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 and Combined Associated Schools 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, 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 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 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

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:
The only people to have won the competition on two occasions are:

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.
There has been criticism that the competition is exclusive to high school boys and that girls cannot enter.

Previous winners and runners-up

YearWinnerSchoolRunner-upSchoolThird placeSchool
1935RF HughesSt Ignatius' College----
1936DF CummingsSt. Ignatius' College----
1937J D E Bedford20px Shore----
1938WB Pritchard20px Shore----
1939RW Bowie20px Sydney Grammar----
1940RW Bowie20px Sydney Grammar----
1941FA Jensen20px Sydney Grammar----
1942Not held----
1943AC GouldSt Ignatius' College----
1944P ClyneSydney Boys High----
1945AE Melville20px Shore----
1946HH Jamieson20px Shore----
1947AM Gallagher
W Glen-Doepel		St Joseph's
Sydney Boys High aeq		----
1948B BeveridgeSydney Boys High----
1949AD Robb
AD Dingle		Sydney Boys High
20px Knox aeq		----
1950GJ WoodburneSydney Boys High----
1951DH Lance20px Sydney Grammar----
1952JM Bennett20px Shore----
1953A. Murray GleesonSt Joseph's----
1954M Halstead20px St Aloysius'----
1955A. Murray GleesonSt Joseph's----
1956JP HamiltonSydney Boys High----
1957LD WaddyKing's----
1958Mungo MacCallumCranbrook----
1959AG WhealySt Ignatius' College----
1960BP JonesSt Ignatius' College----
1961C. Wayne Hudson20px Newington----
1962Gerard C WindsorSt Ignatius' College----
1963Nick F GreinerSt Ignatius' College----
1964Clifton R HoebenSt Ignatius' College----
1965CG McDonaldSt. Ignatius' College----
1966Nick P EnrightSt Ignatius' College----
1967JS EyersSt Ignatius' College----
1968PA BoyleSt Ignatius' College----
1969WJ KavanaghSt Ignatius' College----
1970L Olson20px Sydney Grammar----
1971JD ScahillSt Ignatius' College----
1972Malcolm B Turnbull20px Sydney Grammar----
1973P Green20px Newington----
1974AC ByrnesSt Ignatius' College----
1975JJ McInernySt Ignatius' College----
1976RR Harper20px Sydney Grammar----
1977S MarksSt Joseph's----
1978DI McMahon20px Shore----
1979Max Bonnell20px Trinity----
1980CG ManganSt Joseph's----
1981CM Kelly20px Sydney Grammar----
1982Bruce MeagherSt Ignatius' College----
1983Mark SwivelSydney Boys High----
1984J Rice20px St Aloysius'----
1985S Nixon20px Sydney Grammar----
1986Adam Spencer20px St Aloysius'----
1987A McKenna20px St Aloysius'----
1988Andrew O'KeefeSt Ignatius' College----
1989B FranklinCranbrook----
1990JN GreinerSt Ignatius' College----
1991Max Wood20px Trinity----
1992Angus Fitzsimons20px Knox----
1993Charles Firth20px Sydney Grammar----
1994Mark WalshSt Ignatius' College----
1995David Yeo20px Sydney Grammar----
1996Peter Phillips20px Newington----
1997Gareth TilleySydney Boys High----
1998Jeremy Bell20px TrinityJames Brown20px Knox--
1999Anthony JonesScots----
2000Anthony JonesScots----
2001Jeremy Raper20px Sydney Grammar----
2002Jeremy Raper20px Sydney Grammar----
2003Not awardedWinner voluntarily agreed to give up award after a similar speech had been given at a previous competition2nd and 3rd place also queried and so not awarded--
2004Mark Longhurst20px NewingtonKip WilliamsCranbrook--
2005Patrick Bateman20px Sydney GrammarHayden Guthrie20px Barker College--
2006Vikram Joshi20px Sydney GrammarNathaniel Ware20px Barker College--
2007Edward Miller20px NewingtonVikram Joshi20px Sydney Grammar--
2008Joseph Ware20px Barker CollegeWilliam HarrisScotsSam Molloy20px Sydney Grammar
2009Joseph Ware20px Barker CollegeConor BatemanKing'sDaniel Farinha20px St Aloysius'
2010James Monaghan20px Sydney GrammarDaniel Farinha20px St Aloysius'Jack Price20px Barker College
2011Bo Seo20px Barker CollegeMichael Rees20px NewingtonJames Monaghan20px Sydney Grammar
2012Ed Minack20px ShoreBo Seo20px Barker CollegeHarry MaherSt Joseph's College
2013Robbie Ferguson20px KnoxEd Minack20px ShoreManish Poologasundram20px Trinity
2014Tushaar GargSydney Boys HighRobbie Ferguson20px KnoxJoshua WoollerScots
2015Alex Connolly20px TrinityJake Jerogin20px KnoxSam Wolfe20px Sydney Grammar
2016James Elhindi20px St Aloysius'William Solomon20px Barker CollegeZachary AugustScots
2017Joe BonicScotsDaniel Yim20px Sydney GrammarCharlie HoffmanSt Ignatius' College
2018Jack IssaSt Joseph's CollegeSebastian BrahamSt Ignatius' CollegeJustin LaiSydney Boys High
2019Sebastian BrahamSt Ignatius' CollegeAman MohamedSydney Boys HighJinyoung KimKing's
2020Finn McCredieShoreJivan NaganathanSydney Boys HighJack Davies
Jude Egerton-Warburton		St Aloysius'
St Ignatius' College
2021Bernard LundSt Joseph's CollegeAidan WooSydney GrammarJivan NaganathanSydney Boys High
2022Marcus NguyenScotsMatthew DaviesSt Aloysius'William RyanSt Joseph's College
2023Ethan ZhuKing'sEric ScholtenSydney Boys HighDaniel CarterNewington
2024Isaac FordSt Ignatius' CollegeHugo SharkeySydney GrammarMurphy XiKing's
2025Callum O’LoughlinSt Aloysius'James PeateWaverleyMurphy XiKing's