Lee
1st February 2010, 10:35 PM
http://www.theage.com.au/national/oh-my-god--atheist-convention-sells-out-20100201-n8xz.html
BARNEY ZWARTZ
February 2, 2010
AN ATHEIST convention in Melbourne has sold out six weeks before it opens despite no aid from any level of government, organisers said yesterday.
Convention organiser and Atheist Foundation of Australia president David Nicholls said the state government had ''stabbed the people of Victoria in the back'' by not helping, forcing organisers to hire smaller venues.
The Global Atheist Convention, at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre on March 12-14, features a stellar line-up of presenters, including the world's best-known atheist, Richard Dawkins.
''We think this is a turning point for secularism in Australia, and it will be looked at by the rest of the world,'' Mr Nicholls said. ''We will see it happening more through the free planet, and our aim is to make the whole planet free.''
He said more than 2500 tickets had been sold, about half to Victorians and the rest to interstate and international visitors.
But he said that only the last day, with Richard Dawkins, would be in the 2500-seat auditorium. Because organisers ''could not afford to gamble'', they had hired smaller auditoriums for the first two days.
''We were very annoyed that all three tiers of government refused to assist us,'' Mr Nicholls said.
He said Canberra bureaucrats said such funding was not part of the portfolio responsibility of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd or his deputy, Julia Gillard, and provided no other advice.
The Victorian Government raised hopes, then suddenly told him ''the event has been secured, so you're not getting the money'', he said.
The Parliament of the World's Religions, held in Melbourne in December, received $2 million from the federal government and the state government.
Mr Nicholls said if the organisers had been able to afford a bigger venue and advertising, many more people might have been able to attend.
Other speakers include philosophers Peter Singer and A.C. Grayling, American commentator P.Z. Myers, former evangelist Dan Barker and broadcasters Phillip Adams and Robyn Williams.
(http://www.theage.com.au/national/oh-my-god--atheist-convention-sells-out-20100201-n8xz.html)
BARNEY ZWARTZ
February 2, 2010
AN ATHEIST convention in Melbourne has sold out six weeks before it opens despite no aid from any level of government, organisers said yesterday.
Convention organiser and Atheist Foundation of Australia president David Nicholls said the state government had ''stabbed the people of Victoria in the back'' by not helping, forcing organisers to hire smaller venues.
The Global Atheist Convention, at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre on March 12-14, features a stellar line-up of presenters, including the world's best-known atheist, Richard Dawkins.
''We think this is a turning point for secularism in Australia, and it will be looked at by the rest of the world,'' Mr Nicholls said. ''We will see it happening more through the free planet, and our aim is to make the whole planet free.''
He said more than 2500 tickets had been sold, about half to Victorians and the rest to interstate and international visitors.
But he said that only the last day, with Richard Dawkins, would be in the 2500-seat auditorium. Because organisers ''could not afford to gamble'', they had hired smaller auditoriums for the first two days.
''We were very annoyed that all three tiers of government refused to assist us,'' Mr Nicholls said.
He said Canberra bureaucrats said such funding was not part of the portfolio responsibility of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd or his deputy, Julia Gillard, and provided no other advice.
The Victorian Government raised hopes, then suddenly told him ''the event has been secured, so you're not getting the money'', he said.
The Parliament of the World's Religions, held in Melbourne in December, received $2 million from the federal government and the state government.
Mr Nicholls said if the organisers had been able to afford a bigger venue and advertising, many more people might have been able to attend.
Other speakers include philosophers Peter Singer and A.C. Grayling, American commentator P.Z. Myers, former evangelist Dan Barker and broadcasters Phillip Adams and Robyn Williams.
(http://www.theage.com.au/national/oh-my-god--atheist-convention-sells-out-20100201-n8xz.html)