Buntine Oration


The Buntine Oration is a biennial invited presentation and speech made at the conference of the Australian College of Educators. It was established in 1960 by the four children of Dr Walter Murray Buntine who survived him - Dr R. M. Buntine, Dr M. A. Buntine, Dr R. D. Buntine, and Mrs. D. M. G. Wilson - in his memory. The inaugural oration was given by Peter Karmel in 1962 at the third annual ACE conference and the most recent was in 2008.

Buntine Family

Dr Walter Buntine had a significant role in the development of education in the Australian state of Victoria from his position as headmaster of Caulfield Grammar School. His son, Dr M. Arnold Buntine, was an Australian rules footballer who played with St Kilda before studying education and earning a PhD from the University of Edinburgh. Prior to World War II, Arnold was headmaster of Camberwell Grammar School in Victoria and then the Hale School in Western Australia. He served at Tobruk and in Syria as a captain in the 2/28th Battalion. Ultimately rising to Lieutenant-Colonel, he led the 2/11th Battalion. He returned to the Hale School in 1944, returning to Victoria in 1945 as headmaster of Geelong College. Arnold was married to Gladys Buntine, who was the Chief Commissioner of the Australian Girl Guides from 1962 until 1968 and an advocate for the importance of education. She was awarded first an OBE and later an MBE for her services to youth. Robert Buntine, their son, had leadership roles at The King's School and Newington College in Sydney. Professor Mark Buntine of Curtin University of Technology is the most current of the Buntine family of educators.

List of orations

The Buntine Oration has been delivered by many highly recognised people. Paul Hasluck was the Australian Minister for External Affairs at the time he delivered the 1964 oration, going on to become Governor-General of Australia in 1969. Zelman Cowen was the Governor-General at the time of the 1980 oration. Michael Somare was elected to the first national parliament of Papua New Guinea in 1972, becoming chief minister by the time of the 1974; he became the country's first Prime Minister when independence was granted in 1975. 2006 orator Peter Doherty shared the 1996 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine and was the 1997 Australian of the Year. Two High Court justices have given the oration, as has the Chancellor of the Australian National University and the inaugural President of the ACE, James Darling.
YearOratorTopicReferences
1962Professor Peter H. Karmel Some Economic Aspects of Education
1964Sir Paul M. C. Hasluck Australia and its Neighbours
1966Professor Percy H. PartridgeSome Problems of Educational Policy in Democratic Societies
1968Sir John G. Crawford The Accountability of Universities
1970Dr H. C. "Nugget" CoombsHuman Values - Education in the Changing Australian Society
1972Sir James R. Darling Responsibility
1974Sir Michael T. Somare Education for Self-Reliance
1976Hugh R. Hudson MHAThe Political Economy of Educational Advancement
1978Professor Barbara FalkPersonal Identity Making in Australia
1980Sir Zelman Cowan Politics in Education
1982Professor Kwong Lee Dow Education Policy Making in Australia
1984Justice Michael D. Kirby Education - On Hanging In There
1986Professor Hedley Beare Shared Meanings About Education: The Economic Paradigm Considered
1988Professor Di Yerbury The Tradition of Scholarly Excellence
1990Dr Stephen A. FitzGerald Asia, Education, and the Australian Mind
1992Chief Justice K. J. Austin Asche The Literacy Imperative
1994Professor Paige H. PorterWomen and Leadership in Education: The Construction of Gender in the Workplace
1996Chief Justice Robert S. French Educating for Democracy in the Twenty First Century
1997Professor Frances H. ChristieLiteracy Research and Teaching: Paradigms for the Late Twentieth Century
1998Professor Millicent E. PooleRe-Framing Higher Education: Mind the Market
1999Alan RubyDifference is the Essence of Humanity
2000Professor Barry McGaw International Comparisons of Expenditure in Education
2001Professor Swee-Hin TohUprooting Violence, Growing Peace: Education for Compassionate Citizenship
2003Professor Stephanie YoungPassive Consumers or Co-creators - Listening to Learners?
2004Stephen DownesLearning Networks
2006Professor Peter C. Doherty The Education Challenge for a Knowledge Economy
2008Professor Joseph Lo BiancoImagination, Inspiration, Innovation

Footnotes