The Wellington Regionals Schools Debating Championships were held on the 24th-25th of March at Scots College – many thanks to them, and to Victoria Papadopoulos in particular, for hosting. 22 teams from 15 schools around Wellington competed in a series of preliminary rounds, debating a wide range of topics, from the abolition of zoos to the taxation of automation
After five preliminary rounds, four teams broke to the semi-finals: Wellington College, Newlands College, Queen Margaret’s College, and Hutt International Boys School. After two closely fought semis, HIBS defeated Wellington College and Queen Margaret’s defeated Newlands.
The final was an entertaining and high-quality debate on the topical issue of whether political parties should be required to declare their coalition preferences prior to an election. After a very close debate, reflected by the 3-2 split on the panel, HIBS were declared the winners. Thanks to National MP Nicola Willis, a former debater, for coming along to the final and helping to give out the prizes.
Over the course of the weekend, two regional teams were also selected to represent Wellington at the New Zealand Schools Debating Championship. Congratulations to all of the following prize winners:
Winners: Hutt International Boys School
Blair McInnarney
Grayson Lawrence
Matt Tomlinson
Michael Sanders
Runners up: Queen Margaret’s College
Jessica Fromow
Millie Wilcox
Charlotte Barber
Isobel Scherf
Bethany Kaye-Blake
Members of the Wellington Regional Teams
Shine Wu (Newlands College)
Barnaby Elder (St Patrick’s College Silverstream)
Rusheen Draper (Wellington High School)
Jessica Fromow (Queen Margaret’s College)
Peter Lang (Scots College)
Rose Wallington (Wellington High School)
Reserves to the Regional Teams
Rilke Comer (Wellington High School)
Isobel Scherf (Queen Margaret’s College)
Best Speaker
Peter Lang
Best Style
Barnaby Elder
Most Promising Speaker
Isobel Scherf
Promising Speaker
Florence Oakley (St Oran’s College)
Highly Commended
Ryan Maass (Newlands College)
Samantha Samaniego (St Mary’s College)
Jesse Richardson (Wellington College)