and positive contribution of Italian migrants and their descendants in the Southern Vales.
In addition, it will give the heart of McLaren Vale a wonderful, formal public space.
RICHARD BENNETT, McLaren Vale.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Rann’s outrage at closure
Rann’s outrage at closureGavin Lower
Backward step: Sandy Cennotofanti at work
PREMIER Mike Rann has blasted plans by the Italian government to close its consulate in Adelaide, describing the move as a ‘‘slap in the face’’ to South Australia. Mr Rann used the social networking service Twitter at the weekend to express his outrage at the move, and pledged to help with a petition against the closurebeing organised by state Labor MP Vini Ciccarello.Italy’s consul in Adelaide, Tommaso Coniglio, said yesterday that while the closure had been announced, the decision was technically not final until theministers of finance and foreign affairs had signed off on the decree.He said the announcement was made in Italy last week and that Adelaide was one of 20 Italian consulates around the world, including Brisbane, earmarked forclosure as a cost-cutting measure. The Italian government was planning to consolidate its presence in the country with consulates in Perth, Sydney and Melbourne and its embassy in Canberra, Mr Coniglio said. Mr Rann wrote on Twitter: ‘‘Slap in the face to Sth Aus that Italian govt is closing its consulatein Ade. Announced days after Ambass and I opened Punto Italia centre.’’He added that he was pleased that Ms Ciccarello, who represents the inner-city electorate of Norwood, which had strong Italian connections, was organising apetition against the closure. Ms Ciccarello said the decision to close the consulate ‘‘beggars belief’’. ‘‘(The decision comes) at a time the South Australian government, in particular the Premier, in the last couple of years, has been doing a lot to strengthen our links with Italy,’’ she said.Mr Rann, whose in-laws are Italian, is learning the language and is a wellknown Italophile. Sandy Cennotofanti, who was making coffees at her nephew’s cafe, Caffe Buongiorno, in Norwood yesterday, said it would be sad for Adelaide’s Italian community if the consulate closed. ‘‘Since I came, it was there,’’ she said. Ms Cennotofanti, 60, came to Adelaide as a nine-year-old with her parents, and is well known in the community.She said she had friends in the consulate and many in the community used it to renew their passports.‘‘It will be a bit of a hassle for Italians if they have to go to Melbourne if they have to do it,’’ she said. Mr Coniglio, 28, who has been the Italian consul in Adelaide for21/2 years, said Italians made up the largest ethnic group in South Australia, with about 14,000 people holding Italian passports andabout 100,000 of Italian origin.
The Australian
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Anna Bligh intervention in Consulate Closure
Bligh won’t say ciao to Italian consulatePremier Anna Bligh has personally written to playboy Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in a bid to prevent the closure of the Italian consulate in Brisbane.
The Italian government has decided to close the consulate and withdraw its staff from early 2011, in a move that has upset the state’s Italian community.
In her letter, Ms Bligh urged Mr Berlusconi to reverse his decision to close the consulate, taking into consideration Queensland’s strong cultural ties and large Italian-Australian community.
Brisbane Central MP Grace Grace, herself a first generation Italian Australian, said the decision would relegate Queensland to “second cousin” status, despite an Italian consulate in Queensland for more than 80 years.
“Normal consular functions involving migration, visas and passports, together with services to the elderly and language activities, may suffer should this planned closure go ahead”, she said.
“There is no doubt that the closure of the Italian consulate would mean that the hub that draws the Italian community together in many areas would be lost and the Italian culture in Brisbane and Queensland would be the poorer.”
Earlier this year, Mr Berlusconi announced plans to close 21 of Italy’s 119 consulates as a costcutting measure.
From: The Courier-Mail
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Article in The Australian regarding Italian Consulate
Click on image to enlarge
Italian consular closures politically motivated, says MP
Natasha Bita July 20, 2009
Article from: The Australian
Natasha Bita July 20, 2009
Article from: The Australian
KEVIN Rudd has weighed into a diplomatic spat over the closure of Italian consulates in Australia, asking Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi for a reprieve.
An Italian senator, Nino Randazzo, has accused Mr Berlusconi of a "vendetta" against Italo-Australians who voted against his conservative government in the past two elections.
Senator Randazzo said Mr Berlusconi -- Italy's wealthiest tycoon, whose wife is divorcing him after a sex scandal -- was punishing Italian migrants in Australia by closing the busy consulates in Brisbane and Adelaide.
"There is that element of a vendetta against the Italians abroad," he said from Rome.
"It's a political decision -- part of a wider design to cut services to Italians abroad, which were cut by 60 per cent in the last budget."
A spokesman for Mr Rudd said the Prime Minister had raised the cost-cutting closures at a meeting with Mr Berlusconi after the G8 summit in the earthquake-hit town of L'Aquila on July 10, when the Australian government offered to donate up to $1.5 million to Italy's earthquake appeal.
Mr Rudd "passed on the concerns of the local community", his spokesman said, and Mr Berlusconi had agreed to "examine the issue".
South Australian Premier Mike Rann plans to write to Mr Berlusconi criticising the closure of the Adelaide consulate as a "body blow" to his state's biggest ethnic group.
And 40 Australian politicians of Italian heritage -- among them Anthony Albanese, the federal Minister for Infrastructure, former NSW planning minister Frank Sartor, and NSW Finance Minister Joe Tripodi -- are also lobbying the Italian leader.
"This decision will not only damage Italy's reputation in Australia but across the world at a time when Italy is trying ... (to have) an important and significant role in international affairs," the convenor of the Australia-Italia MP Forum, South Australian MP Tony Piccolo, wroteto Mr Berlusconi. "Italy is one of the great nations alongside Australia. Ironically, as Italy seeks to play an important role internationally, it is reducing its role in those communities like Australia where it has most support."
Italy plans to close 21 of its 119 consulates worldwide, including Adelaide and Brisbane by 2011, in a cost-cutting exercise.
But South America, where Italian expats supported right-wing candidates for the Italian parliament, were spared the cuts, Senator Randazzo noted. Italian government funding for language teaching in South Australian and Queensland schools could be jeopardised by the closures.
The Italian consul in Brisbane, Francesco Capecchi, said he hoped the $1 million a year in funding to 27,000 students in 110 Queensland schools would continue, but there was no guarantee.
Italians are the biggest non-English-speaking ethnic group in Australia, and the third biggest behind the English and Irish, with the last census showing 852,000 Australians, or 4 per cent of the population, claim Italian descent.
About 50,000 dual citizens voted in the recent Italian elections. Italy has an electoral system under which 4 million expatriate voters elect their own 18 senators and MPs to represent them in the Italian parliament.
Marco Fedi, an Adelaide-based union official, has twice been elected to Italy's House of Deputies as a left-wing MP.
He told The Australian from Rome that state-based consulates were vital to help companies do business in Italy and organise funding for Italian language and cultural grants. He said Italy could save money by moving its Australian consulates from their expensive inner-CBD locations to buildings in cheaper areas.
Senator Randazzo, 78, a Sicilian migrant who edited La Fiamma and Il Globo Italian-language newspapers in Australia - has twice been elected for the left-wing Union coalition.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Alessandro Sorbello protests to the Courier Mail
Italians give their consulate the boot
A decision to close Brisbane’s Italian Consulate has Queensland’s Italian community and Italophiles fuming.
Businessman and Italian Week organiser Alessandro Sorbello said the planned closure by the Italian Government would mean Queenslanders would have to contact Sydney for visas.
It would also leave Italian visitors without local assistance in the event of mishaps or accidents.
“It is just absurd that it is being closed”, Mr Sorbello said. “In terms of cultural and government representation, there are 27,000 students studying Italian under the auspices of the consulate.”
He said Queensland had about 100,000 citizens of Italian descent and 16,000 citizens with Italian passports. Mr Sorbello urged consulate supporters to sign a petition at www.italianspirit.com .
From: The Courier-Mail
Monday, July 13, 2009
A decision to close Brisbane’s Italian Consulate has Queensland’s Italian community and Italophiles fuming.
Businessman and Italian Week organiser Alessandro Sorbello said the planned closure by the Italian Government would mean Queenslanders would have to contact Sydney for visas.
It would also leave Italian visitors without local assistance in the event of mishaps or accidents.
“It is just absurd that it is being closed”, Mr Sorbello said. “In terms of cultural and government representation, there are 27,000 students studying Italian under the auspices of the consulate.”
He said Queensland had about 100,000 citizens of Italian descent and 16,000 citizens with Italian passports. Mr Sorbello urged consulate supporters to sign a petition at www.italianspirit.com .
From: The Courier-Mail
Monday, July 13, 2009
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Urgent Action is necessary
DOWNLOAD PETTITION
FAX TO +61 7 3356 4522
0R POST TO PO BOX 1198 STAFFORD BRISBANE QLD 4053 AUSTRALIA
Last week the Italian government introduced draft regulations proposing the closure of the Adelaide and Brisbane Italian Consulates, along with a handfull of others worldwide.
This decision was taken without consultation with the local community, and in opposition to the strong views of the CGIE Councillors who represent our communities in official Italian matters.
These closures will have a devastating effect on the local Italian Communities, and could include the abolition of the Com.It.Es, the body that serves and represents Italian Nationals, in these cities.
But this will affect not only Italians in South Australia and Queensland, but all Italian Australians resulting in further pressure being placed on Consulates in Melbourne, Sydney and Perth which are all already underfunded and under resourced.
The Com.It.Es., CGIE, Australia's elected Italian MPs, the Australia Italia MP Forum, GIA and other institutional organisations are currently devising a united national strategy to best deal and fight off this threat.
Please join this group and invite all your contacts both here in Australia and in Italy.
We will update you with all the latest developments and advise what you can do to help, eg. attend meetings, sign petitions, etc.
---
La scorsa settimana il governo italiano ha introdotto un decreto che propone la chiusura dei consolati italiani di Adelaide e Brisbane in Australia, insieme ad altri in giro per il mondo.
Tale decisione e’ stata presa senza aver consultato le comunita’ locali ed in opposizione con le forti osservazioni dei consiglieri del CGIE che rappresentano le nostre comunita’ in questioni ufficiali.
Queste chiusure avranno effetti devastanti sulle comunità italiane del posto che vedranno sparire servizi consolari per i cittadini italiani e cittadini australiani, e non solo. E' anche possibile che il Com.It.Es, l’entità che serve e rappresenta la nazionalità italiana, cesserà di esistere in queste città.
Ma tutto questo non colpirà soltanto gli italiani del “ South Australia” e del “Queensland”, ma tutti gli italo-australiani che si vedranno costretti a rivolgere ad i consolati di Melbourne, Sidney e Perth, portando ancor piú mole di lavoro a sidetti consolati che gia deficitano di fondi e risorse.
Com.it.es., CGIE , rappresentanti del governo eletti in Australia, rappresentanti dell’Australia-Italia MP Forum, GIA ed altre organizzazioni istituzionali sono attualmente al lavoro per costruire un’unica strategia a livello nazionale per poter rispondere al meglio e combattere a livello istituzionale questo pericolo.
Unitevi a questo gruppo ed invitate tutti coloro che appoggiano questa iniziativa in Australia ed in Italia ad unirsi a questo gruppo.
Vi aggiorneremo con tutti gli ultimi sviluppi e tutti i consigli per poter aiutare questa causa, come ad esempio partecipare ad incontri, sottoscrivere una petizione, etc.
FAX TO +61 7 3356 4522
0R POST TO PO BOX 1198 STAFFORD BRISBANE QLD 4053 AUSTRALIA
Last week the Italian government introduced draft regulations proposing the closure of the Adelaide and Brisbane Italian Consulates, along with a handfull of others worldwide.
This decision was taken without consultation with the local community, and in opposition to the strong views of the CGIE Councillors who represent our communities in official Italian matters.
These closures will have a devastating effect on the local Italian Communities, and could include the abolition of the Com.It.Es, the body that serves and represents Italian Nationals, in these cities.
But this will affect not only Italians in South Australia and Queensland, but all Italian Australians resulting in further pressure being placed on Consulates in Melbourne, Sydney and Perth which are all already underfunded and under resourced.
The Com.It.Es., CGIE, Australia's elected Italian MPs, the Australia Italia MP Forum, GIA and other institutional organisations are currently devising a united national strategy to best deal and fight off this threat.
Please join this group and invite all your contacts both here in Australia and in Italy.
We will update you with all the latest developments and advise what you can do to help, eg. attend meetings, sign petitions, etc.
---
La scorsa settimana il governo italiano ha introdotto un decreto che propone la chiusura dei consolati italiani di Adelaide e Brisbane in Australia, insieme ad altri in giro per il mondo.
Tale decisione e’ stata presa senza aver consultato le comunita’ locali ed in opposizione con le forti osservazioni dei consiglieri del CGIE che rappresentano le nostre comunita’ in questioni ufficiali.
Queste chiusure avranno effetti devastanti sulle comunità italiane del posto che vedranno sparire servizi consolari per i cittadini italiani e cittadini australiani, e non solo. E' anche possibile che il Com.It.Es, l’entità che serve e rappresenta la nazionalità italiana, cesserà di esistere in queste città.
Ma tutto questo non colpirà soltanto gli italiani del “ South Australia” e del “Queensland”, ma tutti gli italo-australiani che si vedranno costretti a rivolgere ad i consolati di Melbourne, Sidney e Perth, portando ancor piú mole di lavoro a sidetti consolati che gia deficitano di fondi e risorse.
Com.it.es., CGIE , rappresentanti del governo eletti in Australia, rappresentanti dell’Australia-Italia MP Forum, GIA ed altre organizzazioni istituzionali sono attualmente al lavoro per costruire un’unica strategia a livello nazionale per poter rispondere al meglio e combattere a livello istituzionale questo pericolo.
Unitevi a questo gruppo ed invitate tutti coloro che appoggiano questa iniziativa in Australia ed in Italia ad unirsi a questo gruppo.
Vi aggiorneremo con tutti gli ultimi sviluppi e tutti i consigli per poter aiutare questa causa, come ad esempio partecipare ad incontri, sottoscrivere una petizione, etc.
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