La Trobe Society Oration
THE 2019 LA TROBE SOCIETY ORATION ‘LA TROBE: THEN AND NOW’ Tuesday 22nd October 2019 Diane Gardiner AM, President, The C.J. La Trobe Society Distinguished guests Ladies and gentlemen First, I acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land upon which we are gathering and pay my respects to their Elders past and present and to any Elders here with us this evening. Tony and I are delighted to be here. That said, let me start by telling you frankly, that I have never accepted an invitation to deliver an Oration without mixed emotions. On the one hand, the honour of being invited is never lost on me. I look at the previous orators, their expertise and the erudite topics that they have chosen, and I am truly honoured to be amongst them. At the same time, I look at the previous orators, their expertise and the erudite topics that they have chosen, and my heart sinks! 1 Then, if that weren’t challenging enough, on this occasion there is the additional problem that so much …..so very much …. has already been written about the namesake of this Oration, Charles Joseph La Trobe. It is of course little wonder, given the pivotal role that he played early in the modern history of our State, after arriving here on 4 February 1839, as Superintendent of the Port Phillip District of the Colony of New South Wales. The challenge is even more profound with an audience of many people far more knowledgeable than me on the topic. There are, I am sure you will agree, certain ‘givens’ when we talk of La Trobe.
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