The 2010 National Finals of the Russell McVeagh New Zealand Schools’ Debating Championships were held from 6-9 August at Victoria University of Wellington.
Twelve regional teams from Northland, Auckland, Waikato, Hawke’s Bay, Central North Island, Wellington, Nelson-Marlborough, Canterbury and Otago-Southland took part in the competition. The regional teams comprised the best speakers from the hundreds of debaters who competed at various regional competitions held earlier in the year.
On Saturday and Sunday each team competed in five preliminary round debates at Victoria University’s Pipitea Campus. In rounds one and two, the teams had to grapple with “advised topic area” impromptu debaters, where they were told the general theme of each round a month in advance, but the actual topic only one hour before.
In the preliminary rounds the teams debated the following topics:
- This House would privatise prisons (advised topic area: Privatisation)
- This House believes Turkey should join the European Union (advised topic area: The European Union)
- This House would legalise voluntary euthanasia
- This House supports free tertiary education
- This House believes that developing countries should be exempt from measures to combat climate change
After the five preliminary rounds, the top four teams were Auckland Blue (five wins), Central North Island (four wins), Wellington Black (three wins) and Otago/Southland (three wins). Canterbury Red and Canterbury Black unfortunately missed out on the semi-finals on win points.
The motion for the semi-final was: “This House believes the Maori Party is good for New Zealand politics”. Wellington Black defeated Central North Island in a 2-1 decision and Auckland Blue defeated Otago/Southland in a unanimous decision, setting up an Auckland v Wellington Final.
The Grand Final was again hosted by Hon. Peter Dunne in the Legislative Council Chamber of Parliament, before distinguished guests His Excellency the Right Honourable Sir Anand Satyanand, Governor-General, Lady Satyanand, Hamish McIntosh, Partner at Russell McVeagh, and an audience of several hundred school students.
Also attending the final were Tim Harding and Ross Bell, the Chair and Executive Director of the NZ Drug Foundation, and Gerard Vaughan of the Alcohol Advisory Council. Both organisations were the Partners for the National Finals of the Championships, and the topic for the Grand Final reflected the two organisations’ desire to see reasoned and sound public debate about drug issues facing New Zealand.
In a superb debate, the Wellington Black team comprising James Gavey, Thomas Mitchell and Duncan McLachlan successfully affirmed the topic “This House would ban all forms of alcohol advertising” against the Auckland Blue team of Nick Orr, Jessica Storey, and Frederick Thursfield, winning in a close 2-1 split decision.
After the Grand Final the members of the 2010 Russell McVeagh New Zealand Schools Debating team were announced. The five member team is made up of Kieran Bunn (Captain, Logan Park High School), Nick Orr (Auckland Grammar School), Duncan McLachlan (Wellington College), Sophie Boot (Christchurch Girls’ High School) and Aric Shakur (Palmerston North Boys’ High School). The team will compete in an international tournament in early 2011.
A development team was also chosen to compete in the same tournament. The team is James Penn (Wanganui High School), Kimberley Savill (Nayland College), Michael Prendergast (Kerikeri High School) and Timothy Robinson (St Bede’s College).
The New Zealand Schools’ Debating Council is very grateful to Russell McVeagh for its continued support of New Zealand Schools’ Debating, which allows these Championships to occur. We are also grateful to Victoria University of Wellington who hosted the Championships during the weekend and the Drug Foundation and ALAC who were the Council’s Partners for the National Finals.
Thanks too to everyone who contributed to making the Championships such a memorable success – adjudicators, coaches, chairpeople, and many other helpers.
Here are the full list of results from Nationals 2010.
Winners: Wellington Black
James Gavey (Scots College)
Thomas Mitchell (Wellington College)
Duncan McLachlan (Wellington College)
Coaches: Clodagh O’Connor-McKenna and Stephen Whittington
Runners-Up: Auckland Blue
Nick Orr (Auckland Grammar School)
Jessica Storey (St Cuthbert’s College)
Frederick Thursfield (King’s College)
Coaches: Stephanie Thompson and Glenn Riddell
Highly Commended speakers:
Olivia Hall (St Cuthbert’s College)
Jessica Storey (St Cuthbert’s College)
Cameron Price (Napier Boys’ High School)
Rosemary Dixon Cup for the Most Promising Speaker:
Kimberley Savill (Nayland College)
2010 Russell McVeagh New Zealand Schools’ Debating Team:
Kieran Bunn (Logan Park High School)
Nick Orr (Auckland Grammar School)
Duncan McLachlan (Wellington College)
Aric Shakur (Palmerston North Boys’ High School)
Sophie Boot (Christchurch Girls’ High School)
Russell McVeagh Cup for the Best Speaker at the 2010 National Championships:
Kieran Bunn
Andrew Stockley Cup for the Captain of the 2010 Russell McVeagh New Zealand Schools’ Debating Team:
Kieran Bunn