1980
CITATION
MR. CHANCELLOR:
THERE IS AN OPINION WIDELY SHARED IN THE COMMUNITY THAT OUR PRESENT STUDENTS ARE AN UNDISCIPLINED LOT, IN STRIKING CONTRAST TO THE ORDERLY WELL BEHAVED STUDENTS OF THE PAST. SIR HARRY GIBBS WILL KNOW HOW FICTITIOUS THIS IS. HE WAS ADMITTED TO THE DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF LAWS OF THIS UNIVERSITY WITH FIRST CLASS HONOURS ON THE I ST APRIL 1939, HA YING PREVIOUSLY GRADUATED WITH FIRST CLASS HONOURS IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE IN 1937. THE NEXT DAY THE COURIER MAIL HAD THE FOLLOWING HEADLINE "CHANCELLOR UNABLE TO FINISH SPEECH; BOISTEROUS STUDENTS AT DEGREE CEREMONY". THE REPORT WENT ON, "BECAUSE OF BOISTEROUS INTERRUPTION BY HUNDREDS OF STUDENTS, THE CHANCELLOR OF THE QUEENSLAND UNIVERSITY, SIR JAMES BLAIR, DID NOT COMPLETE HIS SPEECH AT THE ANNUAL DEGREE DAY CEREMONY IN THE CITY HALL YESTERDAY AFTERNOON".
PERHAPS THE BOISTEROUS STUDENTS WERE A REFLECTION OF THE TURBULENT WORLD OF 1939. SIR HARRY'S GRADUATION OCCURRED ONLY A FEW MONTHS BEFORE THE OUTBREAK OF WAR AND FROM 1939 TO 1942 HE SERVED HIS COUNTRY AS A MEMBER OF THE AUSTRALIAN MILITARY FORCES, AND FROM I 942 TO 1945 AS A MEMBER OF THE AUSTRALIAN IMPERIAL FORCE IN PAPUA NEW GUINEA. HIS INTEREST IN THE LEGAL SYSTEM OF PAPUA NEW GUINEA BECAME THE BASIS FOR A MASTER OF LAWS DEGREE, AWARDED IN 1946.
ONE MEMORABLE EVENT IN HIS EARLY STUDIES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF QUEENSLAND WAS HIS SUCCESS, USING THE BEACH SAND AT SOUTHPORT AS A DRAWING BOARD, IN DEVELOPING A NON-EUCLIDIAN GEOMETRY WHEREIN HE PROVED THAT ALL POINTS ARE THE SAME POINT AND, AS A COROLLARY OF THAT, THAT THE POINT IS BOTH STRAIGHT AND CURVED. THE EXTENSION OF THIS RESULT INTO A CAREER IN LAW IS OBVIOUS.
AFTER THE WAR HE RAPIDLY BUILT UP A HIGH REPUTATION AS AN ADVOCATE AND AS A LA WYER AND WAS APPOINTED A QUEEN'S COUNSEL IN 1957. HE BECAME A JUSTICE OF THE SUPREME COURT OF QUEENSLAND IN 1961; A JUSTICE OF THE FEDERAL COURT OF BANKRUPTCY AND OF THE SUPREME COURT OF THE AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY IN 1967. IN 1970 HE WAS APPOINTED A JUSTICE OF THE HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA AND HAS SERVED AS ACTING CHIEF JUSTICE. IN 1970 HE WAS MADE A KNIGHT COMMANDER OF THE ORDER OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE AND IN 1972 WAS APPOINTED A MEMBER OF HER MAJESTY'S PRIVY COUNCIL.
DURING HIS YEARS AT THE QUEENSLAND BAR AND ON THE QUEENS-LAND BENCH HE MAINTAINED CLOSE TIES WITH THE LAW SCHOOL. HE WAS A PART-TIME LECTURER FROM 1948 TO 1959 AND WAS A MEMBER OF THE BOARD OF THE FACULTY OF LAW UNTIL 1967. HIS TRANSLATION TO LESS FORTUNATE PARTS OF THE COMMONWEALTH HAS NOT LESSENED HIS INTEREST IN THE UNIVERSITY OF QUEENSLAND HAVING ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS IN RECENT YEARS SPOKEN AT FUNCTIONS ORGANISED BY THE LAW SCHOOL AND BY THE UNIVERSITY. HE IS THE VISITOR TO INTERNATIONAL HOUSE.
AT A GRADUATION CEREMONY A FEW YEARS AGO WHEN HE GAVE THE ADDRESS TO THE GRADUATES, SIR HARRY BEGAN BY REMARKING THAT HE HAD TRIED TO RECALL WHAT HAD BEEN SAID AT SUCH CEREMONIES WHICH HE HAD ATTENDED IN THE PAST AND COULD REMEMBER ALMOST NOTHING. THAT IS HARDLY SURPRISING PARTICULARLY IN THE CASE OF HIS OWN LL.B. GRADUATION CEREMONY REFERRED TO EARLIER.
BUT WHILE THE MEMORY OF WORDS OFTEN FADES QUICKLY, THE MEMORY OF DISTINGUISHED ACHIEVEMENT AND OF DEVOTED SERVICE DOES NOT.
SIR HARRY GIBBS HAS GIVEN GREAT SERVICE TO THE STATE OF QUEENSLAND AND TO THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA AS A JUSTICE FIRST OF THE STATE SUPREME COURT AND LATER OF THE FEDERAL COURTS. THE UNIVERSITY IS PLEASED AND PROUD TO HONOUR SUCH SERVICE AND THE CONTRIBUTIONS THAT HE HAS MADE TO THE UNIVERSITY OF QUEENSLAND.
MR. CHANCELLOR, I PRESENT TO YOU HARRY TALBOT GIBBS, PRIVY COUNCILLOR, KNIGHT COMMANDER OF THE MOST EXCELLENT ORDER OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE, BACHELOR OF ARTS, MASTER OF LAWS, FOR ADMISSION TO THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF LAWS HONORIS CA USA.