1984
CITATION
Mr Chancellor,
When mention is made of the National Stockman's Hall of Fame and Heritage Centre at Longreach, most Queenslanders, and indeed many other Australians, will associate with it the name of its principal protagonist and staunch advocate, Sir James Graham Walker, pastoralist and long-time Shire Council Chairman.
It would be incorrect, though, to measure Sir James' contributions to the State only in terms of the Hall of Fame, for he has an outstanding record in community affairs, in education, and in charitable and cultural organisations.
Sir James has been Chairman of the Longreach Shire Council since 1957, having first been elected as a Councillor over thirty years ago. He was Chairman of the Capricornia Electricity Board from 1977 to 1982 having previously been Chairman of the Central Western Electricity Board from 1966. He was elected Deputy Chairman of the Longreach Pastoral College in 1965, becoming Chairman in 1978, a position he retained until 1982.
He established, and remains part-owner of the Cumberland Santa Gertrudis Stud and the Wakefield Merino Sheep Property. The first Stud cattle sale was held in 1958, and, with one exception, sales have been an annual event since then. Cumberland has won acclaim throughout Australia for its success in the breeding of Santa Gertrudis cattle.
As deputy chairman of the National Stockman's Hall of Fame and Heritage centre from 1979 and as chairman since 1982, he has seen his vision of a national rural museum approach realization. Yet despite his intensified activity in this project he has not slackened in his charitable and local government service.
Mr. Chancellor, for his services to the community, to the heritage of rural Australia, and to the State of Queensland, I present Sir James Graham Walker, Member of the Order of the British Empire, for the award of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, to which he has been admitted by the Senate of the University.