MEDIA RELEASE
Tuesday 1 May 2001
CELEBRATED AUSSIE TO SPEAK AT NZPI CONFERENCE
Professor Geoffrey Blainey, the internationally acclaimed author and commentator is to speak at the New Zealand Property
Institute conference in Christchurch on May 16-18.
Part of a field of several high-class speakers at the conference, Professor Blainey will give a keynote address on "New
Zealand and the World - Where are They Heading"
NZPI CEO Conor English said today, "At the United Nations in 1988 - along with the celebrated economist Professor JK
Galbraith - Professor Blainey was awarded a gold medal for "excellence in the dissemination of knowledge for the benefit
of mankind.
"At a time of increasing change, with both challenges and opportunities on the horizon, it will be fascinating to hear
his view on where it is all heading.
"His views on Australia becoming a new province of New Zealand will also be interesting! " Mr. English said.
Professor Blainey's first book was published when he was in his early twenties, and since then he has written another
29. His book, The Tyranny of Distance, now in its 20th edition, has given Australia one of its most widely-quoted
phrases. His latest book is A Short History of the World. He has written weekly columns for a variety of daily
newspapers. His televised history of Australia, The Blainey View, was shown in ten episodes on ABC television.
For twenty years he held chairs in economic history and then in plain history at the University of Melbourne. He has
presided over many institutions including the Australia Council, the University of Ballarat, the Australia-China
Council, and the Commonwealth Literary Fund.
The New Zealand Property Institute Conference 2001 is being held at the Hotel Grand Chancellor, Christchurch beginning
with a social function on Wednesday May 16 evening and finishing on Friday 18. For more information on the conference
please contact joy@conference.co.nz or go to www.property.org.nz.
Contact: Conor English, New Zealand Property Institute, Phone:04 385 8436