Press releases
Ideas at the Powerhouse press releases and media statments will
be added and updated here.
MEDIA RELEASE August 27, 2001
Public response powers plans for more Ideas
Queensland’s first Ideas festival is set to become a regular
event after an overwhelming public response to the State’s
first celebration of ideas, innovation and invention.
More than 15,000 people attended the Ideas at the Powerhouse festival
at the Brisbane Powerhouse in New Farm over the four days from August
16 to 19.
The festival was an initiative of the Brisbane City Council and
Queensland Government and its major private-sector sponsor was investment
bank ABN AMRO.
Brisbane Lord Mayor Jim Soorley said that the festival’s
success had created a new asset for the City.
“Through their enthusiastic response to the festival, the
public has created an asset that can keep enriching the City by
being held every two years and becoming one of Australia’s
premier events. Ideas at the Powerhouse is the type of festival
that can help keep our City at the forefront of innovative thinking.”
Premier Peter Beattie said the public response to Ideas at the
Powerhouse both in Queensland and interstate showed that people
are enthusiastic about creative thought and the great opportunities
that come from hearing about and discussing ideas.
“Ideas are the fuel for a Smart State, and it is pleasing
to know that government has a role to play in helping create and
promote these types of forums where ideas can be generated, nurtured
and developed,” he said.
Festival director Kylie Murphy said more than 50 sessions, debates,
demonstrations, exhibitions and displays were held as part of Ideas
at the Powerhouse and attracted capacity crowds.
“The fantastic public response to Ideas at the Powerhouse
shows that people are enthusiastic about creative thought and the
great opportunities that come from hearing about and discussing
ideas,” she said.
More than 40 world-class speakers attended Ideas at the Powerhouse
including eminent scientists Robert Winston and Peter Doherty, feminist
author Germaine Greer, sceptic James Randi, social activist Sulak
Sivaraska and architect Winka Dubbeldam.
“As well as providing a forum to discuss ideas about the
future in areas including science, medicine, social issues, design
and architecture the festival has provided practical help to aspiring
entrepreneurs and inventors,” Ms Murphy said.
“The community has shown enthusiasm for the event not only
by attending but also by using survey and response forms to call
for Ideas at the Powerhouse to become a regular festival.”
Highlights of the festival will appear on the Ideas at the Powerhouse
website by September 1. The website address is www.ideasatthepowerhouse.com.au.For
further information please contact:
Rhyll Cronin
CPR Communications & Public Relations
Tel: 07 3229 1422//0413 125 055
Email: r.cronin@cprcomm.com.au
MEDIA RELEASE 14 August 2001
Nitschke brings suicide pill debate to Brisbane
Voluntary euthanasia advocate Philip Nitschke will bring controversial
debate on the potential development of suicide pills to Brisbane
this week when he appears at the Ideas at the Powerhouse festival
at the Brisbane Powerhouse in New Farm.
Dr Nitschke’s appearance at the festival follows controversy
over the pill – including claims, which have been strongly
rejected by Dr Nitschke, that the pill could be made available to
troubled teenagers.
He has called for community debate on the issue of whether a "peaceful
pill" should be developed for use by the terminally ill.
"It’s something that everyone should be involved in
discussing because it’s a question that society hasn’t,
in the past, looked at," he said. "It’s essential
that such discussion take place before, rather than after, any such
product has been developed."
Dr Nitschke will make two appearances at the Ideas at the Powerhouse
festival.
He will participate in a broad-ranging ideas debate on Friday
night (August 17) from 7.30pm. The debate will be adjudicated by
broadcaster and commentator Phillip Adams. Other participants include
Griffith University Professor Ian Lowe, electronic technology specialists
Lynne Spender and Fiona Stewart, broadcaster Lex Marinos and New
York architect Winka Dubbeldam.
Dr Nitschke will speak on euthanasia issues at the festival on
Saturday afternoon (August 18) from 1pm. The discussion, entitled
"The pros and cons of death", will also involve Quest
for Life Centre founder and alternative medicine practitioner Petrea
King. For further information and interviews contact:
Rhyll Cronin
CPR Communications & Public Relations
Tel: 07 3229 1422 // 0413 125 055
r.cronin@cprcomm.com.au
MEDIA RELEASE 14 August, 2001
‘Maintain the struggle,’ Hawaiian academic tells Aborigines
Australia’s indigenous people have historically suffered
some of the worst treatment of any of the world’s indigenous
populations, according to a University of Hawaii Professor who will
visit Brisbane this week.
Professor Haunani-Kay Trask, who is a campaigner for sovereignty
for native Hawaiians, said she had researched the histories of indigenous
groups in North and South America, South Africa, Melanesia and Polynesia.
Few had suffered as badly as Australia’s native population,
she said.
"With the exception of the Americas, and perhaps the Belgian
Congo, nothing that has happened anywhere else in the world approximates
what has happened to the Australian Aborigine," Professor Trask
said.
Professor Trask is to speak at the Ideas at the Powerhouse festival,
at the Brisbane Powerhouse, on Thursday at 3.30pm about the impact
of Colonialism on the world’s indigenous populations.
She said the killing and maltreatment of Aborigines during the
White settlement of Australia, combined with the theft of their
land and the removal of children from families amounted to the world’s
worst genocidal actions.
Professor Trask said the Mabo land rights decision had been a
turning point and Australia’s indigenous population needed
to maintain a struggle for the recognition of their rights.
"It’s absolutely critical," she said. "To
give that that up would be to lose everything."
Professor Trask will be available for interview on Wednesday,
August 15 and Thursday, August 16 and will speak at the Ideas at
the Powerhouse festival from 3.30pm on Thursday, August 16.
For further information and interviews please contact:
Rhyll Cronin
CPR Communications & Public Relations
Tel: 07 3229 1429 // 0413 125 055
r.cronin@cprcomm.com.au
MEDIA RELEASE August 9, 2001
World’s best arrive for ideas festival
Some of the world’s best ideas will be discussed in Brisbane
next week when leading international and national thinkers join
Brisbane locals for Queensland’s first ideas festival, Ideas
at the Powerhouse.
Eminent speakers to attend the festival include feminist Germaine
Greer, world-renowned IVF pioneer Professor Robert Winston and Nobel
Prize winning scientist Peter Doherty.
An exciting new public event, Ideas at the Powerhouse will celebrate
ideas, innovation and invention over four days, from Thursday, August
16 to Sunday, August 19 at the Brisbane Powerhouse, New Farm.
Festival director Kylie Murphy said the event was a rare opportunity
to discuss and debate ideas with the world’s best.
"Ideas at the Powerhouse is a chance for the community to
hear and challenge ideas that will shape the future," she said.
"Most of the events are free of charge and the whole program
is open to all. There are people presenting some amazing and confronting
ideas, in all types of sessions."
The festival will feature talks from 40 speakers, as well as an
Ideas Bazaar featuring a Queensland Museum display of Queensland
inventions, new interactive puzzles from the Queensland Sciencentre
and a speakers’ soapbox. A program of children’s activities
called Kids’ Ideas will be offered for four to eight year olds
who are accompanied by an adult.
Other speakers to attend the festival include New York architect
Winka Dubbeldam, leading futurist Sohail Inayatullah, voluntary
euthanasia advocate Philip Nitschke, ABC Science Show presenter
Robyn Williams, US sceptic James Randi and the Australian inventor
of the Triton Bench, George Lewin.
Most events are free and tickets for other sessions, as well as
further information, are available from the Brisbane Powerhouse
box office by telephoning 07 3358 8600.
The major sponsors of Ideas at the Powerhouse are the Queensland
Government, Brisbane City Council and ABN AMRO.
For further information about Ideas at the Powerhouse, please
contact:
Rhyll Cronin
CPR Communications & Public Relations
Ph: 07 3229 1422//0413 125 055
Email: r.cronin@cprcomm.com.au
MEDIA RELEASE 2 August 2001
August 2, 2001Pet shop volunteer and baker try for US$1 million
prize
A volunteer pet shop worker and a baker both intend to demonstrate
their paranormal abilities this month in an attempt to win a US$1
million prize from renowned US sceptic James Randi.
The two Queenslanders have applied to participate in preliminary
testing for the prize when Randi visits Australia this month to
attend the Ideas at the Powerhouse festival at the Brisbane Powerhouse
from August 16 to 19.
The applicants are David Miers, a Gladstone man who works on a
volunteer basis caring for pets and also prospects for fossils and
crystals as a hobby, and Mackay baker Luke Shoesmith.
Mr Miers claims to have the ability to heal by holding his hands
over those suffering pain and has an ambition to work with US astronauts
to teach them ways to de-stress. Mr Shoesmith is a diviner and claims
to be able to find the location of items including gold and underground
running water. He says he can also determine the gender of unborn
babies using a pendulum device made from a weighted piece of string.
"I’m 100 percent confident of proving my abilities and
that’s not going overboard," Mr Miers said. "It’s
just what I know I’m capable of. The energy of it is something
you have to see and feel to believe."
Randi’s offer is open to all applicants until August 10 with
preliminary testing to occur during his visit for the Ideas at the
Powerhouse festival. Information is available from his website at
www.randi.org. Those wanting to apply can contact him by email at
randi@randi.org.
Randi has launched a nationwide search for Australians with supernatural
abilities but says he believes his US$1 million prize money is safe.
"This is a genuine offer to anyone in Australia who can prove
they have supernatural abilities," he said. "I do not
claim that such powers are non-existent, but I am willing to risk
my prize money that they are quite imaginary. The US$1 million is
waiting for them in a special investment account."
Ideas at the Powerhouse is a new festival celebrating ideas, innovation
and invention. More than 30 international, national and Brisbane
speakers will attend, including feminist Professor Germaine Greer,
UK medical specialist Professor Robert Winston and Nobel Prize winner
Professor Peter Doherty.For further information and interviews please
contact:
Rhyll Cronin
CPR Communications & Public Relations
Tel: 07 3229 1422//0413 125 055
r.cronin@cprcomm.com.au
MEDIA RELEASE 27 June 2001
US sceptic offers US$1 million prize to Aussie psychics
A nationwide search offering a prize of US$1 million has been launched
in an attempt to find if anyone can demonstrate supernatural abilities.
Renowned US sceptic James Randi is offering the prize. He plans
to hold preliminary tests for those who claim to have supernatural
powers when he visits Australia in August to attend the Ideas at
the Powerhouse festival in Brisbane.
Randi, a sceptic who specialises in examining claims of supernatural,
paranormal and pseudoscientific ability, said the challenge was
open to anyone who claimed special powers. This included psychics,
mediums, fortune tellers, astrologers, mind readers and those who
claimed they could find objects using devices such as dowsing rods.
"This is a genuine offer to anyone in Australia who can prove
they have supernatural abilities," Randi said. "I do not
claim that such powers are non-existent, but I am willing to risk
my prize money that they are quite imaginary. The US$1 million (A$1.9
million) is waiting for them in a special investment account."
Randi said the testing procedure would be devised with the participation
and approval of those who answered the million-dollar challenge,
and after learning what specific abilities they were claiming.
"In most cases all they will need to do is give a relatively
simple preliminary demonstration of their claim. If successful,
that will be followed by a formal test and if they pass that they
can claim the US$1 million. And, I will not be surprised if no one
comes forward to be tested. For all their boasting, these folks
are remarkably reticent to prove their case."
Those wanting to participate in the challenge should complete an
application form and submit it to Randi by e-mail, fax, or post,
before August 10th. The form and other details are available at
the website of the James Randi Educational Foundation at www.randi.org.
Randi is known worldwide for his work and is the author of ten
books, among which is "The Truth About Uri Geller". During
his Australian visit he will give appearances at the Ideas at the
Powerhouse Festival, which runs from August 16 to 19 at the Brisbane
Powerhouse, discussing how we are deceived by so-called psychics,
and demonstrating how some of the scams and tricks are conducted.
To interview James Randi please contact:
MEDIA RELEASE 15 June 2001
Ideas on offer in Queensland’s festival first
Brisbane Lord Mayor Jim Soorley and Premier Peter Beattie today
launched Queensland’s first festival to celebrate the importance
of ideas and innovation.
The festival, called Ideas at the Powerhouse, will be held at
Queensland’s most dynamic performing arts complex – the
Brisbane Powerhouse at inner-city New Farm – from August 16
to 19.
The event will bring together eminent speakers from around the
world, as well as members of the local community, for discussions
on ideas, innovations and inventions.
Most of the events are being offered free of charge.
More than 30 speakers will attend, including IVF pioneer Lord
Professor Robert Winston, feminist Germaine Greer and Nobel Prize
winner Professor Peter Doherty.
The event will also feature displays and demonstrations of inventions,
including the very best backyard inventions, interactive puzzles,
debates, musical performances and children’s activities.
Ideas at the Powerhouse is a joint initiative of the Brisbane
City Council and Queensland Government and has attracted the sponsorship
support of one of the world’s largest investment banks, ABN
AMRO.
Cr Soorley said Ideas at the Powerhouse would create the opportunity
for members of the community to voice their own ideas and opinions
as well as to hear those of others, including world leaders in areas
including health, science, the arts, justice, architecture and technology.
“Ideas are one of our most important resources for building
a better future but for many people it can often be difficult to
find the time to be creative and innovative,” he said.
“This festival gives us the opportunity to take time out
to contemplate a wide variety of issues and those who attend the
festival will be able to see, hear and engage with some of the most
exciting national and international thinkers.”
The festival will be a vibrant and interactive event with activities
both inside and outside the riverside Powerhouse venue.
Mr Beattie said that, among a calendar of major events in Queensland,
the festival was
particularly significant because it celebrated the value of inspirational
ideas and innovations.
“My vision is to make Queensland the Smart State,” Mr
Beattie said.
“The Smart State is powered by innovation, innovation is
powered by ideas. And Ideas at the Powerhouse is a great idea.
“We won’t agree with all the ideas that will be expressed
at the festival – but the challenge of ideas and debate is
important in a free society.”
Attractions include an “Ideas Bazaar” – a market
place for ideas where there will be displays and demonstrations
of inventions - a soapbox where anyone can voice their ideas and
views and a special program for children, called Kids Ideas.
The program runs throughout the day and into the night including
“Late Night Ideas” sessions in the Powerhouse’s Spark
Bar, followed by free performances and music. Ideas at the Powerhouse
will host more than 30 events which have no admission charge as
well as a small number of ticketed events with admission prices
of either $15 or $25.
Highlights will include Lord Professor Robert Winston’s speech
about the ethical quandaries resulting from scientific discoveries.
He will also participate in a debate on whether science is out of
control.
In separate addresses, Germaine Greer will discuss gender, race
and identity: the key conflicts, issues, and challenges for the
future and Professor Peter Doherty will speak about the impact of
biotechnics.
Other speakers include: leading New York architect Winka Dubbeldam;
euthanasia campaigner Philip Nitschke; novelist and futurist Damien
Broderick; futurist Sohail Inayatullah; social activist and former
Buddhist monk, Sulak Sivaraksa; Hawaiian indigenous rights scholar
and activist Haunani-Kay Trask; cartoonist Bruce Petty; renowned
sceptic James Randi; inventor of the Triton work bench George Lewin;
and the presenter of the ABC’s The Science Show, Robyn Williams.
Advisors to the event include: Professor Ian Lowe from Griffith
University’s School of Science; broadcaster and columnist Phillip
Adams; writer and researcher Dale Spender; editor Sandra Phillips;
Brisbane Lord Mayor’s Office Chief of Staff Jim Reeves; and
town planning specialist Wendy Sarkissian.
Most of the events are free and no bookings are required but bookings
must be made for the ticketed events. A four-day festival ticket,
which gives access to all ticketed events, is available for $170.
Program details and bookings for ticketed events are available through
the Brisbane Powerhouse box office on 07 3358 8600 or visiting the
box office in person at the Brisbane Powerhouse during business
hours Monday to Friday and on Saturdays between noon and 4pm.
Details about the festival are also available at its website, www.ideasatthepowerhouse.com.au
Contact: Lorann Downer (Premier’s Office) 07 3224 5299
Marina Vit (Lord Mayor’s Office) 07 3403 4108 or 0418 786302
MEDIA RELEASE 31 May 2001
Euthanasia campaigner goes online to discuss new offshore plans
Euthanasia campaigner Dr Philip Nitschke plans to help terminally-ill
Australians travel to Holland to seek assisted suicide following
the introduction of legislation in that country which legalises
euthanasia.
Dr Nitschke, who has just returned from a euthanasia conference
in Vancouver, will outline the controversial plans on a Brisbane-based
Internet site called Ideas Online.
The site is hosting discussion groups on a range of topics in the
lead up to Ideas at the Powerhouse, an event being held at the Brisbane
from August 16 to 19. Dr Nitschke will be one of more than 30 speakers
to appear at Ideas at the Powerhouse. The event will cover a broad
range of topics including health, science, justice and education.
Dr Nitschke said that since the Dutch legislation was passed in
April he had had inquiries from terminally-ill patients who wanted
to travel to Holland so they could legally gain assistance to end
their lives.
He is also pursuing international legal opinion on whether it would
be possible to perform euthanasia on board a Dutch-owned ship that
could be moored just outside Australian territorial waters.
Dr Nitschke said he would also discuss details about the Vancouver
conference he attended earlier this month which discussed ways the
terminally ill could end their lives, including through the use
of a “peaceful pill”.
He will post all the latest details of his continuing campaign
for legalised voluntary euthanasia on the Ideas Online website today
(Thursday, May 31). The site encourages discussion. Comments from
the community, as well as Dr Nitschke’s follow-up responses,
will all be posted on the site.
Those wanting to participate in the discussion or view comments
can find Ideas Online at www.ideasatthepowerhouse.com.au
For further information and interviews with Dr Nitschke,
please contact:
Rhyll Cronin, CPR Communications & Public Relations
07 3004 7909//0413 125 055
r.cronin@cprcomm.com.au
MEDIA RELEASE May 1, 2001
Queensland festival makes a May Day call for online ideas
Queensland's first ideas festival has made a May Day call for the
community to use a new Internet site to express ideas and opinions
on issues shaping the future.
The call from the festival, Ideas at the Powerhouse, coincides
with May Day rallies and protests around Australia.
An Ideas at the Powerhouse adviser, author and information technology
specialist Dale Spender, said Ideas at the Powerhouse was calling
for the community to participate in a different sort of rally --
a four-month effort to develop and discuss ideas.
"The festival is today launching Ideas Online - an interactive
Internet site that will continue in the lead up to Ideas at the
Powerhouse, a four-day festival being held from August 16 to 19,"
Dr Spender said.
Dr Spender said Ideas Online was calling for the community's best
ideas for innovations and inventions as well as their views on issues
including economic change, justice, education, health, architecture
and design. She said Queensland's drive to become the nation's Smart
State would only be possible if the community took up the types
of challenges presented by Ideas Online.
"That's what the Smart State is -- a place where everybody's
prepared to put forward ideas,"Dr Spender said. "Ideas
are the goods that Queenslanders and all Australians will trade
in. We don't have to worry about the scarcity of raw materials,
what we have to worry about is the scarcity of good ideas. In the
not-to-distant future, if you haven't got any ideas to sell you
probably won't have a job."
The Ideas at the Powerhouse festival is an initiative of the Brisbane
City Council and Queensland Government. Ideas Online can be visited
at the Ideas at the Powerhouse website at http://www.ideasatthepowerhouse.com.au
Visitors can participate in online discussions involving global,
national and local leaders in a range of areas. These leaders will
also be among more than 30 speakers to attend the Ideas at the Powerhouse
event in August. Ideas Online has been developed with the assistance
of the State Library of Queensland. The State Library of Queensland
will also participate in Ideas Online.
DALE SPENDER IS AVAILABLE FOR INTERVIEW. PLEASE CALL 0408 703882
For further information on Ideas Online and to speak with
other Ideas at the Powerhouse advisers please contact:
Rhyll Cronin, CPR Communications & Public Relations
07 3004 7909//0413 125 055
r.cronin@cprcomm.com.au
MEDIA RELEASE 20 April 2001
What's the big idea? Festival hunts for Queensland's best
Queensland's first ideas festival -- Ideas at the Powerhouse
-- is launching a four-month-long Internet search for the community's
best ideas.
The search begins on May 1 when Ideas at the Powerhouse goes live
with a Website inviting contributions on ideas, inventions and innovations.
The site will also be an exciting think tank -- hosting a series
of Online discussions involving contributions from national and
international specialists from a range of areas including science,
medicine, ethics, law and education. Contributors will be able to
test their ideas against those of some renowned thinkers and intellectuals
as well as discuss a range of controversial and interesting topics.
The project leads into the Ideas at the Powerhouse festival, to
be held between August 16 and 19, 2001 at the Brisbane Powerhouse.
Ideas at the Powerhouse is an initiatve of the Brisbane City Council
and the Premier's Department of the State Government of Queensland.
It will bring together leading national and international thinkers,
commentators and practitioners to present challenging ideas.
More than 30 national, international and local speakers will give
presentations during the four day festival, some of the controversial
Australians who will be threre include doctor, activist and euthanasia
campaigner Philip Nitschke. One of the first topics to be discussed
Online will be 'Body' including commentary from Nitschke. Other
speakers at festival will include author of 'The Spike' and 'The
Last Mortal Generation', Damien Broderick, and corporate lawyer
and former Young Australian of the Year, Tan Le.
Advisers to Ideas at the Powerhouse are well-known Australians
including Queensland researcher, author and information technology
specialist Dale Spender. The Ideas at the Powerhouse website can
be viewed at http://www.ideasatthepowerhouse.com.au
Media - for more information on Ideas Online and Ideas
at the Powerhouse please contact:
Rhyll Cronin CPR Communications & Public Relations
Ph: 3004 7909 // 0413 125 055
r.cronin@cprcomm.com.au
|
