Monday, 24 June 2024
Government House, Sydney.
Her Excellency the Honourable Margaret Beazley AC KC, Governor of New South Wales

Bujari gamarruwa, Diyn Babana Gamarada Gadigal Ngura

In greeting you in the language of the Gadigal, Traditional Custodians of these lands and waterways, I pay my respects to their Elders past, present, and emerging, and extend that respect to the Elders of all parts of our State from which you have travelled.

Jillian Segal, Chair, General Sir John Monash Foundation; Supporters of the Foundation; University representatives; 2024 John Monash Scholars; Alumni, Special guests all,

Of the many brilliant Australians who have stepped onto the world stage few can match that of Sir John Monash.   That as a country with a relatively small population, that we have such brilliant people is a matter of pride and curiosity.

Born in Melbourne, in 19^th century Australia, 15 years after the first University in Australia, Sydney University, was established, and being a mere 12 years of age when Melbourne University was established, colonial New South Wales and Victoria weren’t renowned for the deeply embedded intellectual traditions of the Europeans. 

However, it is almost undoubted that the tradition of learning and scholarship his parents brought to Australia from Poland set the scene in which this intellectually gifted polymath and polyglot was able to thrive - to acclaim and greatness.  He matriculated at age 14 from the Scotch College. Of the 268 candidates sitting the exams that year,^[1] he was one of only five who passed all nine subjects.^[2]

Two years later, he was awarded equal Dux of the school^[3] and, in the end-of-year competitive University Entrance exams, received the Exhibition Prize for Mathematics and First Class in French and German.^[4] He played the piano to concert level, edited University newspapers^[5], and was Chairman of the Inventor’s Association.^[6]   He was a graduate in Engineering, Arts and Law. However, it is reassuring to know that even a genius can fail, as Monash did in his first year of Arts – probably accounted for by spending a great deal of lecture time at the theatre.

As a young engineer, Monash pioneered the use of reinforced concrete.  However, it was his field genius during the First World War where his renown lays.  He fought at Gallipoli, served on the western front as a Major General, and in 1918 was appointed Australian Corps Commander, at that time the largest individual corps on the front.^[7]

The Battle of El Hamel^[8] took just 93 minutes, three minutes longer than he had meticulously planned.^[9] In the decisive victory at the Battle of Amiens^[10], he led the assault on enemy lines.  Four days later, he was knighted in the field by King George V, rare for the immediacy of the conferral of this honour.^[11]  Historian AJP Taylor went as far as to say he was “the only general of creative originality produced by the First World War”.^[12]

At the end of the War, Prime Minister Billy Hughes appointed him General Director of Repatriation.   Planning for the logistical challenge of transporting 160,000 Australian troops home, on 16 troop ships by September 1919, Monash countered the boredom of each long journey, by arranging to make available onboard 29 different courses. Subjects included: History, Politics, Economics, Latin, as well as Fruit and Irrigation, Wheat and Sheep, and – no doubt, for the benefit of engineers and administrators! - the Safe Operation of the Railways.^[13]

Although it was some 70 years after his death that the first Sir John Monash Scholarship was awarded, the foresight in establishing this Scholarship scheme, with its focus on cross-disciplinary study and practice, means that young - and not always so young - Scholars are not only supported, enabling them to flourish personally, but in ways that enhance intellectual life for the betterment of our country.  

To date, 264 Scholarships have been awarded to exceptional individuals based on their capabilities of  leadership and commitment to national issues. Eighty of these scholarships – almost one third - have been awarded to scholars from NSW. This growing cohort includes influential thought leaders and change-makers in sustainability, technology, the arts, engineering, health, law, and Indigenous affairs. The areas where previous Scholars now work is impressively diverse and includes:

• Scientia Research Fellow
• Registrar
• Lecturer in Philosophy and History; and Post-Colonial Literature
• Resident Medical Officer
• Managing Lawyer
• Artist and Lecturer in art
• Barrister
• Gender Policy Advisor
• Satellite controller
• Digital Futures
• Cardiologist
• Water engineer
• Paediatrician
• Economist for Pacific Island nations.^[14]

Special congratulations to our 2024 Scholars. Three of them from NSW^[15] are here today:

Noah Bedford, who will be undertaking a Master of Laws at Harvard University;

Veronica Sebesfi, a Master of Laws at the University of Cambridge; and

Elizabeth Younan, who will pursue a Doctorate of Musical Arts at the Juillard School in New York.

We wish you well as you embark on your overseas study and look forward to the contribution you will make to Australia in your future careers.

Today, on the 20^th Anniversary of these Awards, I thank the Foundation for Australia’s only civic-funded scholarship, supported by governments, corporations, private donors, and universities, which provides unrestricted postgraduate opportunities – ‘anywhere, anytime and at any age’.^[16]

Thank you, also, to the partnerships that have made these Scholarships possible: The volunteers who have generously given their time on selection panels and in alumni programs, and the Scholars who will continue to use their knowledge, commitment to excellence and skills: “for the benefit of the whole community”.^[17]

Finally, I leave our scholars with a warning:

Monash once said: “the privilege of education carries great responsibilities.”^[18]  I have no doubt you will carry those responsibilities well.

[1] 1879.

[2] Jewish Herald, 9 January 1880, p. 11; available here. In 1880, in 6th Form, he won prizes for English Essay and Mathematics: Australasian, 18 December 1880, p. 21; available here

[3] He was also awarded prizes for English Composition and Mathematics and Logic: Argus, 17 December 1881, p. 10; available here

[4] In the University Exams, he was only one of three to be awarded first class in Algebra, Geometry, and Trigonometry; and one of only five to be awarded First Class in French and German Australasian, 28 January 1882, p. 6; available here. His Exhibition Prize for Mathematics, along with another Exhibition Prize in 1883, paid for his first few years at the University of Melbourne: Geelong Advertiser, 15 December 1883, p. 3, available here; Argus, 23 December 1884, p. 9, available here

[5] Geoffrey Serle, ‘Sir John Monash (1865-1931)’, Australian Dictionary of Biography, available here

[6] Geoffrey Serle, ‘Sir John Monash (1865-1931)’, Australian Dictionary of Biography, available here; Anthony Robertson, ‘Smart Soldier: On Preparing for Conflict – Lessons from History, General Sir John Monash and Great Power Conflict in World War 1’, available here

[7] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Monash

[8] 4 July 1918

[9] Anglo-Zanzibar War 1896: 40 minutes

[10] 8-12 August 1918

[11] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Monash - it had not been presented for 200 years.

[12] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Monash

[13] This story is in an article which refers to a speech by The Honourable Ted Bailleau, former Premier of Victoria:

 https://hawthornrotary.org.au/stories/sir-john-monash-his-life-and-legacy

[14] Compiled from provided list

[15] One unable to attend: Domantas Kuzonkova, Biomedical Engineering, Imperial College London

[16] Provided information 

[17] https://www.monash.edu/about/who/history/sir-john-monash#:

[18] https://www.johnmonash.com/static/uploads/files/gifts-in-will-2024-wfduzsazfbln.pdf