The 2024 Central North Island Regional Schools’ Debating Championships were held at Whanganui Collegiate School on the 3rd of March.
This year's competition had a total of 32 teams attending, making it the largest ever Central North Island Regional Schools’ Debating Championships. It was a very high quality competition and we’d like to extend a warm thanks to every school for attending, and to all of the adjudicators who judged the tournament, and to Sophie Crozier and Oliver Gillespie for their hard work as convenors.
Thanks as well to the MP for Whanganui, Carl Bates, for coming to say a few words to the staff and students who attended the debates. Carl inspired the students by showing them that their debating skills come to great use when working in both the public and private sector.
After three rounds of preliminary debates, the two teams progressing to the finals were Palmerston North Girls’ High School and Palmerston North Boys’ High School. Following a riveting final debate, Palmerston North Girls’ High School were announced as the winners of the Central North Island Regional Schools’ Debating Championships.
Winners: Palmerston North Girls’ High School
Ester Steer
Pari Rao
Hallie Williamson
Runners-Up: Palmerston North Boys’ High School
Simon Ton
Oliver Song
Stanley Pettengill
Best Speaker: Tyler Thompson (Palmerston North Boys’ High School)
Most Promising Speaker: Campbell Wilkins (Whanganui High School)
Highly Commended Speakers: Elias Curran (Whanganui High School), Leo Ross (Whanganui Collegiate School), Simon Ton (Palmerston North Boys’ High School), Clarence Chan (Francis Douglas Memorial College), Pari Rao (Palmerston North Girls’ High School) and Brazil Sanderson (Whanganui High School).
Central North Island Team 2023
Tyler Thompson (Palmerston North Boys’ High School)
Nathan Yue (Whanganui Collegiate School)
Ester Steer (Palmerston North Girls’ School)
Oliver Song (Palmerston North Boys’ High School)
Alice Quigley (Whanganui High School)
Previous Regional Teams
The Central North Island Regional Schools’ Debating Championships have been held since 1990. In 1988 and 1989 there were two separate regional competitions, one for Hawkes Bay and the other for Taranaki / Manawatu. Previous Central North Island Teams that have competed in the National Finals of the New Zealand Schools’ Debating Champs are listed below.
2024
Tyler Thompson (Palmerston North Boys’ High School)
Nathan Yue (Whanganui Collegiate School)
Ester Steer (Palmerston North Girls’ School)
Coach: Izzy Fraser2023
Tane Neilson (Palmerston North Boys' High School)
Olivia Simpson (Whanganui Collegiate School)
Esther Steer (Palmerston North Girls' High School)
Coaches: Izzy Fraser, Hollie Anderson and Will Irvine2022
John Bryant (Whanganui Collegiate School)
Elliot Jones (Whanganui Collegiate School)
Emmanuel Araba (Hawera High School)
Coaches: Peter Lang, Amy Spittal, Adam Muir2021
Mia Perkins (Whanganui Collegiate School)
John Bryan (Whanganui Collegiate School)
Bridget Jones-Long (Whanganui Collegiate School)
Coaches: Alister Hughes & Peter Lang2020
Mia Perkins (Whanganui Collegiate School)
Merle Chant (Whanganui High School)
Leah Aiono (Whanganui High School)
Coaches: Alister Hughes, James Gavey and Ruby Meagher2019
Andrew Karatea (Palmerston North Boys’ High School)
Merle Chant (Whanganui High School)
Kate Wilkinson- Smith (Whanganui Collegiate School)
Coaches: Jack Boltar and Alister Hughes2018
Sophie Brokenshire (Palmerston North Girls’ High School)
Marseille Bowie (Whanganui Collegiate School)
Lydia Whyte (Nga Tawa Diocesan School)
Coaches: Amy Spittal and Emily Scrimgeour2017
Alister Hughes (Whanganui High School)
Lily Holder McFlynn
Sophie Brokenshire (Palmerston Girl’s High School)
Coaches: Aric Shakur & Megan Chamberlain2016
Gabrielle Penn (Wanganui High School)
Alister Hughes (Wanganui High School)
Jeanne-Marie Bonnet (Wanganui High School)
Coaches: Nicholas Cross and Jenna Raeburn2015
Rhaz Solomon (Wanganui High School)
Gabrielle Penn (Wanganui High School)
Jackie Hazelhurst (Wanganui High School)
Coaches: Nicholas Cross and Jenna Raeburn
2014
Megan Chamberlain (Freyberg High School)
Gabrielle Penn (Wanganui High School)
Rhaz Solomon (Wanganui High School)
Coaches: Nicholas Cross and Jenna Raeburn2013
Rhaz Solomon (Wanganui High School)
Lucy Robinson (Wanganui Collegiate School)
Savanna Gaskell (Nga Tawa Wellington Diocesan School)
Coaches: Aric Shakur & Elizabeth Begley2012
James Penn (Wanganui High School)
Savanna Gaskell (Nga Tawa Wellington Diocesan School)
Liam Barber (Palmerston North Boys’ High School)
Coach: Aric Shakur2011
James Penn (Wanganui High School
Elizabeth Begley (St Peter’s College)
Rhys Judd (Palmerston North Boys’ High School)
Coaches: Jenna Raeburn & Aric Shakur2010
Aric Shakur (Palmerston North Boys’ High School)
James Penn (Wanganui High School)
Elizabeth Begley (St Peter’s College)
Coaches: Yogesh Patel & Ella Edginton2009
Aric Shakur (Palmerston North Boys’ High School)
Brierley Penn (Wanganui High School)
Hamish Journeaux (Palmerston North Boys’ High School)
Coaches: Yogesh Patel & Ella Edginton2008
Jennifer Savage (Wanganui Collegiate School)
Hamish Journeaux (Palmerston North Boys’ High School)
Brierley Penn (Wanganui High School)
Coach: Josh Cameron2007
Mark Zhu (Palmerston North Boys’ High School)
Jennifer Savage (Wanganui Collegiate School)
Jane Pring (Nga Tawa Wellington Diocesan School)
Coach: Josh Cameron2006
Craig Riddell (Wanganui Collegiate School)
Qi-Shan Lim (Palmerston North Boys’ High School)
Jane Pring (Nga Tawa Wellington Diocesan School)
Coaches: Josh Cameron & Joe Connell2005
Yogesh Patel (Palmerston North Boys’ High School)
Guy Carter (Wanganui Collegiate School)
Craig Riddell (Wanganui Collegiate School)
Coaches: Rosy Perry, Chris Pearce & Shaun Healy2004
Aaron Yorke (Palmerston North Boys’ High School)
Yogesh Patel (Palmerston North Boys’ High School)
David Keenan (Wanganui Collegiate School)
Coaches: Zach Ward & Chris Pearce
2003
Matthew Herbert (Wanganui Collegiate School)
Andrea Beadle (Wanganui High School)
Glenn Riddell (Wanganui Collegiate School)
Coaches: Zach Ward & Chris Pearce2002
Joe Connell (Wanganui Collegiate School)
Josh Cameron (St Peter’s College)
Jesse Wall (Palmerston North Boys’ High School)
Coaches: Zach Ward & Chris Pearce2001
Joe Connell (Wanganui Collegiate School)
Gareth Richards (Palmerston North Boys’ High School)
Ashley Shroder (Palmerston North Boys’ High School)
Coach: Craig Cliff2000
Tom Barnes (Wanganui Collegiate School)
Craig Cliff (Palmerston North Boys’ High School)
Amy McKenzie (Sacred Heart College, Wanganui)
Coach: Gerard O’Connor1999
Craig Cliff (Palmerston North Boys’ High School)
Anna Cutfield (Wanganui Collegiate School)
Lisa Soh (New Plymouth Girls’ High School)
Coach: Gerard O’Connor1997
Haydon Cherry (Palmerston North Boys’ High School)
Courtney Scott (Wanganui Collegiate School)
Robert Morton (Palmerston North Boys’ High School)
Coach: Ryan Orange1992
Ryan Orange (Palmerston North Boys’ High School)
Brandy Scott (Wanganui Collegiate School)
Johanne Bensemann (Wanganui High School)
Coach: Deborah Russell1992
Alison Lewes (Wanganui Collegiate School)
Kris Connell (Wanganui Collegiate School)
Ryan Orange (Palmerston North Boys’ High School)
Coach: Pat Smith1991
Coral McConnon (Feilding Agricultural High School)
Kris Connell (Wanganui Collegiate School)
Jan Fernando (Wanganui Collegiate School)
Coach: Pat Smith
2023
The 2023 Central North Island Regional Championships were held in Whanganui, with 22 teams competing.
Best of luck to the following speakers who were named into the Central North Island Regional Team that will compete at Nationals:
- Tane Neilson
- Liv Simpson
- Esther Steer
- Reserves: Nathan Yue and Izzy Fraser
A massive thanks to Alister Hughes for their work convening the tournament this year.
2018
The Central North Island Regional Tournament was held on the 17th and 18th of March at Whanganui High School. 14 teams travelled from around the region; some coming from as far as Hawera to compete in the competition. It was a tournament of very high calibre, with the intense competition reflected by the possibility for any two, of six teams, being able to break for the final after the penultimate preliminary round.
The teams spent the first day debating motions including those requiring private schools to offer scholarships to ensure 20% of their rolls are students from low socio-economic backgrounds; whether or not special courts should be created across the country for alcohol and drug related offences giving out exclusively rehabilitative sentences; and whether developing countries should be exempt from international climate change obligations. They continued on the second day, with the final preliminary rounds covering whether there should be reserved places for Māori in medicine and law at university, and whether we should abolish the minimum wage. While the teams consistently came to grips with the core issues of the debates, only two teams were able to break for the finals.
The two teams that broke were Palmerston North Girls’ High School – five wins – and Nga Tawa Diocesan School – four wins, and narrowly beating out Whanganui Collegiate Grey based on win points.
The motion for the final was ‘that only LGBT+ people should play LGBT+ characters in film and television,’ with Nga Tawa affirming, and Palmerston North Girls’ negating. After an incredibly high quality debate, in a split decision, Nga Tawa were announced the winners of the Central North Island regional competition.
An additional thank you for all those adjudicators who travelled for the tournament.
Winners: Nga Tawa Diocesan School
Lydia Whyte
Lilly Bradley
Amelia Bryant
Runners-Up: Palmerston North Girls’ High School
Sophie Brokenshire
Tharushi Bowatte
Anna Dombroski
Best Speaker: Sophie Brokenshire (Palmerston North Girls’ High School)
Best Style: Sophie Brokenshire (Palmerston North Girls’ High School)
Most Promising Speaker: Merle Chante (Whanganui High School)
Promising Speaker: Leah Aiono (Whanganui High School)
Highly Commended
John Cole (Palmerston North Boys’ High School)
Aiden Berkahn (Palmerston North Boys’ High School)
Central North Island Team
Sophie Brokenshire (Palmerston North Girls’ High School)
Marseille Bowie (Whanganui Collegiate School)
Lydia Whyte (Nga Tawa Diocesan School)
Ronan Carroll – Reserve (Palmerston North Boys’ High School)
2017
The Central North Island Regionals were held over the weekend of the 11th and 12th of March. Whanganui High School hosted the tournament, which made the 2017 tournament the first to be held in Whanganui in eight years.
Thank you to all the adjudicators who came up for the competition and especially to Nick and Megan who helped to organise the event.
Winner: Freyberg Gold
Katherine Paskins
Fergus Campbell
Zac Dupuis
Runner-up: Wanganui Collegiate
Grayson Nepia
James Ensor
Jonathan De Jongh
Best Speaker: Alister Hughes
Central North Island Team:
Alister Hughes
Lily Holder McFlynn
Sophie Brokenshire
Reserves to the CNI Team:
Fergus Campbell
Lydia Whyte
2016
The Central North Island Regional Tournament was held on the 12th and 13th of March at Saint Peter’s College in Palmerston North. 18 teams travelled from around the region to attend the tournament, the most the region has seen in a number of years.
The calibre of the tournament was incredibly high, with five preliminary rounds on the Saturday and Sunday to determine who would break for the semi-finals. Debate motions ranged from the popularity of reality television in New Zealand to the memorialisation of soldiers.
The four teams who broke were Wanganui High School A, Palmerston North Girls High School 2, Collegiate, and Wanganui High School B. From these semi-finals, Wanganui High School B and Collegiate progressed through to the finals.
The motion for the final round was “that major film and television awards should have racial quotas for nominating non-white actors” with Wanganui High School affirming, and Collegiate negating. After a high quality debate, Wanganui High School were announced as the unanimous winners of the Central North Island regional competition.
An additional thank you to the adjudicators who travelled for the tournament.
Winners: Wanganui High School B
Jeanne-Marie Bonnet
Connor Cresswell
Jack Southee
Runners-Up: Wanganui Collegiate
Grayson Nepia
James Ensor
Jonathon de Jongh
Best Speaker: Gabrielle Penn (Wanganui High School)
Most Promising Speaker: Denzel Chung (Palmerston North Boys’ High School)
Promising Speakers
Grayson Nepia (Collegiate)
Aidan Berkhan (Palmerston North Boys’ High School)
Highly Commended
Catherine Reynolds (Saint Peter’s College)
Kaia Costanza-van Den Belt (Palmerston North Girls’ High School)
Central North Island Squad
Gabrielle Penn (Wanganui High School)
Jackie Hazelhurst (Wanganui High School)
Denzel Chung (Palmerston North Boys’ High School)
Milo Costanza-van Den Belt (Palmerston North Boys’ High School)
Alister Hughes (Wanganui High School)
Jeanne-Marie Bonnet (Wanganui High School)
2015
The 2015 Central North Island regional debating tournament was hosted on March 21st and 22nd at Freyberg High School in Palmerston North. The facilities provided were excellent, and included a projector, which gave students and teachers better access to the information being delivered to them. A huge thank you to Pene Will for all her help within the tournament setup.
This year, there were 13 teams in the tournament, which was a slight drop from last year’s 14. We also lost two teams by the Sunday, and were down to 11 teams for the fourth preliminary round. The turnout this year was caused by the date conflicting with other high school events, including the Sheilah Winn Shakespeare competition and horse of the year. We had a number of teams interested in travelling from out of town but found the timeframe too short for them to prepare, and so we are optimistic about seeing them represented in future years.
All teams in the tournament performed well. Unfortunately, the Central North Island region lacks further debating opportunities, and so for most debaters this tournament is the only one they attend in the year. However the tournament maintained a number of high quality speakers and teams, and the margin for awarding prizes was often very close.
The four teams in the semi-final were Wanganui High School A, Wanganui High School B, Saint Peter’s Green and Boys’ High B. Both the teams from Wanganui High School won their semi-finals and faced each other in the finals, with the motion, “this house believes that military drone strikes are an illegitimate tool of warfare.” Wanganui High School A won on the negating side with a unanimous panel.
An extra thank you to the adjudicators who attended from Wellington over the weekend.
Winners (Wanganui High School A):
Rhaz Solomon
Gabrielle Penn
Pratibh
Runners-Up (Wanganui High School B):
Alistair Hughes
Jackie Hazelhurst
Jack Southee
Best Speaker: Gabrielle Penn (Wanganui High School)
Most Promising Speaker: Jackie Hazelhurst (Wanganui High School)
Members of the Central North Island Team:
Rhaz Solomon (Wanganui High School)
Gabrielle Penn (Wanganui High School)
Jackie Hazelhurst (Wanganui High School)
Reserve to the Central North Island Team:
Pratibh (Wanganui High School)
Highly Commended:
John Richards (Saint Peter’s College)
Gerogia (Nga Tawa)
Promising Speaker Awards:
Alister Hughes (Wanganui High School)
Theo (Palmerston North Boys’ High School)
Lydia (Nga Tawa)
2014
On 29-30 March the 2014 Central North Island Regional Debating Championships were held at St Peter’s College, Palmerston North.
Over the course of the five preliminary rounds, students debated a range of topics: “This House would make Te Reo Māori compulsory in schools”, “This House would not allow companies to pay their executives over a maximum wage”, “This House would change the New Zealand flag”, “This House believes sporting clubs should not hire players with previous criminal convictions” and “This House would allow prisoners to raise their children behind bars”.
On Sunday afternoon the tournament was narrowed to semi-finals, with Palmerston North Girls’ High School A, Wanganui High School A, Freyberg High School and Palmerston North Boys’ High School B advancing on. After two high quality and well analysed debates on the motion “This House would remove the 5% threshold for political parties to enter parliament under MMP”, Freyberg High School and Wanganui High School A advanced onto the Grand Final.
The Grand Final was held in the St Peter’s library on the topic “This House would force social media websites to allow parents full access to their children’s accounts while they are under the age of 16”. The debate was closely fought and, at times, wildly humorous, with Freyberg High School winning the debate and the Hardie Boys’ Cup in a 2-1 split decision.
Highly Commended:
Hohepa Stablin (St Peter’s College)
Callum Tatton (Palmerston North Boys’ High School)
Amman Merchant (Wanganui High School)
Lainey Phillips (Wanganui Girls’ College)
Most Promising Speaker: Lainey Phillips (Wanganui Girls’ College)
Reserves to the CNI Team:
Isobel Pepper (Palmerston North Girls’ High School)
Liam Barber (Palmerston North Boys’ High School)
Central North Island Team 2012:
Megan Chamberlain (Freyberg High School)
Gabrielle Penn (Wanganui High School)
Rhaz Solomon (Wanganui High School)
Best Speaker: Megan Chamberlain (Freyberg High School)
2013
On 13-14 April the 2013 Central North Island Regional Debating Championships were held at Palmerston North Boys’ High School. With sixteen teams from Wanganui, Palmerston North, and Marton taking part, this was the largest competition in recent years and one of high quality.
Over the course of the five preliminary rounds, students debated the motions “This House supports the establishment of charter schools in New Zealand”, “This House believes that New Zealand and Australia should militarily intervene in Fiji”, “This House believes that there should be equal primetime television coverage of men’s and women’s sports”, “This House believes that important medical decisions about children’s health should be made by doctors and not by their parents” and “This House believes we should prohibit all private donations to political campaigns.”
On Sunday afternoon the tournament was narrowed to semi-finals, with Wanganui High School B, Wanganui Collegiate, St Peter’s College A and Palmerston North Boys’ High School A all breaking on four wins. From two passionate and high quality debates on the motion “This House believes that the welfare system should aim to provide a comfortable lifestyle, rather than a lifestyle which is just above the poverty level”, Wanganui High School B and St Peter’s College A bested their opponents to make it to the Grand Final.
The Grand Final was held in the Boys’ High library on the topic “This House believes that graduates from New Zealand Universities should be required to work in New Zealand for a number of years after graduating.” The debate was entertaining, topical and closely fought, with Wanganui High School B declared the winners by a 2-1 split decision, winning the Hardie Boys Cup for an impressive third year in a row.
The adjudicators were all impressed by how enthusiastic and responsive to feedback the debaters were, even near the end of the gruelling and intense weekend. Thanks to all the teachers and families who came to support their teams. A special thanks to Palmerston North Boys’ High School for their invaluable help in hosting this year.
A final thanks to the adjudicators who travelled from Wellington for the weekend – Stephen Whittington, Udayan Mukherjee, Daniel Wilson, Emma Smith, Aric Shakur, Jake Brown and Elise Munden.
Highly Commended:
Megan Chamberlain (Freyberg High School)
Liam Barber (Palmerston North Boys’ High School)
Avroneel Ghose (Palmerston North Boys’ High School)
Amman Merchant (Wanganui High School)
Callum Tatton (Palmerston North Boys’ High School)
Reserve to the CNI Team: Gabrielle Penn (Wanganui High School)
Central North Island Team 2012:
Savanna Gaskell (Nga Tawa)
Lucy Robinson (Wanganui Collegiate)
Rhaz Solomon (Wanganui High School)
Best Speaker: Savanna Gaskell (Nga Tawa)
2012
On 26-27 May the 2012 Central North Island Regional Debating Championships were held at Palmerston North Boys’ High School. Twelve teams from Wanganui, Palmerston North, and Marton took part.
Rounds 1 and 2 were on the prepared motion “This House would legalise internet piracy”, which produced some interesting debates about Kim Dotcom and left the adult adjudicators impressed with the students’ knowledge of the intricacies of internet hacking!
The rest of the tournament consisted of limited preparation debates, where teams had 30 minutes to prepare. The limited preparation topics were “This House believes beauty pagaents are bad for society”, “This House would legalise performance enhancing drugs”, and “This House supports a maximum wage.”
On Sunday afternoon the tournament was narrowed to semi-finals. Wanganui High School qualified unbeaten on 5 wins from 5. On 4 wins was Palmerston North Boys’ High B and Nga Tawa B. In fourth position was Boys’ High A.
In the semis, Wanganui High defeated Boys’ High A in a 2-1 decision and Boys’ High B beat Nga Tawa B in a unanimous decision. The motion was “This House would withhold development aid from undemocratic governments.”
The Grand Final was held in front of a good crowd in the Boys’ High library on the topic “This House would ban smoking.” After a lively and entertaining debate which even featured audience interaction (by way of a show of hands to illustrate a speaker’s point), Wanganui High School were declared the winners, winning the Hardie Boys Cup for a second year in a row.
Promising speakers:
Rhaz Solomon (Wanganui High)
Amaan Merchant (Wanganui High)
Most Promising Speaker: Lucy Robinson (Nga Tawa A)
Highly Commended:
Yige Cao (Palmerston North Girls’ High School)
Lucy Robinson (Nga Tawa A)
Reserves to the CNI Team:
Rhys Judd (Palmerston North Boys’ High School A)
Matthew Atherton (Palmerston North Boys’ High School B)
Central North Island Team 2012:
James Penn (Wanganui High School)
Savanna Gaskill (Nga Tawa B)
Liam Barber (Palmerston North Boys’ High School B)
Best Speaker: James Penn (Wanganui High)
2011
On 26-27 March the 2011 Central North Island Regional Debating Championships were held at Feilding High School. Fourteen teams from Wanganui, Palmerston North, Feilding, and Marton took part.
Rounds 1 and 2 were on the motion “This House would abolish the Maori seats”. Teams were able to prepare in advance, and had the chance to debate both sides.
The rest of the tournament consisted of limited preparation debates, where teams had 30 minutes to prepare. The limited preparation topics were “This House would ban cosmetic surgery”, “This House would legalise commercial whaling”, and “This House would end government funding for the arts”.
On Sunday afternoon the tournament was narrowed to semi-finals. Wanganui High School, St Peters College 1, Nga Tawa 1, and Palmerston North Boys 1 made it to the semi-finals. Two teams from Wanganui Collegiate also did very well but narrowly missed out.
The semi-finals were closely contested. The motion was “This House believes that public sector employees should not be allowed to strike”. St Peters 1 and Wanganui High School made it to the Grand Final, where they debated “This House would ban home schooling”. After an extremely good debate Wanganui High School were declared the winners of the Championships, in a unanimous but very close decision.
Two members of the 2010 CNI team are returning to the team this year: Elizabeth Begley (St Peters College) and James Penn (Wanganui High School). Joining them is Rhys Judd from Palmerston North Boys College. With two of the team in year 12, we are excited about CNI’s prospects not only this year but for next year as well.
The best speaker of the tournament was Elizabeth Begley.
Thanks very much to Feilding High School, who hosted the tournament. Many thanks also to the adjudicators – Josh Cameron, Clodagh O’Connor-McKenna, Hugh McCaffrey, Ella Edginton, Aric Shakur, Daniel Wilson, Cameron Price, and Jodie O’Neill.
2010
The 2010 Central North Island Regional Debating Champs was held at St Peter’s College, Palmerston North, on Sunday 16 May, with twelve teams from 7 schools participating.
The first two rounds were prepared debates, with the teams enjoying debates on the interesting and novel topic, “That we should farm endangered species”.
This was followed by two rounds of limited preparation debating. In round three the teams debated the classic topic “That we should legalise euthanasia”, and in round four they debated the highly topical motion, “That we should raise the drinking age”.
The preliminary rounds left Palmerston North Boys’ High School A as top qualifiers on four wins and no losses. On three wins and one loss was Palmerston North Boys’ High School B, Palmerston North Girls’ High School A, and St Peters College A. PNBHS B had slightly more win points than the other two teams, so they went through to the Final against their schoolmates.
The teams were given 30 minutes to prepare for the final, on the topic “That teachers should be paid based on their performance”. After a lively debate, Palmerston North Boys’ High A were declared the winners by a unanimous panel of adjudicators, winning the Sir Michael Hardie Boys’ Cup.
Thanks to those who came up to Palmy from Wellington: Ella Edginton, Gareth Richards, Polly Higbee, Christopher Bishop, Jonathan Orpin, Udayan Mukherjee, Paul Smith, Josh Cameron.
Best Speaker of the Tournament: Aric Shakur (Palmerston North Boys’ High School)
Central North Island Team for National Finals:
Aric Shakur (Palmerston North Boys’ High School)
James Penn (Wanganui High School)
Elizabeth Begley (St Peter’s College)
Reserves to the Central North Island Team:
Rosie Clark (Nga Tawa Diocesan School)
Elizabeth Legg (St Peter’s College)
Highly Commended
Anna Hamer-Adams (Palmerston North Girls’ High School)
Charlotte Legge (Nga Tawa Diocesan School)
Marcus Lau (Palmerston North Boys’ High School)
Most Promising Speaker: Rosie Clark (Nga Tawa Diocesan School)
2009
The Central North Island Regional Debating Champs was held at St Peter’s College, Palmerston North, on Sunday 17 May. 10 teams from 7 schools from around the region were in attendance for a gruelling, one day, competition.
The first two rounds were prepared debates with teams arguing thoroughly prepared cases for and against government funding for the arts.
This was followed by two rounds of limited preparation debating as competitors debated the merits of banning tobacco and assassinating dictators. It was impressive to see competitors in their first ever limited preparation debates handle these complicated issues with confidence.
The preliminary rounds left Palmerston North Boys’ High School as top qualifiers on four wins and no losses. They came up against Wanganui High A in the final, who proceeded through narrowly over Wanganui Collegiate and Wanganui High B on win points.
The teams were given 50 minutes to prepare for the final, on the topic “This House supports bail-outs for struggling companies”. After a lively debate, Palmerston North Boys’ High were declared the winners by a unanimous panel of adjudicators, winning the Sir Michael Hardie Boys’ Cup.
Reserves to the Central North Island Team:
Aric Shakur (Palmerston North Boys’ High School)
James Penn (Wanganui High School)
Best Speaker of the Tournament: Hamish Journeaux (Palmerston North Boys’ High School)
Central North Island Team for National Finals:
Hamish Journeaux (Palmerston North Boys’ High School)
Brierley Penn (Wanganui High School)
Alex Carswell (Palmerston North Girls’ High School)
2007
The Wellington Diocesan School for Girls (Nga Tawa) took out the Central North Island Schools’ Debating competition held at Wanganui Collegiate School on 20 May. It is the first time that a school other than Palmerston North Boys’ High or Wanganui Collegiate School had won the coveted Sir Michael Hardie Boys Cup in the history of the competition.
Twelve teams, travelling from as far as New Plymouth and Masterton competed in the competition, in what was one of the largest CNI championships in recent memory. Every team competed in four rounds of debating. Two prepared rounds addressed a motion about government funding for in-vitro fertilisation while limited preparation motions looked at troop withdrawal from Iraq and, particularly topical given the hosting in Wanganui, the banning of gangs.
Wanganui Collegiate School went unbeaten through the preliminary rounds, and were joined in the finals by Nga Tawa who had lost only to Collegiate. Wanganui High School narrowly missed out on the break having won three debates themselves. Nga Tawa defeated Wanganui Collegiate in the final on the topic “This House supports the learning of the Maori language in all schools” by a split decision.
The competition standard was high, and reflected a growing understanding of the expectations of debating in the Central North Island, despite the fact that many of the teams only get to experience such competition once a year in the one day regional event.
Three speakers were selected to represent CNI at the National Finals later this year:
- Hannah Dunlop (Nga Tawa)
Jane Pring (Nga Tawa)
Jennifer Savage (Wanganui Collegiate School)
The Reserves to the team are Jonathan Spicer (Wanganui High School) and Hamish Robertson (Palmerston North Boys’ High School).
Thanks to the adjudicators who travelled up from Wellington or from Palmerston North: Fiona McAlister, Christopher Bishop, Josh Cameron, Christopher Pearce, Julia Pearce, and Laura. Thanks also to Collegiate for hosting.
2005
The 2005 Central North Island Regional Schools’ Debating Championships were held at Palmerston North Boys (PNBHS) on Saturday 14th May. In the largest competition for several years, ten teams battled fiercely for the title. With 60% of teams traveling from Marton, Wanganui and New Plymouth, many thanks must be given to the coaches and students for their commitment and enthusiasm.
After debating the merits of compulsory voting, the teams had to debate (with limited preparation) the ethical and practical considerations of the NZ Cricket team touring Zimbabwe, and if the UN Security Council needs reform.
Competition to break to the semi finals was intense, and as with every good event a Cinderella story unfolded throughout the day. Hawera High School have not attended these championships for a long time – and were encouraged to do so during the recent NZSDC tour of schools in the New Plymouth region. On the back of powerful and consistent speaking by their team of Tauke, Shihan and Caleb, Hawera High School won through past two times champion and historical debating heavy weights Wanganui Collegiate, to a place in the semi finals. Other semi finalists were PNBHS Orange and finalists PNBHS Pink and PNGHS Blue.
In the final, the adjudication panel was unanimous in their decision, that through powerful speaking, excellent analysis and wit, the PNBHS team had proven that NZ should embrace Nuclear Power.
As a large region it is critical to identify young debating talent – with Promising Speaker Awards given to Kayne Dunlop (PNBHS), Hannah Bain (New Plymouth Girls), Caleb Wall (Hawera), Qi-Shan Lim (PNBHS) and Most Promising Speaker to Craig Riddell (Wanganui Collegiate). We were very pleased to see the reserve of the 2004 CNI team – Guy Carter (Wanganui Collegiate) – named Speaker of the Tournament.
Congratulations must go to all the CNI Team members. The team is Yogesh Patel (PNBHS), Craig Riddell (Wanganui Collegiate) and Guy Carter (Wanganui Collegiate), with reserves Lucy Forgie (PNGHS) and Qi-Shan Lim (PNBHS).