Scotch College

Well-deserved recognition for 'deeds of practial beneficence'

The Macquarie Dictionary defines philanthropy as ‘love of humankind, especially as manifested in deeds of practical beneficence’.

Digging a little deeper into the Macquarie to find a definition for the little-used word ‘beneficence’, we find that it means ‘doing good or causing good to be done; conferring benefits; kindly in action or purpose’.

All 10 Old Scotch boys who received Queen’s Birthday Honours this year have certainly ‘caused good to be done’, and all thoroughly deserve the recognition they have received in their widely differing fields.

A mini reunion held this year at the home of Rod Ollsen on the Gold Coast. Rod Ollsen ('60), Tony Pickering ('58), Peter Turnley ('58), Darby Munro ('59), Ray Williams ('58) and Ian Mcmurtrie ('58) all had a great time catching up and a great time was had by all – wives included!!

Great Scot selected two of them – Professor Brian Buxton (’56) and Tony Pickering (’57), both of whom became Members of the Order of Australia (AM) for their many years of service to their fellow men in two different fields – to highlight in this edition, as examples of the service that warrants this recognition.

Professor Brian Buxton

Brian Buxton received his honour for service to medicine, particularly as an adviser on the development of cardiac surgery in Asia and through training programs for overseas surgeons.

Brian graduated in medicine and surgery in 1962, and he became a member of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons in 1967. Between 1969 and 1976 he travelled extensively, working as a surgeon in Papua New Guinea and South Vietnam. In the latter country Brian was a colleague of Sir Edward (‘Weary’) Dunlop, and he also worked in Scotland, Kuwait, Zambia and in the USA, at the prestigious Texas Heart Institute.

Returning to Australia in 1976, Brian next worked with another Old Scotch boy, Donald ‘Scotty’ Macleish (School Captain in 1946), in setting up the Vascular Surgical Unit at the Royal Melbourne Hospital. Two years later he joined the Austin Hospital – now the Austin and Repatriation Medical Centre – as a senior cardio-thoracic surgeon, and was appointed Professor and Director of cardiac surgery in 1991.

Brian has established an international reputation as a cardiac surgeon of outstanding skill, and has developed several innovative techniques that are recognised worldwide, such as pioneering arterial grafts from the chest and arm for coronary artery disease, which replaced the traditional leg veins, to restore heart circulation.

Together with Dr John Fuller (Dux of Scotch in 1947), Brian has made a study of the results of open-heart surgery between 1976 and 2004, using a large database of over 20,000 patients. He has published more than 160 research articles and 41 book chapters, and has participated in over 260 conferences worldwide. Brian’s current research is focusing on coordinating a major trial of coronary artery grafts.

He is also on the editorial and review boards of three major international journals.

An overseas fellowship program referred to in Brian’s AM citation is of particular interest. The program, which Brian developed and continues to maintain, has trained more than 50 cardiac surgeons from neighbouring South-East Asian countries, particularly Indonesia. The program also involves China, Thailand, Japan, Denmark, Hong Kong and India.

Brian Buxton’s surgical, research and academic endeavours have won him wide recognition in Australia and internationally, and have contributed significantly to the high standing Australia enjoys on the worldwide cardio-thoracic surgery map.

His Order of Australia award came shortly after he received an Award of Excellence from the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons.

Tony Pickering

Walk down almost any street in Darwin with Tony Pickering, and passers-by may well say: ‘Who’s that with Tony Pickering?’

Tony is nearly as well known in the Top End as the famous Darwin stubby.

Tony has lived in Darwin since 1969. He made a brief foray back to Melbourne to marry Judy (known to all as ‘Jude’) in 1971, but even then Darwin had him firmly in its grip, and it wasn’t long before the couple returned to the Top End. They’ve lived there happily ever after.

What has Tony done in the Top End to be regarded as worthy of one of Australia’s highest honours? He is co-director of local real-estate firm K G Young and Associates, and a Justice of the Peace. In his spare time he is the life and soul of Old Scotch in Darwin, and he also conducts charity auctions.

If that sounds quite bland, it’s because it virtually says nothing of the energetic, enthusiastic contribution Tony has made to the real-estate industry in the Northern Territory.

It also glosses over the tireless work he has done as a charity auctioneer at scores of fundraising events for well over 30 Top End organisations or individuals, willingly giving his services as many as six times for many of them. They include the Variety Club, the Carbine Club, the Fred Hollows Foundation, Guide Dogs Australia, the Cancer Council, the Asthma Foundation, SIDS, the Darwin Symphony Orchestra, schools, clubs, festivals and sporting organisations.

Tony is also a committee member of the National Trust of Australia (NT branch), and is on the selection committee of the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust, helping to select Churchill Fellowship recipients. With all that, no wonder he is a local identity.

Tony’s work for the Carbine Club of the NT is a good example of his involvement. The Carbine Club is an Australia-wide and international group whose members each have some connection to sport. The club raises money to help young sportspeople who are keen to succeed in their chosen sport, but lack the means to purchase equipment or to travel interstate or overseas to participate in competition. The club organises fundraising luncheon meetings, and Tony runs auctions of sporting goods such as autographed cricket bats, team photos and other memorabilia.

It’s impossible to estimate exactly how much money Tony has helped raise for so many organisations, but the figure is in the millions. And there is no end in sight to his role as a charity auctioneer.

Described by his Old Scotch mate Ian McMurtrie as ‘small in stature, but big in personality’, Tony is also a leading light in the local rea-estate industry. He chaired the Real Estate Institute of the NT in 1983, and then became NT delegate to the Real Estate Institute of Australia. He is a past member of the NT Real Estate Agents’ Licensing Board, and takes a close interest in training up-and-coming real estate agents. He helped to devise agents’ training courses, and lectures at the courses.

As if all that isn’t sufficient to occupy Tony’s time, he also literally runs Old Scotch in Darwin. The main Top End event is the annual dinner, which usually attracts at least 20 or 30 Old Scotch people, who come from all over the territory to meet and greet their old school friends and their partners.

Tony Pickering is a remarkable man with a big heart and a determination that is as big as the Top End to do everything he can to help others. He is a most worthy recipient of the AM, for ‘service to the real estate industry and to the community of the Northern Territory through philanthropic support…’

David Ashton