Sunday Age (Melbourne)
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA, March 14, 2004: In a tour coordinated by the Interfaith Network and sponsored by local councils, 18 local government officers and eight police officers were taken to various houses of worship in the city. After visiting Hindu, Greek Orthodox, Buddhist, and Muslim centers as well as other places of worship on their 37-mile journey, senior Constable Joey Herrech, 31, son of Greek Orthodox migrants from Egypt, initiated other tours for fellow Melbourne police officers. Constable Herrech hopes that the exposure will reduce ignorance of other cultures. The article says, “The tour came in the same week the State Government said it was looking at ways to improve funding arrangements with Victoria’s 79 local councils to ensure better services for migrant communities.” Apparently the tours are available to the public bimonthly and Interfaith Network president, Arvind Shrivasta, 59, a retired Monash University engineering lecturer, says, “The tours are a way of creating better understanding of the contribution by various faiths here.”