MELBOURNE - With less than a month to go before the inaugural Croaoke event at the Prince Patrick Hotel in Collingwood, the organising committee at 'The New Gen' are very excited by the prospect of a fun-filled evening for all.

CANBERRA - Last Saturday afternoon, prior to the ACT Premier League Round 2 clash between the O'Connor Knights and Queanbeyan City, the Croatian backed club announced a major partnership deal with the major sponsor of glamour A-League club Sydney FC, Bing Lee. 

Turn the clock back to the tempestuous year of 1991 in a war-ravaged Croatia, and one musical/patriotic act will be a consistent, from the bottom of Dalmatia to the top of the capital Zagreb - the song 'Moja Domovina'. The Croatian Homeland War (Independence War) had just begun and music was proving to be a real saving grace for the people of this beautiful, but war-ravaged land.

SYDNEY - NSW Premier, Morris Iemma, who also holds the portfolio of Minister for Citizenship, dined in the pleasant company of more than 500 Australian Croatians at the western Sydney based Jadran Hajduk club on Tuesday night.

The Australian/Croatian community both here in Melbourne and in Croatia, (Korcula/Blato) has been left deeply saddened by the recent loss of a young woman whose world was truly her oyster. One of the first and most highly recognised ultrasonographers in Melbourne, Croatian born Jackie Cooke (maiden name Tulic), recently  passed away, leaving behind her daughter Jessica (14), son Stephen (12), husband Richard, mother Katica, father Paval, sisters Lily and Jamie (author of this article), as well as many loved relatives and friends in the early hours of April 1st, following her long and exhausting battle with cancer.

International migration can lead to significant social benefits for migrants and their families, and for their countries of origin and the receiving country if measures are implemented for better migrant flow management and to facilitate emigrant monetary transfers, says the annual World Bank report, which opens a challenging perspective for Croatia because our educated emigrants usually engage in two forms of monetary transfers to the homeland: investment into real estate and human resources.

The production line that is North Geelong Soccer Club is showing no signs of slowing down in its ability to produce quality players as its latest product, Ante Cicak, is destined to follow in the footsteps of other successful club graduates such as Josip Skoko, Joey Didulica, Matthew Spiranovic and one-time Socceroos captain Steve Horvat.

There has been a lot of excitement in Bosnia Herzegovina in recent months regarding the final burial place of the last queen of BiH, Katarina Kosaca Kotromanic. The Queen is currently buried in the Aracoeli Church in Rome in Italy. 

MELBOURNE - Next month's Annual General Meeting of the Croatian Community Credit Union (CCCU) is expected to be a volatile one following revelations that the directors of the community based financial institution are exploring merger options with the Ukrainian community's credit union.

Last Saturday evening's Cro Idol song competition (which was well organized by the Mladez HDZ) in Melbourne was a great example of a fun-filled event that the whole community can embrace. A packed house at the Croatian House (Hrvatski Dom) in Footscray was treated to a fabulous evening of food, drink, music and culture, which is what this event should be all about.