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
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