The 2014 National Finals of the Russell McVeagh New Zealand Schools’ Debating Championships were held from 23-26 May at Victoria University of Wellington.
Twelve regional teams from Northland, Auckland, Waikato, Hawke’s Bay, Central North Island, Wellington, Kahurangi-Marlborough, Canterbury and Otago-Southland took part in the 2014 competition. The regional teams comprised the best speakers from the hundreds of debaters who competed at various regional competitions held earlier in the year.
Teams competed in seven preliminary round debates on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Victoria University’s Pipitea Campus. In the preliminary rounds the teams debated the following topics:
- That there should be gender quotas in the police force
- That we should legalise performance enhancing drugs in sports
- That government medical treatment should not be provided to individuals whose health problems are the result of them knowingly engaging in risky activities
- That we regret the rise of social media charity and activism campaigns
- That governments should heavily subsidise tertiary education in science, technology and engineering at the expense of humanities and the arts
- That we should ban private funding of political parties and replace it with a publically funded system
- That children should have a financial obligation to support their parents when they retire
After the seven preliminary rounds, the top four teams were Wellington Black, who had six wins, Auckland Blue (five wins), Central North Island (five wins) and Northland (four wins). Wellington Gold were also on four wins but had fewer speaker points than Auckland Blue.
On Monday morning the semi-finals were held at Wellington College and the Travelodge Hotel. The motion for the semi-finals was: “That the news and entertainment media should not depict the full horrors of war.” The top two teams qualified for the Grand Final, with Auckland Blue (negating) defeating Central North Island in a unanimous decision and Wellington Black (affirming) defeating Northland, also in a unanimous decision.
The Grand Final was again hosted by Hon. Peter Dunne in the Legislative Council Chamber of Parliament. In the audience was a distinguished lineup of guests, including, Holly Walker MP (an alumna of the Championships) and Tim Clarke (Partner, Russell McVeagh). Dr Andrew Stockley, life member and former President of the Schools’ Debating Council, and Dean of Auckland Law School was also a guest.
The motion debated in the final was “That socially progressive individuals should boycott companies whose senior management express socially conservative views”, a topical issue reflecting debates currently occurring in the United States and other liberal democracies.
Wellington Black affirmed the motion and Auckland Blue negated. After an exceptional debate, Wellington Black were declared the winners in a 6-1 split decision.
After the Grand Final the members of the 2014 Russell McVeagh New Zealand Schools Debating team were announced. The five member team is made up of Liam Dennis (Hutt International Boys’ School), Harrison Fookes (Sacred Heart College), Arun Prakesh (St Kentigern College), Lucy Ellingham (Kerikeri High School) and Georgina Lomax-Sawyers (Buller High School).
The best speaker of the Championships was Lucy Ellingham, with Liam Dennis being named captain of the Russell McVeagh New Zealand Schools’ Debating Team.
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.
Thanks too to everyone who contributed to making the Championships such a memorable weekend – adjudicators, coaches, chairpeople, and many other helpers.
Here are the full list of results from Nationals 2014
Winners: Wellington Black
Liam Dennis (Hutt International Boys’ School)
Georgia Bloor-Wilson (Wellington Girls College)
Peter McKenzie (Sacred Heart College)
Coaches: Richard D’ath and Nick Gavey
Runners-Up: Auckland Blue
Hannah Jones (Diocesan School for Girls)
Harrison Fookes (Sacred Heart College)
Arun Prakesh (St Kentigern College)
Coaches: Paul Smith & Lucy Harrison
Highly Commended speakers:
Hannah Jones (Diocesan School for Girls)
Matthew Bilton (Westlake Boys High School)
Georgia Bloor-Wilson (Wellington Girls College)
Rosemary Dixon Cup for the Most Promising Speaker:
Rhaz Solomon (Wanganui High School)
Reserve to the 2014 Russell McVeagh New Zealand Schools’ Debating Team:
Daniel Maier-Gant (St Andrew’s College)
2014 Russell McVeagh New Zealand Schools’ Debating Team:
Liam Dennis (Hutt International Boys’ School)
Harrison Fookes (Sacred Heart College)
Arun Prakesh (St Kentigern College)
Lucy Ellingham (Kerikeri High School)
Georgina Lomax-Sawyers (Buller High School).
Andrew Stockley Cup for the Captain of the 2014 Russell McVeagh New Zealand Schools’ Debating Team:
Liam Dennis (Hutt International Boys’ School)
Russell McVeagh Cup for the Best Speaker at the 2014 National Championships:
Lucy Ellingham (Kerikeri High School)