The Hawke's Bay Schools' Regional Debating Championships, and the Hawke's Bay Regional team, are proudly sponsored by Sainsbury Logan & Williams. Sainsbury Logan & Williams is a Hawke's Bay based law firm with a history dating back to 1875 and with a expertise in a wide range of legal disciplines.
The New Zealand Schools' Debating Council is grateful for Sainsbury Logan & Williams' support for debating in the Hawke's Bay
The Sainsbury Logan & Williams Hawke’s Bay Regional Schools’ Debating Championships were held at Havelock North High School on the 9th and 10th of March with 22 teams in attendance. 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. In particular, thanks to Emilie Horsfall and Isobel Fraser for their hard work as convenors.
We would also like to thank our sponsor Sainsbury Logan & Williams for making the tournament possible. Partner Lauren Hibberd spoke at the prizegiving, discussing the importance of debating and leadership in the Hawke’s Bay.
After four rounds of preliminary debates, the two teams progressing to the finals were Havelock North High School Gold and Silver. Following an exhilarating final debate, Havelock North High School Gold was announced as the winners of the Sainsbury Logan & Williams Hawke’s Bay Regional Schools’ Debating Championships.
Winners: Havelock North High School
Isabella McKeefry
Becs Cadenhead
Jeremy Beecroft
Runners-Up: Havelock North High School
Monet Maugham
Akua Amponsaa Tabi Amponsah
Alexis Ormond
Best Speaker: Isabella McKeefry (Havelock North High School)
Most Promising Speaker: Anshika Negi (Taradale High School)
Promising Speakers: Amelia Arthur (Woodford House), Annah Frazerhurst (Hasting Girls’ High School), Ella Solatau (Havelock North High School)
Sainsbury Logan & Williams Hawke’s Bay Team 2024
Becs Cadenhead (Havelock North High School);
Isabella McKeefry (Havelock North High School);
Anshika Negi (Taradale High School);
Reserves: Yuval Sela (Havelock North High School) and Monet Maugham (Havelock North High School).
Previous Regional Teams
The Hawke’s Bay was one of the original regions in the New Zealand Schools’ Debating Championships and competed in the competition in 1989 and 1990 in its own right. From 1990 to 2003 the region was folded into the Central North Island region. Hawke’s Bay as a region returned in its own right in 2003. The regional teams since 2003 are listed here.
2024
Becs Cadenhead (Havelock North High School)
Isabella McKeefry (Havelock North High School)
Anshika Negi (Taradale High School)
Coaches: Sam O'Grady and Siobhan Davies2023
Becs Cadenhead (Havelock North High School)
Isabella McKeefry (Havelock North High School)
Ella Whibley (Gisborne Girls’ High School)
Coaches: Sam O'Grady, Sam Penno, and Taran Molloy2022
Becs Cadenhead (Havelock North High School)
Riley Hoet (Gisborne Girls’ High School)
Jack Turnbull (Napier Boys’ High School)
Coaches: Frankie Gross and Izzy Fraser2021
Ned Brougham (Lindisfarne College)
Keelan Heesterman (Karamu High School)
Emilie Horsfall (Havelock North High School)
Coaches: Brooke Kinajil-Moran & Sam O’Grady2020
Jessica Shoemark (Karamu High School
Emilie Horsfall (Havelock North High School)
Thea Morton (Karamu High School)
Coaches: Brooke Kinajil-Moran and Rebecca Frankum2019
Thea Morton (Karamu High School)
Emilie Horsfall (Havelock North High School)
Sam Wixon (Havelock North High School)
Coaches: Sam O’Grady and Brooke Kinajil-Moran
2018
Adam Donaldson (Gisborne Boys’ High School)
Frankie Gross (Napier Girls’ High School)
Hannah Rawnsley (Napier Girls’ High School)
Coaches: Sam O’Grady and Jack Bolta2017
Liam Silverwood (Napier Boys’ High School)
Rebecca Mogey (Sacred Heart College)
Toby Hunter (Karamu High School)
Coaches: Siobhan Davies and Jack Boltar2016
Caitlyn Clark (Karamu High School)
Liam Silverwood (Napier Boys’ High School)
Brianna Otto (Napier Girls’ High School)
Coaches: Sam O’Grady and James Gavey
2015
Yahaira Williams (Karamu High School)
Jasmin Rorrison (Karamu High School)
Mikel O’Connell (Karamu High School)
Coaches: Darryn Ooi and Matthew Atherton2014
Justin Alsleban (Karamu High School)
Sam O’Grady (Napier Boys’ High School)
Annie Ward (Karamu High)
Coach: Callum Lo2013
Luke Reisima (Lindisfarne Collegee)
Callum Lo (Lindisfarne College)
Justin Alseben (Karamu High School)
Coaches: Richard D’Ath & Cameron Price2012
Callum Lo (Linsisfarne College)
Raphael van Workum (Karamu High School)
Bruce Chilton
Coaches: Richard D’Ath & Cameron Price2011
Elise Munden (Napier Girls’ High School)
Alex Morris (Karamu High School)
Stella McMullen (Napier Girls’ High School)
Coaches: Jodie O’Neill, Cameron Price, Daniel Wilson
2010
Alex Morris (Karamu High School)
Cameron Price (Napier Boys’ High School)
Callum Rose (Napier Boys’ High School)
Coaches: Udayan Mukherjee, Paul Smith2009
Sonya Clark (Karamu High School)
Cameron Price (Napier Boys’ High School)
Ellen Woods (Hasting Girls’ High School)
Coaches: Udayan Mukherjee, Paul Smith2008
Molly Woods (Hastings Girls’ High School)
Ashleigh Jablonski (Hastings Girls’ High School)
Abraham Ropitini (Lindisfarne College)
Coaches: Ella Edginton, Paul Smith2007
Louis Chambers (Havelock North High School)
William Findlay (Lindisfarne College)
Abraham Ropitini (Lindisfarne College)
Coaches: Matt McGrath, Pei Huang2006
Armando Neris (Lindisfarne College)
Jeremy Ansell (Lindisfarne College)
Debbie Rowland (Campion College)
Coach: Matt McGrath
2005
Pei Huang (Karamu High School)
William Avisenis (Campion College)
Jun Kwon (Lindisfarne College)
Coach: Matt McGrath2004
Pei Huang (Karamu High School)
Jordan Williams (Lindisfarne College)
Brad Richards (Lindisfarne College)
Coaches: Christopher Bishop, Kevin Moar2003
Hamish McLachlan (Havelock North High School)
Brad Richards (Lindisfarne College)
Harriet McGregor (Napier Girls’ High School)
Coaches: Christopher Bishop, Kevin Moar
2023
The Hawke's Bay Regional Schools' Debating Championships for 2023 were hosted online. Well done to Havelock North High School who took out the final in a very high-quality debate against Lindisfarne College.
Congratulations to the following speakers who were named onto the Hawke's Bay Regional Team for 2023:
- Becs Cadenhead (Havelock North High School)
- Isabella McKeefry (Havelock North High School)
- Ella Whibley (Gisborne Girls’ High School
- Coaches: Sam O’Grady, Samuel Penno, and Taran Molloy.
Thanks to Isobel Fraser for their hard work as convenor.
2018
Hawke’s Bay Regionals this year occurred over the 10/11th of March in Hastings. The tournament broke records again as a whopping 28 teams took part from across the Bay. The tournament was highly competitive and in the end two teams from Napier Girls’, and two from Karamu High School advanced to the semis. The final resulted in two Napier Girls’ teams going head to head with NGHS 1 taking out the competition.
The adjudicators were hugely impressed not only with the quality of debating in the Bay but also the massive amounts of enthusiasm all teams showed. Overall the weekend was a giant success, this was largely due to the amazing work by the host school Hastings Girls’ High School.
Winners – Napier Girls High School 1
Carolyne Nel
Frankie Gross
Lilly Trow
Runners up – Napier Girls High School 2
Natalie Bennett
Bella Spier
Hannah Rawnsley
Promising Speakers:
Grace Windhager (Iona College)
Sophie Jones (Karamu High School)
Abigail Killkolly (Karamu High School)
Most Promising Speaker: Jessica Shoemark (Karamu High School)
Best Junior Speaker: Emilie Horsfall (Havelock North High School)
Highly Commended Speakers:
Drew Olsen (Havelock North High School)
Lily Trow (Napier Girls’ High School)
Oscar Treadwell (Havelock North High School)
Reserves to the Hawke’s Bay Regional Team:
Jessica Shoemark (Karamu High School)
Isha Kaur (Hastings Girls High School)
Members of the Hawke’s Bay Regional Team:
Frankie Gross (Napier Girls High School)
Adam Donaldson (Gisborne Boys’ High School)
Hannah Rawnsley (Napier Girls High School)
Best Style: Grace Windhager (Iona College)
Best Speaker: Frankie Gross (Napier Girls High School)
2017
The Hawke’s Bay Regional Debating Championship was held over the weekend of the 18/19th of March at Sacred Heart College. The tournament saw a huge turnout with 22 teams entered from schools from Gisborne to CHB and everywhere in between. After 4 rounds of debating 4 teams managed to break to the Semi Final, these were, Napier Girls High School, Karamu High School, Havelock North High School and Napier Boys High School. At the end of the day, Napier Boys High School emerged as the victorious team of the 4 managing to take out an extremely high quality final again Karamu on the topic of privatising water.
The weekend was a great success and all the credit for that has to go to Sacred Heart for doing a great job as the host school
Winners: Napier Boys High School
Cameron Maddams
Daniel Kim
Liam Silverwood
Runners up: Karamu High School
Oliver Chamberlain
Holly Davies
Toby Hunter
Best Speaker: Toby Hunter
Best Style: Rebecca Mogey
Most Promising: Oscar Treadwell
Promising Speakers
Francesca Gross
Lily Trow
Hawke’s Bay Regional Team
Liam Silverwood
Rebecca Mogey
Toby Hunter
Reserves
Kelci Alderton-Armstrong
Oliver Chamberlain
Highly Commended
Brianna Otto
Bridgett Petrie
Hana Drysdale
2016
The Hawke’s Bay Regional Debating Championship was help over the 5th and 6th of March. This year a record 22 teams entered from across HB and the quality of teams was exceptional.
The four teams that broke to the semi-final were Campion on four wins, Karamu High School A and B on 3 wins and Napier Boys’ High School A on 3 wins as well. After two high quality semis both Karamu teams advanced to the final.
It was a hotly contested final between both teams, which in the end was won by Karamu High School A in tight decision.
Over the weekend the Hawke’s Bay squad was selected as well. This included 5 members and will be narrowed down to 3 at a later date. The members are Mikel O’Connell (Karamu), Caitlyn Clark (Karamu), Liam Silverwood (Napier Boys’), Brianna Otto (Napier Girls’) and Myles Ashworth (Campion).
All the adjudicators were impressed by the high quality of the tournament. Hawke’s Bay is a region that has some serious debating potential and the enthusiasm of the students is key to this.
Winners: Karamu High School A
Georgia Boyes
Catitlyn Clarke
Mikel O’Connell
Runner Up: Karamu High School B
Romy Crawford
Kate Jones
Abigail Hussey
Promising Speakers
Oliver Chamberlain (Karamu)
Holly Davison (Karamu)
Highly Commended
Georgia Drummond (Napier Girls’ High School)
Rose Coffey (Napier Girls’ High School)
Hawke’s Bay Squad
Mikel O’Connell (Karamu High School)
Caitlyn Clark (Karamu High School)
Liam Silverwood (Napier Boys’ High School)
Brianna Otto (Napier Girls’ High School)
Myles Ashworth (Campion)
Best Speaker
Caitlyn Clark (Karamu High School)
2015
The mighty Hawke’s Bay Regionals Schools’ Debating Championships took place over the weekend of the 14th and 15th of March. This year it was hosted by Karamu High School in Hastings. It was the largest HB tournament ever, with 20 teams entered. Debating is on the rise in Hawke’s Bay.
Students debated a range of topics at a high level, and all adjudicators were very impressed. 3 rounds were had on the Saturday, with a fourth on Sunday morning followed by semis and finals. The adjudicators, who came from Victoria University in Wellington and Auckland University, put on a show debate while the finalists prepared their debate.
Karamu High took home the Toi Te Taio Bioethics Council Trophy in a final against Hastings Girls’ High School. Congratulations to best speaker from the winning team Yahaira Williams, and to the other two members of the Hawke’s Bay team: Jazz Rorrison (Karamu High School) and Mikel O’Connell (also from Karamu High School).
Special thanks to Amy Price, Jo Morris and Jon Read for all their efforts in hosting the tournament.
Winners (Karamu High School)
Jasmin Rorrison
Tiffany Buckley
Yahaira Williams
Runners up (Hastings Girls’ High School)
Abigail Lassing
Rebecca Frankum
Helen Howell
Promising Speakers
Louis Daysch (Lindisfarne College)
Georgia Boyes (Karamu High School)
Toby Hunter (Karamu High School)
Highly Commended
Rebecca Frankum (Hastings Girls’ High School)
Grace Coffey (Napier Girls’ High School)
Reuben van Selm (Napier Boys’ High School)
Reserves to the Hawke’s Bay Team
Olivia Druzianic (Iona College)
Caitlyn Clark (Karamu High School)
Hawke’s Bay Team
Yahaira Williams (Karamu High School)
Jasmin Rorrison (Karamu High School)
Mikel O’Connell (Karamu High School)
Best speaker: Yahaira Williams (Karamu High School)
2014
The mighty Hawke’s Bay Regionals Schools’ Debating Championships took place over the weekend of the 22nd and 23rd of March. This year it was hosted by Karamu High School in Hastings.
The level of debating in Hawke’s Bay has continued its upwards trajectory. Students debated a range of topics at a high level, and all adjudicators were very impressed.
11 teams participated in the tournament, which was won by Karamu High in a final against Napier Boys’ High School. Congratulations to best speaker from the winning team Justin Alsleban, and to the other two members of the Hawke’s Bay team: Sam O’Grady (NBHS) and Annie Ward (Karamu High).
Special thanks to Jo Morris for all her efforts putting the tournament together.
2013
Thanks to co-convenor Jodie O’Neill’s impeccable organizational skill, the 9 judges from Victoria University who were travelling from Wellington arrived on time to the 2013 Hawke’s Bay Regional Schools’ Debating Championships, held at Napier Boys’ High School over the weekend of the 6th and 7th of April.
For the first time in recent memory, the tournament was hosted in Napier, having been held at Karamu High or Lindisfarne College in Hastings in the years prior. The change of city was in part due to a desire to spread the hosting of the tournament around schools within the region. In future, the tournament alternate between Napier and Hastings schools each year.
16 teams participated in the regionals this year, which is part of a growing trend of more schools entering more teams within the region. Special mention goes to the schools from Gisborne who made the trip down, it is always good to see such a great turn out.
Students debated a diverse range of topics, showcasing their knowledge of the merits of charter schools, mandating fifty-fifty coverage of men’s’ and women’s’ sport, a parent’s right to override a doctor’s advice and the benefits or otherwise of preventing skilled migrants from developing countries from moving to NZ in the four break rounds. Four of the adjudicators participated in a show debate on the topic of whether the government should allow individuals to delete memories if the technology were ever invented. Two teams from Karamu High, one from Napier Boys’ and another from Lindisfarne debated the merits of media intrusion into the private lives of public figures in the semifinal before Lindisfarne 1 bested Karamu 1 in the final arguing for the proposition that prisoners facing life imprisonment should be able to opt for the death penalty.
The adjudicators all felt that the standard of debating in the region has risen markedly over the last few years. Teachers and students take on feedback from the university debaters with great enthusiasm. It would be fair to say that debating in the region is on the rise. This is thanks in no small part to the people who are devoting their time and effort to bettering HB debating. To Kimberley Robertson and Napier Boys’ High School, thank you for being such great hosts. To the teachers, coaches and parents who provided an audience, thank you for your commitment. Thanks must also go to the 7 adjudicators who gave up their time: Richard D’Ath (HB Team co-coach), Elise Munden (HB Development Squad Coach), Udayan Mukherjee, Olivia Hall, Philip Belesky, Xing-Yi Tan and Scott Fletcher. We look forward to next year’s tournament.
2012
This year’s Hawke’s Bay Regional Debating Championships were held over the 12 and 13th of May, hosted by Karamu High School. There were 9 teams from 7 schools entered, along with a swing team made up of enthusiastic debaters who had originally come just to watch their peers. The weekend is a chance for Hawke’s Bay debaters to gain some exposure to high-level debating, to argue motions that they possibly haven’t before and to receive feedback from university level adjudicators, so it was very pleasing to see the amount of commitment and enthusiasm all of the students displayed.
The weekend kicked off on Saturday afternoon with a debate on the motion that ‘This House would ban the sale of New Zealand land to foreigners’. The adjudicators were particularly impressed at the high calibre of debating in the first round; it was clear that the competitors had done their research. Next up was a limited preparation round on performance enhancing drugs in sport, followed by the final debate of the day on the legalisation of euthanasia. These are all complex topics and the students dealt with them in an exceptionally mature and thoughtful way.
The following day, the break to the semi finals was announced: Lindisfarne A, Campion, Hastings Girls’ and Karamu High all had the challenge of debating the topical motion that ‘This House would make the receipt of long-term benefits conditional on the implantation of long acting contraceptives.’ Again, this is a sensitive issue and one that was dealt with well, most notably by Hastings’ Girls and Karamu High who both took the win and advanced to the final.
While Hastings Girls’ and Karamu prepared for their final, the other competitors and their coaches were treated to an Easters-styled show debate on the motion that ‘This house believes the government should use subliminal messaging to influence the behaviours of its citizens’. This was followed by a short discussion on the basics of case making as well as some tips for school teachers on coaching methods.
By this time, everyone was looking forward to seeing the final and it proved to be a hotly contested one. ‘This house believes vegetarianism is good’ was the classic motion chosen for the final and while both teams did well in arguing the relative merits of herbivores as compared to carnivores, only one team could win. For the first time in the long and prestigious 8 year history of the championships, Hastings Girls’ came out as the victors.
Most Promising: Jack Young
Highly Commended:
Fady Girgis
Hemi Manaena
Reserve to the Hawke’s Bay Debating Team: Luke Reisima (Lindisfarne College)
Hawke’s Bay Schools’ Debating Team:
Raphael van Workum
Bruce Chilton
Callum Lo
Best Speaker: Raphael van Workum
2011
The 2011 Hawke’s Bay Regional Debating Championships were held over the the weekend of 5/6 March at Lindisfarne College in Hastings. This year there were 8 teams entered from 6 schools, and although this is fewer than in the last years all the participants were extremely enthusiastic and also displayed the huge strides in talent that the region has taken over the last few years. This made the tournament an extremely competitive one, which is evident by the fact that across 5 rounds of debating, no team remained unbeaten and no team failed to pick up at least one victory.
The tournament began on Saturday afternoon, with teams debating both sides of a prepared motion about the use of the death penalty on criminals which made for some impassioned and well-informed debates. Then in the first impromptu round later in the day, teams debated whether voting should be compulsory. On Sunday morning teams had two more impromptu rounds on banning gang patches and international whaling rights.
Before the grand final was held, all the participants enjoyed watching a spirited show debate one the government actively supporting atheism put on by the adjudicators. This was well-appreciated by the crowd and opinions were mixed about the winner of debate though everyone enjoyed the spectacle! Afterwards the break was announced and two teams had clearly risen to the top of draw by garnering four wins. These teams were Karamu High School and Napier Girls High School who progressed to the final on the topic of whether university education should be reserved for the best and the brightest.
The grand final was an extremely well-contested and close debate, with both teams mixing knowledge, analysis and humour to good effect in what all the adjudicators agreed was the best quality final for many years in the region. Ultimately though, Napier Girls prevailed in a 4-1 split decision, deservedly taking away their first title after many years of consistent performances.
Many thanks must go to Fraser Harrison and Lindisfarne College for the sterling job they did in hosting the tournament this year. They continue to step up year after year and have been great supporters of Hawke’s Bay debating for which we are very grateful. Also, thanks to the judges who travelled up from Wellington to lend their expertise: Asher Emanuel, Daniel Wilson, Jenna Raeburn, Jodie O’Neill, Christopher Bishop, Richard D’Ath and Johanna McDavitt. Also thanks to all the schools for attending and continuing to showcase their improvement and debating talent.
Most Promising Speaker: Raphael van Workum (Karamu High School)
Highly Commended speakers:
George Kimber (Havelock North High School)
Joseph Beattie (Karamu High School)
Zac Fairhall (Napier’ Boys High School)
Reserve to the Hawke’s Bay Schools’ Debating Team: Lauren Sye
Hawke’s Bay Schools’ Debating Team:
Elise Munden
Alex Morris
Stella McMullen
Best Speaker: Elise Munden
2010
The 2010 Hawke’s Bay Regional Debating Championships were held over the weekend of 24/25 April, once again at Lindisfarne College. This year Napier Boys’ High School were the victors, winning the final in a unanimous decision to return the Bioethics Council trophy to Napier after a two-year absence.
This year saw 13 teams from ten schools competing for the Bioethics trophy, surpassing 2009 as the largest tournament in memory. The adjudicators were particularly impressed this year with the quality and depth of the debating they saw over the weekend, and feel this bodes well for the future of Hawkes’ Bay debating.
As usual, the tournament started off on Saturday afternoon with the teams debating both sides of a prepared topic over the first two rounds – this year the moot being contended was that ‘the West should withdraw military from Afghanistan’. The teams then moved on to the ‘limited preparation’ rounds, were they were afforded only half an hour to prepare for each debate. The limited preparation rounds spanned Saturday evening and Sunday morning, with topics debating ranging from performance pay for teachers to government funding for the arts.
After the rounds, the top four teams progressed to the semi-finals – this year the top four teams after the rounds (in order from first to fourth) were Napier Girls’ High School, Karamu High, Napier Boys’ High School and Hastings Girls’ High School. Of particular note is that Napier Boys’ and Hastings Girls’ ended up on identical points, and with no other useful metric of separation, the convenors were forced to flip a coin to determine the final ordering for the semi-finals!
This meant that Napier Girls’ high faced Hastings Girls’ in the first semi, while Karamu and Napier Boys’ faced off in the other. The topic for the semi-final was ‘that there should be a separate minimum wage for those under 18’ – a touchy topic perhaps for the majority of the attendees! The debates in the semi-final were both of high quality but in the end Hastings Girls’ prevailed over Napier Girls’ in a 2-1 split decision, while Napier Boys’ unanimously defeated Karamu in the other.
This set up Hastings Girls’ and Napier Boys’ for an exciting final on the topic ‘that the Government should protect dying languages’, which was won after an entertaining and spirited debate by Napier Boys’ High School.
Thanks in particular to Ian Findlay and Lindisfarne for once again being excellent hosts and providing us with the venues necessary to conduct the tournament, even in the midst of their year 13 Ball. Without helpful people like Ian tournaments like this simply wouldn’t be able to function, so it goes without saying that we are all very grateful for the work he puts in every year.
Winners: Napier Boys High School (Cameron Price, Callum Rose, Kaveshan Naidoo)
Runners-up: Hastings Girls High School (Amy Harrison, Emily Brett, Ellen Woods)
Most Promising Speaker: Stephen Clothier (Karamu High School)
Highly Commended Speakers: Keegan Platten (Campion College), Elise Munden (Napier Girls’ High School)
Reserve to the Hawke’s Bay Regional Team: Jack Watling (Campion College)
Hawke’s Bay Development Squad:
Elise Munden
Stephen Clothier
Jack Watling
Stella McMullen (Napier Girls’ High School)
Hawke’s Bay Regional Schools Debating Squad:
Cameron Price
Alex Morris (Karamu High School)
Ellen Woods
Callum Rose
Best Speaker at Hawke’s Bay Regionals: Cameron Price
2009
The 2009 Hawke’s Bay Regional Debating Championships were held over the weekend of 2/3 May at Lindisfarne College. Campion College were victorious, winning for the first time since 2003 and taking the Bioethics Cup up to Gisborne.
Ten teams from eight schools competed in the tournament making it the largest regionals in memory, and the enthusiasm from all the debaters and coaches bodes particularly well for the future of the region.
Debates began on Saturday afternoon with schools arguing across rounds 1 and 2 about the merits of a pre-emptive strike on North Korea, in a prepared debate. Round three saw teams discussing whether or not smoking should be banned. On Sunday morning in the final preliminary round, teams debated whether celebrities convicted of crimes should face harsher sentences.
From there, four teams progressed to the semi-finals. Unbeaten in first place were last year’s champions, Napier Boys’ High School, and in second and third having lost just won one debate were Campion College and Hastings Girls’ High School B. There were four teams tied for the final spot in the semis but progressing on the strength of their draw was Karamu High School.
In the semi-finals, on the motion “This House would make insulting religion a crime”, Karamu defeated Napier Boys’ (2-1) and Campion won through over Hastings (3-0). The Grand FInal was on the motion, “This House believes the government should bail out failing industries”, and in a high quality and entertaining debate, Campion prevailed in a 2-1 decision, taking out the Bioethics Council Trophy.
A huge thanks must go to Lindisfarne College and particularly Ian Findlay for his tireless work in hosting the weekend. Thanks also to the excellent adjudicators who donated their weekend: Stephen Whittington, Paul Smith, Holly Jenkins, Lauren Brazier and Molly Woods.
The immense enthusiasm on the part of the competitors made the weekend a pleasure for all involved and is a great sign for the development of debating in the region. See you next year!
Winners: Campion College (Daniel Coombes, Jack Watling, Josh Savage)
Runners-Up: Karamu High School (Sonya Clark, Cameron Browne, Alexandra Morris)
Promising Speakers: Colin Chisholm (Lindisfarne A), Amy Harrison (Hastings Girls’ High School B)
Most Promising Speaker: Jack Watling (Campion College)
Highly Commended Speakers: Sarah Hawkins (Napier Girls’ High School), Callum Rose (Napier Boys’ High School)
2nd Reserve to the Hawke’s Bay Regional Team: Hugh McHugh (Lindisfarne A)
1st Reserve to the Hawke’s Bay Regional Team: Ellen Woods (Hastings Girls’ High School B)
2009 Hawke’s Bay Regional Team
Sonya Clark (Karamu High School)
Cameron Price (Napier Boys’ High School)
Alexandra Morris (Karamu High School)
Best Speaker at the Hawke’s Bay Regionals: Cameron Price (Napier Boys’ High School)
2008
Napier Boys’ High School have emerged victorious from the Hawke’s Bay Regional Schools Debating Championships, held at Lindisfarne College over the weekend of 8/9 March. It is the first time that Napier Boys’ have won the tournament. The team comprising Cameron Price, Callum Rose, and Jordan Boyle defeated Campion College (Nathaniel Ratapu, Nathan Huberts, and Daniel Coombs) in the Grand Final. The final topic was “This House believes that NZ should sign a free trade agreement with China.” As winners Napier Boys’ receive the Bioethics Council Trophy.
9 teams from 7 schools contested the Regional Champs throughout the weekend. In rounds 1 and 2 the teams grappled with whether voluntary euthanasia should be legalised in New Zealand. Round 3 saw the teams consider whether all funding for the arts by government should be abolished. In the final preliminary round on the Sunday morning, the teams debated whether beauty pageants should be banned.
A Hawke’s Bay Regional Schools’ Debating team was also named. The team is Molly Woods (Hastings Girls’ High School), Abraham Ropitini (Lindisfarne College), and Ashleigh Jablonski (Hastings Girls’ High School). They will compete at the National Champs from May 23-26. The Bioethics Council Cup for the best speaker of the tournament went to Molly Woods.
Thank you very much to Lindisfarne for hosting the tournament and for delicious morning teas. Thanks also to Armando Neris for convening, and to the adjudicators who ventured up from Wellington – Hugh McCaffrey, Ellen Thomson, Jane Pring, and Joe Connell. See you next year!
2007
On the 31st March and 1st April, the Hawke's Bay Secondary Schools’ Debating Championships were held at Karamu High School in Hastings. Five teams from across the region, reaching as far as Gisborne competed in the selection tournament at which a Hawke's Bay Regional Team is named. The Hawkes Bay Region has developed by huge leaps and bounds in the past 12 months, thanks to the tireless work of Jill Allan (Karamu High School) with implementing debating throughout the regular interschool competitions.
Teams debated a controversial motion “This house would allow parents to design their babies”, followed by three limited preparation rounds, where teams were given 60 minutes and 30 minutes respectively to prepare a debate. Topics included “This house would make the learning of the Maori language compulsory in secondary schools”, “This house believes it is legitimate to use torture against suspected terrorists”, and finally “This house believes that we should legalise drugs in sport”. All were very challenging topics which were handled very well, in what was the highest level of competition ever seen in Hawkes Bay at this tournament.
The tournament concluded with the grand finals between Lindisfarne College (Hastings) and Campion College (Gisborne) debating the topic “This house believes that the private lives of public figures are our concern” – a topic where knowledge of current affairs was very useful. The winning team of the tournament was Lindisfarne College comprised of Tim Jones, William Findlay, and Abraham Ropitini, winning by a narrow margin affirming the motion. The team was awarded the “Toi te Taiao:The Bioethics Council Trophy for the Winning Team” for their success.
The Hawke's Bay Regional Team, to represent the Hawke's Bay region at the National Championships in August was named after a rigorous selection process as Louis Chambers (Havelock North High School), William Findlay (Lindisfarne College) and Abraham Ropitini. Co-Convenor Matt McGrath said “choosing the team from the amazing pool of talent was a really hard ask – but we are absolutely confident that we made the right choice”.
Other awards presented at the tournament included: Reserves: Lauren Kilkolly (Hastings Girls High School) and Nathaniel Ratapu (Campion College), Promising Speaker: Mike Li (Campion College), Most Promising Speaker: Jordan Boyle (Napier Boys High School), Highly Commended: Tim Jones (Lindisfarne College), Best Speaker (awarded the “Toi te Taiao:The Bioethics Council Trophy For the Best Speaker”): Louis Chambers (Havelock North High School).
This tournament would not have been possible without the generous and enthusiastic support of Jill Allan and Karamu High School who have hosted the tournament over the past four years, Russell McVeagh, The Bioethics Council as well as the eight adjudicators who gave up their weekend to travel to Hawkes Bay to judge at the competition.
Winning team: Lindisfarne College (awarded the “Toi te Taiao:The Bioethics Council Trophy For the Winning Team”)
Runner up: Campion College
Members of the Hawkes Bay Regional Team:
Louis Chambers (Havelock North High School)
William Findlay (Lindisfarne College) (Captain)
Abe Ropitini (Lindisfarne College)
Reserves:
Lauren Kilkolly (Hastings Girls High School)
Nathaniel Ratapu (Campion College)
Promising Speaker: Mike Li (Campion College)
Most Promising Speaker: Jordan Boyle (Napier Boys High School)
Highly Commended: Tim Jones (Lindisfarne College)
Best Speaker (awarded the “Toi te Taiao:The Bioethics Council Trophy For the Best Speaker”): Louis Chambers (Havelock North High School)
2005
The 2005Hawke’s Bay Regional Schools’ Debating Championship was held on the 15th of May, at Karamu High School in Hastings. Like other areas in New Zealand, Hawke’s Bay schools debating is as much a matter of development of the ‘Schools’ style of debating as well as development of the students. Both advanced by leaps and bounds this year.
All debaters went through a debating workshop, while the teachers met to discuss the development of debating in the region. Next year should again see an improvement in the quality of debating in the region.
Improvements were seen throughout the day. Through a prepared round, two limited preparation rounds and a closely fought final the students demonstrated the quickly emerging potential of the region.
Motions debating were:
- That voting should be compulsory in NZ general elections
- That New Zealand should be more Brash
- That NZ should become a republic
- That we should legalise cannabis (final)
Karamu A won the tournament with Lindisfarne A a very close runner up.
The regional team is: William Avisenis (Campion A), Jun Kwon (Lindisfarne A), and Pei Huang (Karamu A). The first reserve is Armando Neris (Lindisfarne A) and the second reserve is William Findlay (Lindisfarne B).
Promising Speaker Awards were given to Vincent Rosario (Campion B), Makisua Faletutulu (Napier Boys) and Tim Jones (Lindisfarne B), and the Most Promising Speaker was Shaun Carswell (Karamu A/B)
The speaker of the tournament was Pei Huang (Karamu A).
The Inaugural Award for “Best Hope For the Future” went to Ben from Karamu B who stepped up from the audience to debate for a team who lost a member early on.
I especially thank Jill Allan for her tireless organisation, Judith Bartlett for agreeing, with little notice, to adjudicate with a foreign scoresheet, and Gina and Ryan for adjudicating.
2004
The Hawke’s Bay Regional Schools’ Debating Championships were held on Sunday 9 May at Karamu High School. Eight teams competed on the day: Lindisfarne College, Karamu High School A and B, Te Aute College, Napier Boys’ High School, Campion College, the recently selected Central North Island regional team, along with a ‘Russell McVeagh invitational’ team.
The Hawke’s Bay regional competition is a new and developing one. 2003 was the first time a regional competition had been held since the early 1990s. It was pleasing, in 2004, to see schools who had entered last year returning, as well as new schools as well. In particular it was great to see schools like Campion College in Gisborne being prepared to travel long distances to debate!
Teams debated both sides of the prepared motion ‘That Maori should get special treatment’ in the first two rounds of the day. After lunch and one hour of preparation time, teams debated the motion ‘That we should see more of New Zealand on Air’.
Karamu High School A then debated Lindisfarne College in the well-attended final of the competition. The motion was ‘That we should abolish our nuclear free policy’. Karamu affirmed and Lindisfarne negated. After a good debate, the adjudicators were unanimous that Lindisfarne College should be the Hawke’s Bay regional champions for 2004. The winning team was Brad Richards, Jordan Williams, and David Hooker.
The Russell McVeagh regional team, to represent Hawke’s Bay at the National Championships in August was then named. The team was Brad Richards (Lindisfarne College), Pei Huang (Karamu High School) and Jordan Williams (Lindisfarne College). Reserves named were Russell Kale (Karamu High School) and Paul Smith (Napier Boys’ High School).
Many thanks to the adjudicators who came up with me from Wellington or traveled from Palmerston North: Kevin Moar, Sarah Barnett, Gareth Richards, Zach Ward, and Chris Pearce. Particular thanks are due to Jill Allan and Karamu High School for helping to organise the venue and for ensuring the smooth running of the competition on the day.