John has a degree in physics from La Trobe University and a PhD in chemistry from Monash University. ÊFor most of his professional life he has been at the University of New South Wales, where he is currently an Emeritus Professor of Physics. ÊHe has published over 300 research papers, much of them related to his astronomical work in Antarctica. He also has a keen interest in environmentally sustainable transport, and was a member of the successful "Team Marsupial" in the inaugural World Solar Challenge in 1987 - an event in which he continues to be involved in an official capacity.
Ray Kearney is a recently retired Associate Professor in the Department of Infectious Diseases and Immunology (Department of Medicine, Central Clinical School), The University of Sydney.
Ray is a First Class Honours graduate and trained in classical Infectious Diseases and Immunology. He was appointed Head of the Department from 1993-2000. His major teaching commitments to medical, dental and science students are undertaken at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. During his extended seven-year period as Head of the Department he also devoted much of his academic time to designing the new Graduate Medical Program at the Sydney University. He was largely personally responsible for the ÔGoalsÕ template on which the program today is based.
He has had advisory roles on numerous committees, giving expertise in areas of infectious diseases, occupational health and safety protection as well as in public health and health-risk management. He has appeared as an Expert Witness in seven NSW Parliamentary Inquiries dealing with health impacts of air pollution. Ray is a frequent keynote speaker at various national and international conferences and meetings. He lectures broadly on health promotion and disease prevention and was largely responsible for bringing the health benefits of clean fuels into the debate on alternate fuels in Australia.
His integrated knowledge in immunology and related disciplines as well as his research experience in the fields of cancer and infectious diseases have afforded him numerous opportunities to give media interviews and invited lectures about diverse topics including the adverse health impacts of exposure to vehicle exhaust pollution. Over 40 years ago, in his voluntary advocacy, he set a precedent being the first successful case of compensation for a worker who died of an occupational bladder cancer attributed to exposure to coal-tar beta-naphthylamine in the workplace.
Ray and his wife, Elma, as amateur mycologists, were responsible for the listing, under the Conservation & Endangered Species Act of NSW, of a community of fungi for the first time in Australia. In addition, 9 new species in the fungal assemblage of over 25 fungal species were listed and finally, the habitat - the Lane Cove Bushland Park/Osborne Park - was gazetted with its listing on the Register of the National Estate. Such achievements under the auspices of the Sydney Fungal Studies Group Inc., for which he is Chairman, was acknowledged being conjoint winners of the Sydney Metropolitan Catchment Management Authority 2011 Innovation Award. Certain new fungal species from Lane Cove are being studied by Ray for anti-tumour actives. His interests in photography and recording rare events in the natural world have been the subject of numerous public lectures.
Ray has been a member of several professional scientific/medical research organisations. He is a recipient of many Community Awards including, ÔLeadershipÕ, ÔCitizen of the YearÕ, ÔOutstanding Service to YouthÕ and a Centenary Medal (2003) awarded by former Prime Minister John Howard. He was among the NSW State Finalists for the Australian of the Year Award 2005. On Australia Day, 2007, Ray was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for his voluntary contributions to public health, his campaigning for cleaner alternative fuels as well as his land-mark contributions in conservation.
After over 40 years in academia, Ray retired from the University of Sydney 31 December, 2006; currently retains full academic entitlements and continues to teach medical students part-time.
One of the countryÕs most recognised, former female politicians, Kerry Chikarovski began her career as a solicitor before making the decision to enter parliament. Encouraged by a brief but memorable meeting with a dashing young Robert Kennedy, Kerry knew from an early age that she wanted to be a politician and in 1991 she won pre-selection against the odds for the safe seat of Lane Cove on SydneyÕs north shore Ð one that had been earmarked for a male colleague.
After thirteen months in Parliament she was appointed Minister for Consumer Affairs. During her time as Minister, Ms Chikarovski facilitated national agreement to the Introduction of a Uniform Credit Code.
In Government, she held the further portfolios of Assistant Minister of Education, Minister for Industrial Relations, and the first Minister for the Status of Women appointed in NSW. With her dual responsibilities of Industrial Relations and Women, Kerry oversaw the development and introduction of flexible working conditions for the public sector and the implementation of mentoring programs to encourage women to seek careers at the highest level of the NSW public service.
In December of 1994, Kerry Chikarovski was elected Deputy Leader of the NSW Parliamentary Liberal Party Ð a position she held until the state election the following year. In Opposition, Kerry held the portfolio responsibilities of Corrective Services and the Environment. On 7 December 1998, Ms Chikarovski was elected Leader of the NSW Parliamentary Liberal Party, the first woman to lead a major political party in NSW. She was also the Shadow Minister for the Arts, Ethnic Affairs and Women. Kerry has also held the Shadow portfolios for Infrastructure and Major Projects and Public Private Partnerships.
After retiring from politics, Kerry established her own consultancy business, Chikarovski & Associates, which works with small and medium sized enterprises on strategies to interact with Government at all levels in Australia.
Until recently she was a Trustee of the Sydney Cricket Ground and Sydney Football Stadium Trust a position she was appointed to by Premier Bob Carr in July 2003.
In 2004 she co-authored her autobiography, ÒChikaÓ which has been described as a compellingly honest description of her personal and political life.
Kerry is involved in many community projects. She is on the Board of the Humpty Dumpty Foundation and is an ambassador for the Australian Indigenous Education Foundation (AIEF). Most recently she has been appointed as Chair of NSW WomenÕs Rugby Union.
Kerry has recently been appointed as ambassador for Eggtober, a not for profit charitable organisation that raises much needed funds for gynaecological cancers.
Kerry is a regular guest commentator on television and radio talk shows including ABC The Drum, Planet America, Sky News and Radio ABC 702.
KerryÕs warm personality, humility and ability to engage with people sees her frequently invited to present at corporate and charity events. KerryÕs life journey makes for some very inspirational and motivating content, particularly for women of all ages and walks of life.
Kerry is mother to two wonderful adult children and most recently became a very proud grandmother.
Kerry is a devotee to regular exercise, enjoys travelling,is passionate about all things sport and treasures spending time with her family and close friends.
Ian Longbottom has had an illustrious career both in Australia and overseas.
He has spent thirty years in senior executive roles, including that of CEO, in the cosmetics, FMCG and retail industries and in most recent years embarked on a career in banking with one of AustraliaÕs leading banks.
He has had business responsibilities in more than thirty countries and has lived in Japan and the United States, spanning a period of seven years.
For seventeen years, Ian was the publisher/editor of The Village Observer, a monthly newspaper serving the municipalities of Lane Cove and Hunters Hill in Sydney, Australia.
IanÕs career has also involved the not-for-profit sector where for more than twenty five years he has steered community charitable organisations and their relationships with the community and the three levels of government. He is currently Vice President and Life Member of Lane Cove & Northside Community Services Limited and the Lane Cove Community Aid Foundation.
Ian served as an Alderman/Councillor on Lane Cove Council for twenty one years (1991-2012) and was elected Mayor five times. He was awarded the title Emeritus Mayor by the Local Government & Shires Association of NSW in 2009 and received a Local Government Service Medal in 2011.
His local government career has included chairing insurance pooling operations (Public Liability, Professional Indemnity, Motor Vehicle and Property insurances) for a number of NSW local government authorities (Auburn, Baulkham Hills, Blacktown, Blue Mountains, Botany Bay, Canada Bay, Drummoyne, Fairfield, Holroyd, Hawkesbury, Hunters Hill, Kiama, Lane Cove, Liverpool, Marrickville, Parramatta, Penrith, Rockdale, Shellharbour, Wollongong).
Ian is currently the Chair of the NSW GovernmentÕs Property Services Advisory Council, the Commissioner for NSW for the Clan MacCallum Malcolm Society of Australia & New Zealand, the Chairman of the Lane Cove Club, Patron of the Lane Cove Art Society and Greenwich/Lane Cove Computers for Seniors and a Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. He has been a member of the Rotary Club of Lane Cove for nearly twenty years and is a Paul Harris Fellow.
Peter Brown is currently General Manager of Lane Cove Council, a position he has held since 2002. Peter has also previously held numerous senior public sector roles in a number of State Government Departments including NSW Health, Premiers, Public Service Board and Department of Community Services. Peter has an old rusting Malvern Star somewhere in his garage and is well experienced at riding a bike that goes nowhere at the gym. He hopes to have died just before 2037 so that his coffin can get a lift to the crematorium in one of the last remaining cars.
Clara Mazzone's tertiary education reflects her diversity of interests. After spending a year as a scholarship student studying Speech and Drama in New York, she completed a Bachelor of Arts at the University of Adelaide majoring in environmental studies and politics before moving to Sydney to study Renewable Energy Engineering at the University of New South Wales' Centre of Excellence in Photovoltaics.
Clara spent two years as project manager of the UNSW Solar Racing Team during which time the team raised $280,000 designed, built and raced a new solar car bringing home the award for fastest silicon car in the World Solar Challenge in 2009. This time also enabled her to develop skills in organisation and communication and the opportunity to raise awareness in alternative transport and renewable energy technologies. Clara currently works as an engineer and project manager at a renewable energy consulting firm GSES.
Russ Webber is a retired meteorologist who was posted to Sydney in 1970 when the weather forecast was limited to Ôtoday and tomorrowÕ! Satellite photos were in their infancy, on reflection of very poor quality, but none-the-less welcomed by forecasters. In the mid-1970Õs, computer modelling was introduced resulting in forecasts extending to the second day. With further refinements and developments over the decades forecasts now extend out to 7 to 10 days.
In 1983 Russ became vice-president of Bicycle NSW, holding this position for the next 17 years. In 2000, Russ developed the concept of HarbourLink (www.sydneyharbourlink.com), a mostly elevated cycleway / pedestrian facility to complete the 3km long Òmissing linkÓ between the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the shared user path (SUP) at Naremburn. Here, a 7.5km long SUP extends along the Gore Hill Freeway corridor, underpassing the Pacific Highway then Epping Rd (Lane Cove) through to North Ryde, these works taking place as part of the Lane Cove Tunnel Project. Close to 120 cyclists an hour now ride past the Lane Cove Council in the morning peak compared to less than a handful just three years ago. Closer to the city, over 800 cyclists an hour ride across the Sydney Harbour Bridge during the morning peak, close to 10% of the SHB mix, yet cyclists still need to negotiate 55 steps at the northern end of the SHB as well as riding through the North Sydney CBD, probably the most hostile environment in Australia. The 2008 PricewaterhouseCoopers study into the corridor reported a benefit / cost ratio of nearly 5:1 yet funding for HarbourLink is still uncertain!
For over three decades Russ has been involved in attempting to achieve a much better balance for pedestrians and cyclists in the region, being a long time member of council bicycle committees in Lane Cove, Willoughby and North Sydney, and a member of Lane Cove CouncilÕs Sustainability committee. With the increasing recognition of health problems, including the massive costs of lack of exercise leading to obesity and diabetes, cycling is perfectly situated to play an important role in making our cities far more liveable while achieving major health and financial benefits. In recognition of this commitment to cycling he won the Cycling Promotion FundÕs 2008 national award for advocacy.
Beginning at SydneyÕs The Manly Daily in 1985, Steve Panozzo has spent almost half of his 27-year career working in newspapers and magazines which has included appearing daily in The Australian and The Daily Telegraph and as a regular contributor to a range of trade and specialty publications.
SteveÕs on-the-spot talents have attracted an impressive client list and is regularly hired for major exhibitor events and conferences. His cartoons and caricatures have appeared in more than 35 books, and his work has been hung in over 40 exhibitions in Australia and overseas.
A Life Member of the Australian CartoonistsÕ Association, Steve served as its President in 1992-93 and again in 1998-99. In 2010, Steve was was awarded the Jim Russell Award for his Outstanding Contribution to Australian Cartooning.
After a short stint at studying law, Don decided not to follow in the family footsteps. He became creatively sidetracked, dropped out of law & into the world of entertaining. After a stint at Teachers College, where he diversified his talents then taught briefly, he began a musical career ~ playing the guitar & singing ~ soon with cymbals between the knees, a harmonica, kazoo, bass drum at one foot & electric bass at the other ~ leading to the development of his electronic stereophonic one man band.
After a flirtation with musical composition, song writing & rock band backing for performances at several festivals, Don took to the road with his Family Variety Show. He built a giant chook-caravan, called 'Cheepy Cheeky Chook', & used a small portable PA to promote the show through speakers which were the eyes of this "chook." He created his childrens' characters: Rudy Trudy Rooster & the Spunky Monkey into separate kids shows to appeal to different ages. He booked town halls & other venues the width & breadth of NZ where he performed his 2 hour solo show. The Rudy Trudy Rooster & Spunky Monkey Cookery Shows were soon snapped up by shopping centres for school holiday entertainment on both sides of the Tasman.
The Phantom Bantam ~ a fibreglass rooster sculptured around a VW was hatched, as a stunt, out of a giant egg, which featured on the front page of the New Zealand Herald the next day. The Phantom Bantam Antics act ~ with the dominant theme being political satire, interspersed with a potpourri of romantic poetry, one man band, witty quips, the musical saw & his even more novel instrument the 'kitchen sink' ~ toured universities, colleges of advanced educations & TAFES in Australia & New Zealand. The first tour was 'Phantom Bantam Antics'. This was followed by the 'C.E.R. Comsumation Pilgrimage" [where Don promoted 'Closer Entertainment Relations' under C.E.R , the Closer Economic Relations agreement ratified by the Australian & NZ governments.] Concurrently, his penchant for poetry at the time, lead to the self publication of three books.
The hybrid SubaRooster was born [with some sponsorship from Subaru] as a "Closer Embryonic Relations" assignment under C.E.R. Working round the clock Don completed the provisional artistic work, to incorporate symbolic Australian & NZ wildlife within the fibreglass structure of the vehicle - the common rooster, emu, kangaroo & kiwi - barely completed in time for an appearance at Sydney Festival, before immediately hitting the road for shopping centre appearances in Geelong. That year saw the "No Paltry Natter" migration tour of Australian campuses. The SubaRooster became undoubtedly the most photographed car on the Australian roads & was soon affectionately referred to as the "Chookmobile" by the Australian public.
Don was the instigator of skifield entertainment down under & his Rudy Trudy Rooster character entertained children on skis. Once he once took off over a steep volcanic chute at Mt Ruapehu, flapped his wings & after a brief moment of appeared to fly, before landing very heavily in deep snow. This stunt was not repeated! He built a musical speaker box, that acted like a ghetto-blaster & led skiers on a pied piper to rock music. The Spunky Monkey, being essentially a cooking show character, confined himself t opening ski races & novelty appearances, along with some occasional mountain recipes. These characters appeared as school holiday attractions at Coronet Peak, Turoa Skifield on Mt Ruapehu & Mt Hutt in New Zealand, then at Guthega Skifield in Australia. They were then booked out for each school holiday seasons at shopping centres from Adelaide to Cairns & Sydney to Perth & appeared on Wonderworld.
By this time, Don felt he had lived out of a "chook" & a suitcase for long enough. [How many people can claim to actually live in a chook, as a home for well over a year of touring, then travel in & with another chook over the Nullabor Plains, beyond the black stump to the Daintree Rainforest in Northern Queensland?!] After considerable touring & a number of TV appearances, Don reached the next major crossroad & settled in Sydney where he formed the company, Comedy Specialists. On many occasions he had been billed as a "comedian" when performing the 'Phantom Bantam Antics' show. He would often begin the show explaining that he was a satirist rather than a comedian, & people were welcome to laugh whenever they liked, but not to expect a laugh every few seconds of the show. So it seemed a natural progression to convert the touring SubaRooster into the "Chookmobile-'Limo' Act" & to initiate Comedygrams as short witty speeches delivered by crazy costumed characters, mainly for birthdays & other special occasions. Don was soon also in demand for Corporate Speeches, with customised speeches depicting a factitious character or scenario. These are a lot of fun, presented seriously, then finishing with one-liners about guests in the audience, while the 'penny dropped' that they had been duped.
With Comedy Specialists well & truly established for over two decades, presenting Chookmobile-'Limo' Acts, customised Script Writing, Cake Acts, Corporate Speeches, Santa Comedy & Dance Acts for company Christmas parties, company picnic packages, Kids Birthday Parties, & Comical Catering ~ with costumed waiters & waitresses masquerading as a host of crazy characters with costume changes every half hour ~ Don Murchison is cemented as part of the performance fabric of Sydney & indeed Australia.
In 2000, Don initiated the Jungle Chalet Art & Craft Exhibition. This initially was an avenue for Don to display his artworks, especially environmental nature-inspired leadlight windows & glass-art mosaics. Before long he began transforming his home, the Jungle Chalet, into an artistic wonderland. He penned the term "hygromorphomatics" = the artistic harvesting of rainwater to replicate artificial streams, ponds & waterfalls. The last seven years he has created an outdoor artscape with installations to enhance the natural rainforest environment he lives in. For the past 6 years the Jungle Chalet Art, Craft & Watergarden Exhibition has featured in the Lane Cove Cameraygal Festival, as well as the Willoughby Spring Festival, as part of the Open Studio Weekend. This year is the 12th annual exhibition.
With an interest in politics & an earlier urge to stand as the "Paltry Party", as opposed to the "Poultry Party", Don has been involved on various community committees ~ Greenwich Community Association, Friends of Lane Cove, Greenwich Rainforest Reserve Committee, Community Pathways Project & is currently chair of Lane Cove Council's Bicycle Facilities Working Committee.
Don is passionate about skiing & windsurfing & a staunch advocate of cycling for local transport ~ to counter to obesity, for family recreation & to reduce pollution levels, parking problems & congestion on the roads. However cycling on the roads locally is madness, hence he staunchly supports infrastructure for off-road shared pathways. Recently he sees electric assisted bikes as an answer to Sydney's traffic woos, by providing exercise for the cyclist, being fun to ride & enabling differing levels of competence to cope with Sydney's hilly terrain. If there was a meaningful network of linked shared pathways throughout Sydney, the risk of death in the car door zone would not be an issue & all mobilities would be able to access key destinations without having to be reliant on the car.
Life changed again for Don in 2010, with the birth of Don & Rachel's lovely daughter Monique. People told Don his life would never be the same again. Did Don believe them? ~ No! However in hindsight these people were right & Don is now enjoying fatherhood, while watching with fascination as his toddler daughter learns, ponders, discovers & responds to music, dancing and the wonders of life.
This web page is in the process of being created. Please check for regular updates. Thank you.
DON MURCHISON
Jungle Chalet,
GREENWICH,
SYDNEY, NSW, 2065.
AUSTRALIA.
| fun@comedyspecialists.com.au | |
| Phone: | 61 - 2 - 9906 2350. (9am - 6pm, Monday - Friday. |
This page was last amended 3.8.2012.