Lawrence Campbell Oratory Competition

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.

Crest	School	Location	Enrollment	Founded	Denomination	Day/Boarding	School Colors	Number of wins
	Barker College	Hornsby	2000	1890	Anglican	Day & Boarding	Red & Blue	3
	Cranbrook School	Bellevue Hill	1000	1918	Anglican	Day & Boarding	Red, White & Blue	2
	Knox Grammar School	Wahroonga	1850	1924	Uniting Church	Day & Boarding	Black & Blue	3
	Newington College	Stanmore	1600	1863	Uniting Church	Day & Boarding	Black & White	5
	St Aloysius' College	Milsons Point	1200	1879	Catholic (Jesuit)	Day	Blue & Gold	5
	St Ignatius' College	Riverview	1569	1880	Catholic (Jesuit)	Day & Boarding	Blue & White	23
	St Joseph's College	Hunters Hill	1000	1881	Catholic (Marist Brothers)	Day & Boarding	Cerise & Blue	5
	Sydney Boys High School	Moore Park	1140	1883	N/A	Day	Chocolate Brown & Sky Blue	8
	Sydney Church of England Grammar School	North Sydney	1300	1889	Anglican	Day & Boarding	Navy Blue & White	7
	Sydney Grammar School	Darlinghurst	1109	1854	Non-denominational	Day	Black & Gold	16
	The Armidale School	Armidale	800	1894	Anglican	Day & Boarding	Navy Blue & Straw	0
	The King's School	Parramatta	1400	1831	Anglican	Day & Boarding	White & Sky Blue	1
	The Scots College	Bellevue Hill	1600	1893	Presbyterian	Day & Boarding	Gold & Blue	3
	Trinity Grammar School	Summer Hill	1700	1913	Anglican	Day & Boarding	Green, White & Grey	4
	Waverley College	Waverley	1430	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. In recent years, Sydney Grammar, Newington College and Barker College have been the most successful schools. Waverley College and The Armidale School have never fielded a winning candidate.

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

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, former 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, former Prime Minister of Australia)
• Lloyd Waddy (monarchist, Judge of the Family Court)
• Anthony Whealy (Judge of the Supreme Court of NSW)

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)

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.

• "Lawrence Campbell." Biography at the Australian Variety Theatre Archive.