The 37th New Zealand Schools’ National Debating Championships were held over 24 – 27 May in Wellington. Forty-two competitors and sixteen reserves, representing fourteen regional teams, descended upon Wellington for a weekend of debating.
We were honored to open Nationals with the Friends of New Zealand Schools’ Debating Foundation Opening Function, hosted at the Supreme Court by our Patron, Sir Stephen Kós KC KNZM. It was great to see so many of our alumni taking the opportunity to catch up with old friends and reminisce about their own time at Nationals.
Seven preliminary rounds were held over the weekend at Victoria University’s Pipitea Campus. The motions included a number of topical issues, ranging from fast-track consenting processes, to the use of facial recognition technology in supermarkets. You can see all the motions from the weekend on our moot bank.
The breaking teams were announced at the Championship dinner, held at the Basin Reserve on the Sunday evening. The four teams which progressed to the semifinals were the Bay of Plenty (sponsored by Cooney Lees Morgan), Auckland White, Otago, and Auckland Blue.
On Monday morning, the four breaking teams debated the motion “There is a prophecy that your child will achieve greatness and have an everlasting legacy but will suffer and die young. Your child knows of the prophecy and wants their destiny. You have the choice to undo the prophecy. Your child will instead have a long, mediocre life, but never forgive you. This house would undo the prophecy.” After two closely fought semi-finals, the teams that advanced to the Grand Finals were Auckland Blue and Otago.
The Free Speech Union Grand Final was hosted by the Hon. Chris Bishop in the Legislative Chamber of Parliament. The motion for the final was that “this house believes that the biggest threat to freedom of speech in liberal democracies in 2024 is no longer the state”. Esteemed audience members included Dr Deborah Russel MP, Jan Tinetti MP, the Hon. Karen Chhour, and our Patron, Sir Stephen Kós. After a spirited debate, Otago were named the national champions – the first time since 2003.
The following students received speaker prizes:
- Best Speaker of Nationals: Luca Ririnui (Cooney Lees Morgan Bay of Plenty)
- Captain of the New Zealand Team: Clara Ballantyne (Otago)
- New Zealand Team: Clara Ballantyne (Otago), Luca Ririnui (Cooney Lees Morgan Bay of Plenty), Bruce Zhang (Auckland Blue), Alan Chen (Auckland White), Jamie Pett (Auckland Blue)
- Most Promising Speaker of Nationals: Ollie Farquharson (Cooney Lees Morgan Bay of Plenty)
- Reserves to the New Zealand team: Teresa Ng (Wellington Gold), Isabella McKeefry (Sainsbury Logan and Williams Hawke’s Bay)
- Highly Commended Speakers: Reena Wen (Auckland White), Jaskiran Kaur Rahi (Wellington Black), Sebastian Heine-Sheldrake (Wellington Black)
- Promising Speakers: Ché McGivern (Otago), Manuia Fox-Romia (Kayes Fletcher Walker Counties Manukau)
Two members of the New Zealand team, Clara Ballantye and Luca Ririnui, were interviewed on RNZ nights shortly after nationals. You can listen to their interview here. The team will compete at the next World Championships in Belgrade, Serbia, in July 2024.
The New Zealand Schools’ Debating Council is very grateful to the Free Speech Union for its generous support of the Grand Final. We are also grateful to Victoria University of Wellington who hosted the Championships during the weekend. Thank you also to Henderson Reeves, Kayes Fletcher Walker, Cooney Lees Morgan, Edmonds Judd, Sainsbury Logan and Williams, Originair, Canterbury English Speaking Union Trust, and Mee & Henry Law for their support of regional debating teams throughout 2024.
Thank you to everyone who put in hard work to make the Championships such a memorable weekend – adjudicators, coaches, chairpeople, and our conveners, Xandi Cooke and James Mason.