# Lawrence Campbell Oratory Competition

The Lawrence Campbell Oratory Competition is an annual competition in impromptu public speaking between representatives of each of the Great Public Schools (GPS) and Combined Associated Schools (CAS) in New South Wales, Australia. It was established in 1935, in honour of Lawrence Campbell, a famous teacher of elocution in various schools in Sydney, in the early twentieth century. Between 2006 and 2013, in all but one year (2009), the competition was won by a student in year 11. At the 2015 World University Debating Championships in Malaysia, three of the eight speakers in the Grand Final (representing Sydney, Oxford, and Harvard) were former Lawrence Campbell winners – a testament to the quality of the Lawrence Campbell competition.

## Format

The Lawrence Campbell Oratory is widely regarded as the most prestigious, and difficult of the New South Wales Public Speaking Competitions. Each school is represented by one speaker. Each speaker is required to give a speech of eight minutes length of one of three topics given to him or her 15 minutes beforehand. In this competition, the emphasis is on oratory, the art of speech, and so the manner of delivery counts at least equally with the subject matter. The emphasis is on giving a speech that combines humour with pathos, dramatic elements with more conversational moments, serious commentary with light-hearted asides, quotations drawn from a variety of sources, but all around a common thread based on the chosen topic, and showing the style of the candidate. Accordingly, the style of speech is very different from many other public speaking competitions in which candidates research and prepare speeches of their own in advance, often on questions of current affairs or public policy. With only fifteen minutes to prepare and without the aid of books or references, the content of the speech will test the candidates' general knowledge and ingenuity.

## Participating schools

| School | Location | Enrollment | Founded | Denomination | Day/Boarding | School Colors | Number of wins |
| Barker College | Hornsby | 2700 | 1890 | Anglican | Day & Boarding | Red & Blue | 3 |
| Cranbrook School | Bellevue Hill | 1600 | 1918 | Anglican | Day & Boarding | Red, White & Blue | 2 |
| Knox Grammar School | Wahroonga | 3200 | 1924 | Uniting Church | Day & Boarding | Black & Blue | 3 |
| Newington College | Stanmore | 2000 | 1863 | Uniting Church | Day & Boarding | Black & White | 5 |
| St Aloysius' College | Milsons Point | 1300 | 1879 | Catholic (Jesuit) | Day | Blue & Gold | 5 |
| St Ignatius' College | Riverview | 1500 | 1880 | Catholic (Jesuit) | Day & Boarding | Blue & White | 23 |
| St Joseph's College | Hunters Hill | 1000 | 1881 | Catholic (Marist Brothers) | Day & Boarding | Cerise & Blue | 7 |
| Sydney Boys High School | Moore Park | 1200 | 1883 | N/A | Day | Chocolate Brown & Sky Blue | 8 |
| Sydney Church of England Grammar School | North Sydney | 1600 | 1889 | Anglican | Day & Boarding | Navy Blue & White | 7 |
| Sydney Grammar School | Darlinghurst | 1900 | 1854 | Non-denominational | Day | Black & Gold | 16 |
| The Armidale School | Armidale | 600 | 1894 | Anglican | Day & Boarding | Navy Blue & Straw | 0 |
| The King's School | Parramatta | 2140 | 1831 | Anglican | Day & Boarding | White & Sky Blue | 2 |
| The Scots College | Bellevue Hill | 2100 | 1893 | Presbyterian | Day & Boarding | Gold & Blue | 4 |
| Trinity Grammar School | Summer Hill | 2200 | 1913 | Anglican | Day & Boarding | Green, White & Grey | 4 |
| Waverley College | Waverley | 1500 | 1903 | Catholic | Day | Royal Blue & Gold | 0 |
Each school is represented by one speaker. Saint Ignatius’ College has the most distinguished history, with twenty-two winning candidates in the competition's history. Waverley College and The Armidale School have never fielded a winning candidate.

## Topics

Because of the emphasis on oratory, the topics usually admit of wide latitude for the candidates to be creative. Often, quotations from literature, public figures, and popular culture are chosen as topics, along with proverbs or even single words. Past topics include:
* Assume a virtue if you have it not
* One crowded hour of glorious life is worth an age without a name
* I must follow them, for I am their leader
* He thinks too much – such men are dangerous
* Because it was there
* The devil can recite scripture for his purpose
* The fault, dear Brutus, lies not in the stars
* I am Fate's lieutenant; I act under orders
* Couch Jumping
* Right as the world goes is only in issue between equals in power while the strong do as they will and the weak suffer as they must
* Chaos Often Breeds Life When Order Breeds Habit
* Look at my works, you mighty, and despair
* Two cheers for Democracy
* Blood will have Blood

## Notable past winners

The Lawrence Campbell oratory competition has many distinguished previous winners, particularly in the areas of law, politics, and the arts. Famous past winners include:
* Nick Enright (Riverview, playwright)
* Charles Firth (Sydney Grammar, comedian and television personality from The Chaser team)
* Murray Gleeson (St. Joseph's, Chief Justice of Australia)
* Nick Greiner (Riverview, Premier of NSW)
* John Hamilton (Judge of the Supreme Court of NSW)
* Clifton Hoeben (Riverview, judge of the Supreme Court of NSW)
* Wayne Hudson (Newington, professor and visiting fellow at ANU)
* Mungo MacCallum (Cranbrook, journalist and member of the Wentworth squatocracy)
* Andrew O'Keefe (Riverview, comedian and television presenter)
* Adam Spencer (St. Aloysius', ABC Television and radio presenter)
* Malcolm Turnbull (Sydney Grammar, Prime Minister of Australia)
* Lloyd Waddy (monarchist, Judge of the Family Court)
* Anthony Whealy (Judge of the Supreme Court of NSW)
* Bo Seo (Korean-Australian journalist)
The only people to have won the competition on two occasions are:
* RW Bowie (Sydney Grammar – 1939, 1940)
* Murray Gleeson (St Joseph's – 1953, 1955)
* Anthony Jones (Scots – 1999, 2000)
* Jeremy Raper (Sydney Grammar – 2001, 2002)
* Joseph Ware (Barker College – 2008, 2009)

## Controversies

There have been many controversies in the history of the competition. These usually arise out of allegations of plagiarism and the use of prepared material in the speech.
Often, the candidate is given the benefit of any doubt, if only because candidates train intensively for the competition and must necessarily think of themes, quotations, and one-liners that may emerge in the speech the candidate later gives at the competition. However, the wholesale repetition of prepared material is strongly discouraged, and with enough proof, a winner may be stripped of the title if wholesale preparation is shown.

## Previous winners and runners-up

| Year | Winner | School | Runner-up | School | Third place | School |
| 1935 | RF Hughes | St Ignatius' College |
| 1936 | DF Cummings | St. Ignatius' College |
| 1937 | J D E Bedford | Shore |
| 1938 | WB Pritchard | Shore |
| 1939 | RW Bowie | Sydney Grammar |
| 1940 | RW Bowie | Sydney Grammar |
| 1941 | FA Jensen | Sydney Grammar |
| 1942 | Not held | (Death of Lawrence Campbell) |
| 1943 | AC Gould | St Ignatius' College |
| 1944 | P Clyne | Sydney Boys High |
| 1945 | AE Melville | Shore |
| 1946 | HH Jamieson | Shore |
| 1947 | AM Gallagher W Glen-Doepel | St Joseph's Sydney Boys High aeq |
| 1948 | B Beveridge | Sydney Boys High |
| 1949 | AD Robb AD Dingle | Sydney Boys High Knox aeq |
| 1950 | GJ Woodburne | Sydney Boys High |
| 1951 | DH Lance | Sydney Grammar |
| 1952 | JM Bennett | Shore |
| 1953 | A. Murray Gleeson | St Joseph's |
| 1954 | M Halstead | St Aloysius' |
| 1955 | A. Murray Gleeson | St Joseph's |
| 1956 | JP Hamilton | Sydney Boys High |
| 1957 | LD Waddy | King's |
| 1958 | Mungo MacCallum | Cranbrook |
| 1959 | AG Whealy | St Ignatius' College |
| 1960 | BP Jones | St Ignatius' College |
| 1961 | C. Wayne Hudson | Newington |
| 1962 | Gerard C Windsor | St Ignatius' College |
| 1963 | Nick F Greiner | St Ignatius' College |
| 1964 | Clifton R Hoeben | St Ignatius' College |
| 1965 | CG McDonald | St. Ignatius' College |
| 1966 | Nick P Enright | St Ignatius' College |
| 1967 | JS Eyers | St Ignatius' College |
| 1968 | PA Boyle | St Ignatius' College |
| 1969 | WJ Kavanagh | St Ignatius' College |
| 1970 | L Olson | Sydney Grammar |
| 1971 | JD Scahill | St Ignatius' College |
| 1972 | Malcolm B Turnbull | Sydney Grammar |
| 1973 | P Green | Newington |
| 1974 | AC Byrnes | St Ignatius' College |
| 1975 | JJ McInerny | St Ignatius' College |
| 1976 | RR Harper | Sydney Grammar |
| 1977 | S Marks | St Joseph's |
| 1978 | DI McMahon | Shore |
| 1979 | Max Bonnell | Trinity |
| 1980 | CG Mangan | St Joseph's |
| 1981 | CM Kelly | Sydney Grammar |
| 1982 | Bruce Meagher | St Ignatius' College |
| 1983 | Mark Swivel | Sydney Boys High |
| 1984 | J Rice | St Aloysius' |
| 1985 | S Nixon | Sydney Grammar |
| 1986 | Adam Spencer | St Aloysius' |
| 1987 | A McKenna | St Aloysius' |
| 1988 | Andrew O'Keefe | St Ignatius' College |
| 1989 | B Franklin | Cranbrook |
| 1990 | JN Greiner | St Ignatius' College |
| 1991 | Max Wood | Trinity |
| 1992 | Angus Fitzsimons | Knox |
| 1993 | Charles Firth | Sydney Grammar |
| 1994 | Mark Walsh | St Ignatius' College |
| 1995 | David Yeo | Sydney Grammar |
| 1996 | Peter Phillips | Newington |
| 1997 | Gareth Tilley | Sydney Boys High |
| 1998 | Jeremy Bell | Trinity | James Brown | Knox |
| 1999 | Anthony Jones | Scots |
| 2000 | Anthony Jones | Scots |
| 2001 | Jeremy Raper | Sydney Grammar |
| 2002 | Jeremy Raper | Sydney Grammar |
| 2003 | Not awarded | Winner voluntarily agreed to give up award after a similar speech had been given at a previous competition | 2nd and 3rd place also queried and so not awarded | |
| 2004 | Mark Longhurst | Newington | Kip Williams | Cranbrook |
| 2005 | Patrick Bateman | Sydney Grammar | Hayden Guthrie | Barker College |
| 2006 | Vikram Joshi | Sydney Grammar | Nathaniel Ware | Barker College |
| 2007 | Edward Miller | Newington | Vikram Joshi | Sydney Grammar |
| 2008 | Joseph Ware | Barker College | William Harris | Scots | Sam Molloy | Sydney Grammar |
| 2009 | Joseph Ware | Barker College | Conor Bateman | King's | Daniel Farinha | St Aloysius' |
| 2010 | James Monaghan | Sydney Grammar | Daniel Farinha | St Aloysius' | Jack Price | Barker College |
| 2011 | Bo Seo | Barker College | Michael Rees | Newington | James Monaghan | Sydney Grammar |
| 2012 | Ed Minack | Shore | Bo Seo | Barker College | Harry Maher | St Joseph's College |
| 2013 | Robbie Ferguson | Knox | Ed Minack | Shore | Manish Poologasundram | Trinity |
| 2014 | Tushaar Garg | Sydney Boys High | Robbie Ferguson | Knox | Joshua Wooller | Scots |
| 2015 | Alex Connolly | Trinity | Jake Jerogin | Knox | Sam Wolfe | Sydney Grammar |
| 2016 | James Elhindi | St Aloysius' | William Solomon | Barker College | Zachary August | Scots |
| 2017 | Joe Bonic | Scots | Daniel Yim | Sydney Grammar | Charlie Hoffman | St Ignatius' College |
| 2018 | Jack Issa | St Joseph's College | Sebastian Braham | St Ignatius' College | Justin Lai | Sydney Boys High |
| 2019 | Sebastian Braham | St Ignatius' College | Aman Mohamed | Sydney Boys High | Jinyoung Kim | King's |
| 2020 | Finn McCredie | Shore | Jivan Naganathan | Sydney Boys High | Jack Davies Jude Egerton-Warburton | St Aloysius' St Ignatius' College |
| 2021 | Bernard Lund | St Joseph's College | Aidan Woo | Sydney Grammar | Jivan Naganathan | Sydney Boys High |
| 2022 | Marcus Nguyen | Scots | Matthew Davies | St Aloysius' | William Ryan | St Joseph's College |
| 2023 | Ethan Zhu | King's | Eric Scholten | Sydney Boys High | Daniel Carter | Newington |