Speech
Third International Conference on Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology
Ladies and Gentlemen, I greet you in the languages of the realm of New Zealand - English, Maori, CookIsland, Niue and Tokelau.
Kia Ora, Kia Orana, Fakalofa Lahi Atu, Taloha Ni
May I then specify greetings to you, Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand, Hon Dr Michael Cullen; Nobel Laureates Professors Steven Chu and Sir Harry Kroto; Your Excellency the Ambassador for Korea, Mr Joon-gyu Lee; Director of the MacDiarmid Institute, Professor Paul Callaghan and your colleagues; Delegates; Ladies and Gentlemen.
Welcome to this Government House reception.
It is a privilege to greet so many distinguished and accomplished people from across the world who have made the journey to the South Pacific, and to Wellington, for this Third International Conference of Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology.
To have two Nobel Laureates, Professor Steven Chu and Professor Sir Harry Kroto here, is a matter of particular distinction.
The guest list of delegates comprises people from many continents but it is particularly interesting to see a strong contingent from the Republic of Korea. New Zealand and Korea have a strong relationship on many levels - business, trade and tourism for example and science is just one of the many other ways in which the close links between both countries continue to be forged.
Our country's pleasure at having you here, Ladies and Gentlemen, is of course, tinged with considerable sadness.
New Zealanders lost a great countryman last week, with the passing of Nobel Prize winner Professor Alan MacDiarmid.
New Zealand is not alone in mourning this man who made an extraordinary contribution to science, through his research and through his ability to popularise his less than understood field.
Professor MacDiarmid was described as one of the very great minds of the international scientific community and his loss will be strongly felt in a great many places.
Alan MacDiarmid was born in Masterton on 14 April 1927. For those of you who are not local, Masterton is a medium sized rural city just an hour by road north of Wellington.
Today it sits in the centre of one of the centres of our country's thriving wine industry, but during Alan's childhood in the late 20s and early 30s Masterton was in the grips of a depression.
Many accounts of his New Zealand childhood, including his own, show how influential those early years were in forming the compassionate, hard-working and optimistic man New Zealanders knew and respected.
He himself said of his early years:
The fact that we were poor made us self-reliant and conscious of the value of money. The fact we were closely knit taught us the important aspects of interpersonal relationships.
I mention his New Zealand childhood in a little detail because he himself credited his formative years with having had a significant impact on what he later achieved.
Those achievements are well-documented. I am certain that all of you here tonight are aware of his work regarding conductive polymers - work which ultimately saw him receive the Nobel Prize with two colleagues for Chemistry in 2000.
The people of New Zealand are extremely proud of Professor Alan MacDiarmid. He demonstrated that our country is capable of producing scientists of the highest calibre.
In the South Pacific, there is a saying that when a beloved leader dies, that the stones and earth weep. Ua tagi le fatu ma le ele e elee. This was said for example in Samoa in 1894 when Robert Louis Stevenson died. It was more recently said last year 2006 when Dame te Atairangikaahu died in New Zealand. I respectfully say it again today on the demise of Alan McDiarmid.
The MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology will continue its great work in his name.
I know his passing will have changed the mood of this Conference, and perhaps its focus somewhat. However, I am reliably informed that Professor McDiarmid would have wanted the Conference to proceed as planned.
Conferences of this nature are hugely valuable as they offer unmatched opportunity to share wisdom and ideas with others of like-mind. In this sense it provides a unique setting in which you may build ongoing connections and working relationships with people whose work you may have followed or appreciated from afar.
May I resonate congratulations to the McDiarmid Institute for overseeing this remarkable gathering of some of the most eminent Physicists and Chemists in the world and in developing what will be a lasting legacy - its agenda.
Like its namesake, the Institute is working hard to maintain New Zealand's presence on the world science stage and congratulations are due in that regard.
Ladies and Gentlemen I hope you enjoy this event and others. I began speaking in all the New Zealand realm languages. May I close by speaking in Maori issuing greetings and wishing you good health and fortitude in your endeavours.
No reira, tena koutou, tena koutou, kia ora koutou katoa