[3] As president he represented the collective interests of all thirteen of New Zealand's technical institutes in terms of their policy and growth.

[3] Bateman stood for the Karori electorate in the New Zealand House of Representatives in the 1951 and 1954 general elections for the Labour Party.

[5] Bateman later contested the Labour Party nomination for the Heretaunga seat in 1960 which resulted in a deadlock in the selection committee between himself and union organiser Ron Bailey.

[7] In 1953 Bateman won a seat on the Wellington City Council on a Labour ticket, aged only 28 he was the youngest councillor elected for decades.

[13] In the 1986 New Year Honours, Bateman was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, in recognition of his service as principal of Central Institute of Technology.