The Bankside Chambers Auckland Regional Schools’ Debating Championships were held at St. Cuthbert’s College on 23 and 24 March 2024, with 53 teams attending from 24 schools, the highest for any regional competition in the history of the New Zealand Schools' Debating Championships!
It was a wonderful competition with many high quality speakers of various ages from all over the region. We would like to extend a warm thanks to every school for attending, and to all of the adjudicators who judged the tournament.
Thank you to Hon. David Seymour for coming to say a few words to the Auckland debaters about the value of debate and public speaking. It was inspirational to hear about how public speaking has been valuable throughout David’s career journey, from being an engineer to now being a Minister.
Thank you also to Bankside Chambers for their generous support that allowed us to grow the tournament this year, and to Robert Donohoe and Judy Fong for their hard work as convenors.
After four rounds of preliminary debates and highly competitive quarter and semifinals, the two teams in the finals were Pinehurst 1 and Saint Kentigern 1. Following an excellent and entertaining final debate, Saint Kentigern 1 were announced as the winners of the Bankside Chambers Auckland Regional Schools’ Debating Championships.
Below from left to right: the winning team, Saint Kentigern 1; the best speaker of the tournament, Matthew Zheng (Kristen School); the two Bankside Chambers Auckland Regional teams for 2024.
Winners - Saint Kentigern College 1:
Fiona Yan
Kyden Chan
Hamish Stewart-Webb
Runners-Up - Pinehurst College 1:
Reena Wen
Goldie Moritz
Gloria Kim
Best Team from a New School: St Dominic’s Catholic College 1 (Delara Elavia, Leah D’Lima, MJ Segers, Andy Suson).
Highly Commended Speakers: Jacob Johnstone (Kristin School) and Emily Zhang (St. Cuthbert’s College)
Promising Speakers: Mishti Saha (Lynfield College) and Allen Weng (ACG Parnell College)
Best Speaker: Matthew Zhang (Kristin School)
Most Promising Speaker: Jacob Johnstone (Kristin School)
Reserves to the Bankside Chambers Auckland regional teams: Nicole Wong (Kristin School) and Hamish Stewart-Webb (Saint Kentigern College)
Bankside Chambers Auckland Blue 2024
Bruce Zhang (Macleans College)
Jamie Pett (Avondale College)
Catherine Chen (Kristin College)
Bankside Chambers Auckland White 2024
Matthew Zheng (Kristin School)
Alan Chen (Saint Kentigern College)
Reena Wen (Pinehurst College)
Previous Regional Teams
Auckland has competed in the New Zealand Schools’ Debating Championships since its inception. The regional teams since that time are listed here.
2024
Auckland Blue
Bruce Zhang (Macleans College)
Jamie Pett (Avondale College)
Catherine Chen (Kristin College)
Coaches: Aisha O'Malley and Harry AickinAuckland White
Matthew Zheng (Kristin School)
Alan Chen (Saint Kentigern College)
Reena Wen (Pinehurst College)
Coaches: Sumner Hancock, Robert Hoskins & Gabriel Toreja2023
Auckland Blue
Lucas Liu (Rangitoto College)
Jamie Pett (Avondale College)
Lauren Chee (Diocesan School for Girls)
Coaches: Aisha O'Malley and Sharuka WikramanayakeAuckland White
Chris Ye (Saint Kentigern)
Virginia Quatermain (ACG Parnell)
Sarah-Rose Crofskey (Saint Cuthberts)
Coaches: Bella Rollinson and Zachary Chambers2022
Auckland Blue
Alissa Huang
Hunter Haynes
Ethan Findlow
Coaches: Mitchell Palmer and Isaac Mellis-GlynnAuckland White
Michael Yao (Auckland Grammar School)
Mannat Kaur (Avondale College)
Nicole Hua (Selwyn College)
Coach: Bella Rollinson, Zachary Chambers and Josh Sampson2021
Auckland Blue
Isaac Mellis-Glynn (Auckland Grammar)
HeeSeo Kim (Kristin School)
Jack Sandelin (Auckland Grammar)
Coaches: Paul Smith, Jessica Storey & Aisha O’MalleyAuckland White
Guy Williams (Kristin School)
Valentino Tew (Auckland Grammar School)
Ellen Wang (Macleans College)
Coach: Sharuka Wikramanayake2020
Auckland Blue
Isaac Mellis-Glynn (Auckland Grammar School)
Kunli Zhang (Kristin School)
Grace Chang (Saint Kentigern College)
Coaches: Jessica Storey, Paul Smith & Rory NolanAuckland White
Friederike Voit (Rangitoto College)
Millie Caughey (St Cuthbert’s College)
Jack Sandelin (Auckland Grammar School)
Coaches: Grace Belworthy, Lucy Harrison & Harper Smith (assistant)2019
Auckland Blue
Millie Caughey (St Cuthbert’s College)
Mitchell Palmer (Auckland Grammar School)
Kyus Rodger (Lynfield College)
Coach: Chris RyanAuckland White
William Price (Westlake Boys’ High School)
Isaac Mellis-Glynn (Auckland Grammar School)
Grace Baylis (Macleans College)
Coaches: Arun Prakash & Zachary Wong2018
Auckland Blue
Grace Baylis (Macleans College)
Yang-Fan Yun (Macleans College)
David Zhu (Auckland Grammar School)
Coaches: Kayla Grant & Aditya VasudevanAuckland White
William Price (Westlake Boys’ High School)
Alan Zhang (Macleans College)
Abbie Pool (St Kentigern College)
Coaches: Chris Ryan & Matthew Bilton2017
Auckland Blue:
Louis Addock (Sacred Heart College)
Keir Robinson (Selwyn College)
Sam Baker (Westlake Boys’ High School)
Coaches: Glen Holm-Hansen and Kayla GrantAuckland White:
Geneva Roy (Kings College)
Karan Kalsi (Lynfield College)
Piper Whitehead (Diocesan School for Girls)
Coaches: Lucy Harrison and Hamish Saunders2016
Auckland Blue
Ford Gooch (Westlake Boys High School)
Umbar Sandhu (Howick College)
Piper Whitehead (Diocesan School for Girls)
Coaches: James Penn & James RankinAuckland White
Geneva Roy (Kings College)
Karan Kalsi (Lynfield College)
Zachary Wong (Macleans College)
Coaches: Hamish Saunders & Lucy Harrison2015
Auckland Blue
Seran Ramanathan (Auckland Grammar School)
Amanda Ngo (Kings College)
Rachel Worthington (St Kentigern College)
Coaches: Paul Smith & Lucy HarrisonAuckland White
Liam Rawlings (Westlake Boys High School)
Karan Kalsi (Lynfield College)
SooKyoung Choi (St Cuthberts College)
Coaches: Ed Foley & James Penn2014
Auckland Blue
Hannah Jones (Diocesan School for Girls)
Harrison Fookes (Sacred Heart College)
Arun Prakash (St Kentigern College)
Coaches: Paul Smith & Lucy HarrisonAuckland White
Rachel Worthington (St Kentigern College)
Ben Gatting (Sacred Heart College)
Matthew Bilton (Westlake Boys’ High School)
Coaches: Holly Jenkins & James Penn2013
Auckland Blue
James Rankin (Westlake Boys’ High School)
Andrew Winstanley (Auckland Grammar School)
Kayla Polamalu (St Mary’s College)
Coaches: Paul Smith & James PennAuckland White
Chris Ryan (Howick College)
Jesse Medcalf (Westlake Boys’ High School)
Matthew Bilton (Westlake Boys’ High School)
Coaches: Holly Jenkins & Joshua Baxter
2012
Auckland Blue
Mitchell Smitheram (Kristin School)
Ishika Jayasinghe (St Cuthbert’s College)
Jessy Wu (St Cuthbert’s College)
Coaches: Stephanie Thompson & Nupur UpadhyayAuckland White
Ashley Varney (King’s College)
Richard Ngo (King’s College)
Kayla Polamalu (St Mary’s College)
Coaches: Desley Horton & Michelle Cooper2011
Auckland Blue
Frederick Thursfield (King’s College)
Nick Orr (Auckland Grammar School)
Ishika Jayasinghe (St Cuthbert’s College)
Coaches: Stephanie Thompson & Glenn RiddellAuckland White
Michael Wang (Macleans College)
Lucy Harrison (Mt Albert Grammar School)
Bhavan Srikumar (Auckland Grammar School)
Coaches: Nupur Upadhyay & Glen Holm-Hansen2010
Auckland Blue
Jessica Storey (St Cuthbert’s College)
Frederick Thursfield (King’s College)
Nick Orr (Auckland Grammar School)
Coaches: Stephanie Thompson and Glenn RiddellAuckland White
Olivia Hall (St Cuthbert’s College)
Ashish Pandey (King’s College)
Lucy Harrison (Mt Albert Grammar School)
Coaches: Kathy Errington and Sam Bookman2009
Auckland Blue
Joshua Baxter (Auckland Grammar School)
Rory Nolan (St Kentigern College)
Scott Ashby (Kristin School)
Coaches: Desley Horton and Mitchell CooperAuckland White
Motaz Al-Chanati (Westlake Boys’ High School)
Aria Newfield (St Cuthbert’s College)
Natasha Frost (Kristin School)
Coaches: Kathy Errington and Jordan Ward2008
Auckland Blue
Gretta Schumacher (Baradene College)
Ben Kornfeld (King’s College)
Alex Kirch (Auckland Grammar School)
Coaches: Desley Horton and Dan WhiteAuckland White
Nupur Upadhyay (St Cuthbert’s College)
Sam Horner (Wentworth College)
Emily Adlam (Diocesan School for Girls)
Coaches: Brad Ward and George Minton2007
Auckland Blue
Sam Bookman (St Kentigern College)
Sam George (Auckland Grammar School)
Stephanie Thompson (Diocesan School for Girls)
Coaches: Desley Horton and Glenn RiddellAuckland White
Edward Brownlee (Rosmini College)
William Cheyne (Westlake Boys’ High School)
Ben Kornfeld (King’s College)
Coaches: Ben Milsom and Brad Ward2006
Auckland Blue
Samuel Coldicutt (Kristin School)
Verity Craft (Rangitoto College)
Nathanael Gray (Macleans College)
Coaches: Desley Horton and Jesse WilsonAuckland White
Samuel Bookman (St Kentigern College)
Samuel George (Auckland Grammar School)
George Minton (Rangitoto College)
Coach: Pascal Millaire2005
Auckland Blue
Samuel Coldicutt (Kristin School)
Lucy George (Diocesan School for Girls)
Ananth Gopal (Kristin School)
Coach: Jonathan OrpinAuckland White
Mitchell Cooper (Kristin School)
Nathanael Gray (Macleans College)
Dipra Ray (Mt Roskill Grammar School)
Coaches: Sacha Judd and Tim Mullins2004
Auckland Blue
Chris Foulkes (King’s College)
Hein Maung (Mt Roskill Grammar School)
David Merry (St Kentigern College)
Coach: Jonathan OrpinAuckland White
Simon Zhou (Macleans College)
Jamie Turner (Takapuna Grammar School)
Brad Ward (Mt Roskill Grammar School)
Coach: Philip Cornegé2003
Auckland Blue
Chris Foulkes (King’s College)
Desley Horton (King’s College)
Ben Milsom (St Kentigern College)
Coaches: Warren Bangma and Paul PatersonAuckland White
Mark Donald (Auckland Grammar School)
Charlotte Graham (St Cuthbert’s College)
Jarrod Kirk (St Kentigern College)
Coach: Charlotte Saunders2002
Auckland Blue
Sam Clearwater (King’s College)
Desley Horton (King’s College)
Julie Spray (Rangitoto College)
Coaches: Vicki McCall and Jesse WilsonAuckland White
Sarah Costelloe (Baradene College)
Sarah Goffin (Epsom Girls’ Grammar School)
James Little (King’s College)
Coaches: Charlotte Saunders and Isaac Hikaka2001
Auckland Blue
Pascal Millaire (King’s College)
Jonathan Orpin (King’s College)
James Townshend (Auckland Grammar School)
Coach: Nick FlanaganAuckland White
Natasha Borsky (St Cuthbert’s College)
Kira Brent (St Cuthbert’s College)
Charlotte Saunders (St Cuthbert’s College)
Coaches: Isaac Hikaka and Jesse WilsonAuckland Red
Sarah Costelloe (Baradene College)
Charlotte Leslie (Diocesan School for Girls)
Nola Ng (Epsom Girls’ Grammar School)
Coach: Anna Livesey
2003
Auckland Blue
Chris Foulkes (King’s College)
Desley Horton (King’s College)
Ben Milsom (St Kentigern College)
Coaches: Warren Bangma and Paul PatersonAuckland White
Mark Donald (Auckland Grammar School)
Charlotte Graham (St Cuthbert’s College)
Jarrod Kirk (St Kentigern College)
Coach: Charlotte Saunders2002
Auckland Blue
Sam Clearwater (King’s College)
Desley Horton (King’s College)
Julie Spray (Rangitoto College)
Coaches: Vicki McCall and Jesse WilsonAuckland White
Sarah Costelloe (Baradene College)
Sarah Goffin (Epsom Girls’ Grammar School)
James Little (King’s College)
Coaches: Charlotte Saunders and Isaac Hikaka2001
Auckland Blue
Pascal Millaire (King’s College)
Jonathan Orpin (King’s College)
James Townshend (Auckland Grammar School)
Coach: Nick FlanaganAuckland White
Natasha Borsky (St Cuthbert’s College)
Kira Brent (St Cuthbert’s College)
Charlotte Saunders (St Cuthbert’s College)
Coaches: Isaac Hikaka and Jesse WilsonAuckland Red
Sarah Costelloe (Baradene College)
Charlotte Leslie (Diocesan School for Girls)
Nola Ng (Epsom Girls’ Grammar School)
Coach: Anna Livesey
2000
Auckland Blue
Gilbert Goldie-Anderson (Takapuna Grammar School)
Pascal Millaire (King’s College)
Peter Williams (St Kentigern College)
Coach: Nick FlanaganAuckland White
Paul Paterson (St Kentigern College)
James Townshend (Auckland Grammar School)
Miwah Van (Takapuna Grammar School)
Coach: Hayden Ryan1999
Warren Bangma (Rangitoto College)
Isaac Hikaka (Auckland Grammar School)
Jesse Wilson (Auckland Grammar School)
Coach: Sacha Judd1998
Francis Reid (Westlake Boys’ High School)
Nikki Willis (King’s College)
Jesse Wilson (Auckland Grammar School)
Coaches: Saha Judd and Tim Mullins1997
Joe Davis (Kristin School)
Sean Milnes (Pakuranga College)
Rick Johnston (Pakuranga College)
Coaches: Richard Bright, Sacha Judd and Tim Mullins1996
Shane Burton (Western Springs College)
Erica Poppelbaum (Rangitoto College)
Kirsten Rutherford (Diocesan School for Girls)
Coach: Richard Bright1993
Auckland White
Birgit Buhmann (Diocesan School for Girls)
Andrew Durning (De La Salle College)
Kylie Julian (Epsom Girls’ Grammar School)
Coach: Sally HillAuckland Blue
Kurt Bradley (Howick College)
Julianne Platt (Rangitoto College)
Nicki Tarulevicz (Epsom Girls’ Grammar School)
Coach: Greg Drumn1992
Auckland White
Saul Holt (Takapuna Grammar School)
Sacha Judd (Takapuna Grammar School)
Vicky Pearson (Corran School)
Coach: Sally HillAuckland Blue
Robert Bernau (Kristin School)
Tim Mullins (Birkenhead College)
Anton Pichler (Rangitoto College)
Coach: Jennifer MacDonald1991
Auckland White
Lisa Bailey (Rangitoto College)
Saul Holt (Takapuna Grammar School)
Sacha Judd (Takapuna Grammar School)
Coach: Sally HillAuckland Blue
Sarah Armstrong (Diocesan School for Girls)
Jeremy Leonard (Auckland Grammar School)
Monica Pausina (Epsom Girls’ Grammar School)1989
Auckland Blue
Sally Hill (Auckland Girls’ Grammar School)
Simon Ladd (Auckland Grammar School)
Penny McDonald (Diocesan School for Girls)Auckland Red
Gary H (De La Salle College)
Irene Pink (Westlake Girls’ High School)
Lisa Wardrope (Diocesan School for Girls)Coaches: Claire Ryan and Peter Shand
1988
Auckland Blue
Sally Hill (Auckland Girls’ Grammar School)
Simon Ladd (Auckland Grammar School)
Jennifer MacDonald (Diocesan School for Girls)Auckland Red
Miko Bradford (Auckland Girls’ Grammar School)
Melissa Hawkless (Auckland Girls’ Grammar School)
Matthew Hyland (Auckland Metropolitan College)Coaches: Claire Ryan and Peter Shand
2023
The Auckland Regional Championships for 2023 were hosted at Auckland Grammar School. Well done to Saint Kentigern’s 1 who took out the final in a very high quality debate against Auckland Grammar 1.
Thanks to James Boland for their hard work as convenor this year, and congratulations to the following students who were selected for the Auckland regional teams:
Auckland Blue
Lucas Liu (Rangitoto College)
Jamie Pett (Avondale College)
Lauren Chee (Diocesan School for Girls)
Reserves: Jake Fuyala (Westlake Boys), Reena Wen (Pinehurst School), Saahir Saheb (Auckland Grammar School)
Auckland White
Chris Ye (Saint Kentigern)
Virginia Quatermain (ACG Parnell)
Sarah-Rose Crofskey (Saint Cuthberts)
2021
Auckland Regionals took place over the weekend of 27 & 28 March. Thanks to Auckland Grammar for hosting.
Well done to Auckland Grammar 1 (Isaac Mellis Glynn, Valentino Tew, Jack Sandelin) for taking out the final in against Auckland Grammar 2 (Ethan Findlow, Evan Manning, Michael Yao). Congratulations to HeeSeo Kim (Kristin) for being named the best-speaker of the competition and Uday Jain (Lynfield) for being named the Most Promising Speaker.
Thanks to Chenchen Huang for his work convening Auckland this year. The following students were also selection for the Auckland regional teams:
Auckland White
Guy Williams (Kristin)
Valentino Tew (Auckland Grammar)
Ellen Wang (Macleans College)
Auckland Blue
Isaac Mellis-Glynn (Auckland Grammar)
HeeSeo Kim (Kristin)
Jack Sandelin (Auckland Grammar)
Reserves to the Auckland Teams
Emmeline Duncan (St Cuthbert’s College)
Isha Ramanlal (Lynfield College)
Michael Jury (Lynfield)
Highly Commended Speakers:
Sofia Angelova-Bray (Westlake Girls)
Judy Fong (Macleans College)
Holly Cawdron (ACG Strathallan)
2018
On the weekend of the 24th and 25th of March, Diocesan School for Girls hosted the Auckland Regional Debating Championship. The competition was the largest that has ever been run in Auckland, and was the largest regional competition in the country this year. The tournament had 50 teams compete from 21 schools across the Auckland region .
We’d like to thank National MP Nikki Kaye for opening the tournament – she spoke to the speakers attending and offered some words of wisdom about the value of debating and public speaking – a speech we’re sure all speakers found valuable.
Congratulations to St Kentigern College for winning the 2018 Auckland Regional competition, and to the runners up, Macleans College for what were remarkable runs in an enormous tournament.
Congratulations also to the following students who received awards for their efforts over the weekend:
Best Style: Grace Baylis (Macleans College)
Best Speaker: Yang Fan Yun (Macleans College)
Most Promising Speaker: Isaac Mellis-Glynn (Auckland Grammar)
Highly Commended Speakers: Celine Goh (St Cuthbert’s College), Izzy Ray-Chaudhuri (Westlake Girls High School), Ben Fraser (St Kentigern College)
Auckland White
William Price (Westlake Boys High School)
Alan Zhang (Macleans College)
Abbie Pool (St Kentigern College)
Auckland Blue
Yang Fan Yun (Macleans College)
Grace Baylis (Macleans College)
David Zhu (Auckland Grammar)
Reserves to the Auckland Regional teams: Isaac Mellis-Glynn (Auckland Grammar), Sarah Morrison (Diocesan School for Girls), Mitchell Palmer (Auckland Grammar)
2017
Congratulations to Westlake Boys’ High School for winning Auckland Regionals and Lynfield College as the Runners Up in 2017.
The tournament was the largest it has been in the past decade which was a testament to the enthusiasm and strength of schools’ debating in the Auckland Region.
We were delighted to have Jacinda Ardern, deputy leader of the New Zealand Labour Party and MP for Mt Albert, open the Auckland Regional Schools’ Debating Championships over the weekend at Diocesan School for Girls. As an NZSDC alumni, Jacinda spoke to over 150 students, parents and teachers about her experience as a member of the Waikato Schools’ Debating Team and also giving back to the community as the Waikato convener and later the coach of the Waikato team. She also spoke about the importance of debate and free speech in a functioning democracy.
It was terrific to also have David Seymour, Leader of the Act Party and MP for Epsom, attend the Grand Final for Auckland Regional Schools’ Debating Championships at Diocesan School for Girls. For the Grand Final, Westlake Boys’ High School (Logan Rainey, William Price, Sam Baker) successfully affirmed “this House would legalise euthanasia” against Lynfield College (Jia Dua, Karan Kalsi, Kitty Sun). The students in the Grand Final spoke eloquently and passionately about the arguments for and against this important topic in New Zealand. It was great for all those who attended the Final to hear David speak about his End-of-Life-Choice private members bill and why he personally supported euthanasia in New Zealand. Eventually Westlake Boys were declared the winners for Auckland Regionals in a 2-1 split decision.
A huge thank you to all the teachers, parents and students that came along for a weekend. Finally thank you to Liam Rawlings and Lucy Harrison for convening the tournament and Diocesan School for Girls who hosted the tournament.
Congratulations to the following prize winners at the tournament:
Winners – Westlake Boys’ High School:
Logan Rainey
William Price
Sam Baker
Runners Up – Kerikeri High School:
Jia Dua
Kitty Sun
Karan Kalsi
Highly Commended Speakers:
Jia Dua (Lynfield College)
Tate McGregor (St Kents College)
Jordan R-j (St Kents College)
Will Miller (Sacred Heart College)
Reserve to the Auckland Regional Team:
William Price (Westlake Boys’ High School)
David Zhu (Auckland Grammar School)
Josh Looker (St Kents College)
Auckland Blue:
Louis Addock (Sacred Heart College)
Keir Robinson (Selwyn College)
Sam Baker (Westlake Boys’ High School)
Coaches: Glen Holm-Hansen and Kayla Grant
Auckland White:
Geneva Roy (Kings College)
Karan Kalsi (Lynfield College)
Piper Whitehead (Diocesan School for Girls)
Coaches: Lucy Harrison and Hamish Saunders
Best Style:
Geneva Roy (Kings College)
Best Speaker:
Geneva Roy (Kings College)
2016
Auckland’s most enthusiastic and proficient debaters gathered for the Auckland Regional Debating Championships on the 19th and 20th of March. Some 28 teams from a diverse range of schools competed in the tournament, hosted by Auckland Grammar School.
Over four preliminary rounds on Saturday, students debated issues including banning unpaid internships, creating term limits for MPs in New Zealand, ending the provision development aid to undemocratic governments, and the topical question of whether awards shows such as the Oscars should have quotas for nominating non-white actors. The pool of adjudicators were incredible impressed with how well all teams grappled with such contentious, pertinent, and important issues.
This quality of debate was reflected in the quality of the teams breaking to the knockout rounds, held on Sunday. Like the previous year, one team came out of Saturday unbeaten; however, this year it was Lynfield College 1 that took the mantle. They were followed by eight teams on three wins, one of whom (Sacred Heart 2) had to miss out on the quarter finals on the basis of speaker points. The diversity of strength at this year’s tournament was also exemplified by the fact that all eight quarter-final places were filled by different school; no single school managed to break more than one team into the knockout rounds.
In the quarter-finals, Saint Kentigern College 2, Howick College 1, King’s College 2, and Macleans College 1 all bowed out after tight losses on the in a debate about providing funding directly to iwi for the provision of state services such as education and welfare. On a motion about doctors, rather than parents, making important medical decisions for children, Westlake Boys High School 2 narrowly lost their semi-final in a 2-1 split decision to Lynfield College 1, while Saint Cuthbert’s College 1 were edged out by Auckland Diocesan 1.
The final was held in front of an enthusiastic audience on the motion ‘This house believes that party leaders should be elected by their members rather than caucus’, Diocesan 1 came out the victors in a unanimous decision, negating the motion.
The quality of the tournament was also reflected in the need to invite a number of speakers back on the Sunday for a series of ‘selection debates’, culminating in the selection of six outstanding speakers (listed below) for the two Auckland Regional Debating Teams, who will compete at the New Zealand Schools Debating Championships in May.
Reserves to the Regional teams
Sam Baker (Westlake Boys High School)
Tiffany Goh (Saint Cuthbert’s College)
Highly Commended Speakers
Hogan Wang (Auckland Grammar School)
Tate McGregor (Saint Kentigern College)
Jia Dua (Lynfield College)
Most Promising Speaker: Harry Ashley (Lynfield College)
Best Speaker: Karan Kalsi (Lynfield College)
Auckland Blue
Ford Gooch (Westlake Boys High School)
Umbar Sandhu (Howick College)
Piper Whitehead (Auckland Diocesan)
Auckland White
Geneva Roy (King’s College)
Karan Kalsi (Lynfield College)
Zachary Wong (Macleans College
2015
The Auckland Regional Debating Championships were held on the 28th-29th March this year and once again showcased excellent strength in depth for the region. With 28 teams participating, the eight knockout round places were always going to be hotly contested, and a number of talented speakers impressed the judges throughout the rounds despite not quite having enough wins or speaker points to break to the quarter finals.
On the Saturday, debaters competed in four preliminary rounds, debating the merits of banning unvaccinated students from attending public schools, whether gay rights organisations should publicly ‘out’ gay celebrities, whether the government should fully fund tertiary education, and finally whether volountary euthanasia should be legalised.
At the conclusion of these four rounds, St Kentigern College 1 sat atop the team standings with four wins, followed by nine teams all on three wins. This meant that two would miss out on the break on speaker points, with Auckland Diocesan School for Girls and St Cuthbert’s College 2 being the unlucky teams.
The top eight teams returned on Sunday to compete in the knockout rounds. In the quarter finals, on the topic of whether party leaders should be elected by their members or MPs: St Kentigern College 1 beat King’s College 2; Lynfield College beat King’s College 1; St Kentigern College 2 beat Macleans College 1; and Westlake Boys’ High School 1 beat Kristin School.
The semi finals were then held on the motion ‘That this house would offer dictators amnesty in return for stepping down.’ Both St Kent’s 1 and St Kent’s 2 were victorious in their debates against Westlake Boys’ 1 and Lynfield, setting up an all-St Kentigern College final, an impressive achievement for the school and their coaches!
The final saw these teams debating whether STEM subjects in university courses should have places reserved for women, and in a close debate St Kentigern College 1 (Becky Lane, Rachel Worthington, Keshini Ketheeswaran) were the victors, with St Kentigern College 2 (Sarah Courtney, Joshua Looker, Oscar Sims) the runners-up.
The quality of speakers at the tournament was reflected in the need to hold two ‘selection debates’ for the Regional Teams on the Sunday. After much deliberation, the coaches and selectors settled upon six speakers to comprise Auckland’s two teams to attend Nationals and two reserves. The speakers selected were:
Auckland Blue:
Seran Ramanathan (Auckland Grammar School)
Amanda Ngo (King’s College)
Rachel Worthington (St Kentigern College)
Auckland White:
Liam Rawlings (Westlake Boys’ High School)
SooKyung Choi (St Cuthbert’s College)
Karan Kalsi (Lynfield College)
Reserves:
Becky Lane (St Kentigern College)
Zachary Wong (Macleans College)
Best Speaker: Amanda Ngo (King’s College)
Highly Commended:
Courtney Varney (King’s College)
Amelia Vincent (Kristin School)
Joshua Looker (St Kentigern College)
Most Promising Speaker: Joshua Looker (St Kentigern College)
2014
The 2014 Auckland Regionals Debating Championships saw 30 teams turn out this year. The high quantity of teams was only matched by their high level of quality, as a large number of teams were competitive throughout the tournament, providing for an exciting and unpredictable series of results as the weekend progressed.
Over four rounds of debating on Saturday 22nd March, students argued the merits of issues such as streamed classes in schools, whether parents in prison should be able to raise their children behind bars, the right of public sector employees to strike, and whether New Zealand should ban alcohol.
At the end of the first day, St Kentigern College were top with 4 wins. Following them on 4 wins, was Sacred Heart College. This left 6 remaining places in the quarter finals to be filled by teams on 3 wins. These were Westlake Boys’ High School, Kings College 2, Kings College 1, Auckland Grammar School 1, Westlake Boys’ High School 2 and St Cuthberts College 2.
Those eight teams, as well as a number of speakers chosen for a selection debate, returned for the knockout rounds on Sunday. Progressing through to the semi finals were Kings College 1, St Kentigern College 1, Westlake Boys’ High School 2, and Auckland Grammar School 1. These teams debated the motion ‘This house would ban plastic surgery.’ After a pair of high quality and engaging debates, Auckland Grammar School and St Kentigern advanced to the final, where they debated whether New Zealand should abolish the 5% threshold required for minor parties to be represented in Parliament.
All adjudicators thought the final was a debate of a very high quality, and all six speakers demonstrated a great deal of knowledge about the topic and an impressive ability to mould this into strategically strong arguments. In their result, the five judge panel was split, with St Kentigern winning the debate on a 4-1 decision.
A number of prizes were awarded to individual speakers to recognise their outstanding performance throughout the tournament.
Auckland Blue Regional Team
Hannah Jones (Diocesan School for Girls)
Harrison Fookes (Sacred Heart College)
Arun Prakesh (St Kentigern College)
Auckland White Regional Team
Ben Gatting (Sacred Heart College)
Rachel Worthington (St Kentigern College)
Matthew Bilton (Westlake Boys’ High School)
Convenor’s Cup for Best Speaker: Harrison Fookes (Sacred Heart College)
Most Promising Speaker: Luka Letica (Epsom Girls Grammar School)
Auckland Schools Development Squad
Amelia Vincent (Kristin School)
Liam Rawlings (Westlake Boys’ High School)
George Han (Westlake Boys’ High School)
Amanda Ngo (Kings College)
Courtney Varney (Kings College)
Becky Lane (St Kentigern College)
Seran Ramanathan (Auckland Grammar School)
Luka Letica (Epsom Girls Grammar School)
Xiwan Wei (Saint Cuthbert’s College)
Soo Kyung Choi (Saint Cuthbert’s College)
Zachary Wong (Macleans College)
Highly Commended Awards
Francesca Jenkins (Kristin School)
Sam Stead (Auckland Grammar)
2013
The 2013 Auckland Regional Schools Debating Championships were held over the weekend of 6 – 7 April at St Kentigern’s College. True to form Auckland enjoyed a high turnout with 28 teams participating and 19 of Auckland’s best judges giving up their time to adjudicate debates.
The teams debated many challenging topics, including whether doctors rather than parents should make important medical decisions on behalf of children, whether state housing should be built in wealthy areas, whether private contributions to political campaigns should be banned and whether we should introduce 50% quotas for women in the police force.
The eight teams progressing forward to the quarter-finals were Westlake Boys 1, Grammar 1, St Mary’s, St Cuthbert’s, Kristin, Westlake Boys 2, King’s and Howick. In the Grand Final, Westlake Boys affirmed and Auckland Grammar negated the motion that New Zealand should not accept skilled migrants from developing countries. The debate was of an exceptionally high quality and the judges were split 4-1 on the result. Grammar ultimately took out the debate, winning the Claire Ryan Cup, and should be very proud of being unbeaten throughout the whole tournament.
Over the weekend, the judges were closely watching the speakers in each team to determine who would be the recipients for various speaker awards. The recipients are listed below:
Convener’s Cup for the Best Speaker: Andrew Winstanley, Auckland Grammar School
Most Promising Speaker: Matthew Bilton, Westlake Boys High School
Highly Commended Awards: Elspeth Hughes and Annie Huang from King’s College
Promising Speaker Awards: James Manning from King’s College and Seran Rasanathan from Auckland Grammar School
2012
The 2012 Auckland Regional Schools' Debating Championships were held over the weekend of 12 – 13 May at St Cuthbert’s College. This year’s Auckland Regionals was the largest ever, with a record 36 teams entering. Judges commented that this Regionals was the highest quality that Auckland had seen, and speakers who made it through to the finals rounds or received speaker prizes should be very proud.
The teams debated a diverse range of topics, from banning beauty pageants, to legalizing performance-enhancing drugs in sport, to chemically castrating sex offenders. Speakers received feedback from talented judges throughout the four preliminary rounds and three finals rounds, and very much enjoyed the weekend.
The eight teams progressing forward to the quarter-finals were King’s, Kristin, St Cuths, Westlake Boys 2, St Mary’s, Grammar 1, St Kents 1 and Grammar 2, with Kristin, King’s, St Cuths and Westlake Boys progressing to the semi-finals.
The Grand Final, with King’s affirming and Kristin negating, was on the motion “This house would make the receipt of the Domestic Purposes Benefit conditional on the administration of long-acting contraceptive”. The judging panel, which included visiting Council members Desley Horton and Stephen Whittington, were split 3-2 in giving the debate to King’s, reflecting the closeness of the debate.
Over the course of the weekend, adjudicators had the difficult task of selecting a squad of six debaters to compete at the National Schools' Debating Championships in Wellington in August. A variety of other speakers were awarded prizes:
Reserves to the Auckland Schools’ Debating Squad:
James Rankin (Westlake Boys’ High School)
Jamie Beaton (King’s College)
Auckland Schools’ Debating Squad:
Ashley Varney (King’s College)
Ishika Jayasinghe (St Cuthbert’s College)
Jessy Wu (St Cuthbert’s College)
Kayla Polamalu (St Mary’s College)
Mitchell Smitheram (Kristin School)
Richard Ngo (King’s College)
Convenor’s Cup for Best Speaker: Mitchell Smitheram (Kristin School)
Auckland Schools’ Development Squad:
Jesse Medcalf (Westlake Boys)
Sabrina Yeh (St Cuthbert’s College)
Kellin Wang (St Cuthbert’s College)
Alex Johnston (Auckland Grammar School)
Lauren Holloway (St Mary’s)
Chris Ryan (Howick College).
Most Promising Speaker: Kayla Polamalu (St Mary’s College)
Highly Commended awards:
Jesse Medcalf (King’s College)
Howell Fu (Auckland Grammar School)
Lauren Holloway (St Mary’s College)
2011
The 2011 Auckland Regional Schools Debating Championships were held this year over the weekend of 5th to 6th March at St Kentigern College. A' record thirty teams entered, making the competition for the eight spots in the quarter-finals fierce. Speakers debated a variety of topics, ranging from whether foreign based players should be allowed to play for the All Blacks, to whether the environmental movement should use violence to advance their agenda. Speakers benefited from extensive feedback from the region’s best judges throughout the three rounds.
Four teams – King’s College, St Cuthbert’s College, Auckland Grammar and Mount Albert Grammar made it through to the semi-finals, with King’s and Mount Albert eventually emerging victorious to reach the Grand Final.
Mount Albert affirmed and King’s negated the topic “This house would ban all forms of commercial whaling”. The judging panel, which included Worlds Schools President Claire Ryan and New Zealand Schools’ Debating Council Member Yogesh Patel, concluded that the final was of an exceptionally high quality. The panel were however unanimous in declaring Mount Albert Grammar to be the winners and recipients of the Claire Ryan Cup.
Over the course of the weekend adjudicators had the difficult task of selecting two teams to compete at the National schools debating competition in August as well as a range of other prizes.
Auckland Schools’ Development Squad: Chelsea Wiggel (St Kentigern College); Andrew Winstanley (Auckland Grammar School); Chris Ryan (Howick College); Mitchell Smitheram (Kristin School).
Most Promising Speaker: Andrew Winstanley (Auckland Grammar School)
Highly Commended awards: Ashish Pandey (King’s College); Chris Ryan (Howick College)
Reserve to the Auckland Schools’ Debating Squad: Bhavan Srikumar (Auckland Grammar School)
Auckland Schools’ Debating Squad: Frederick Thursfield (King’s College); Ishika Jayasinghe (St Cuthbert’s College); Sam Viskovich (Westlake Girls High School); Lucy Harrison (Mount Albert Grammar School); Nick Orr (Auckland Grammar School); Michael Wang (Macleans College).
Convenor’s Cup for Best Speaker: Ishika Jayasinghe (St Cuthbert’s College).
2010
The 2010 Auckland Regional Schools' Debating Championships were held this year over the weekend of 1st – 2nd May at St Kentigern College. Twenty teams entered the competition and had a fantastic time, learning a lot from the feedback they received from adjudicators over the weekend. Teams debated a variety of topics, ranging from banning smoking and making voting compulsory to paying teachers based on their performance or favouring free trade over development aid.
The break was, as ever, closely contested, with ten teams eligible for the eight available quarter-final spots. Four teams – King’s College, Kristin School, St Cuthbert’s College and Auckland Grammar – emerged victorious from the quarter-finals, progressing through to the semi-finals where they battled over whether celebrities should be able to adopt children. After three preliminary rounds, a quarter-final and a semi-final, the teams from St Cuthbert’s and King’s emerged as the finalists for 2010.
The final, with King’s affirming and St Cuthbert’s negating, was on whether all states had the right to develop nuclear weapons. Audience members and judges alike agreed that the final was extremely close, at times humorous, and, of course, of an exceptionally high quality. However, the panel, chaired by Christopher Bishop, President of the New Zealand Schools’ Debating Council, was unanimous in its decision, with St Cuthbert’s taking home the Claire Ryan Cup for the winners of the tournament.
Over the course of the weekend adjudicators had the difficult task of selecting two teams to compete at the National schools debating competition in August as well as a range of other prizes.
Auckland Schools’ Development Squad
Pita Roycroft (Westlake Boys’ High School)
Tom Prebble (King’s College)
Michael Wang (Macleans College)
Mitchell Smitheram (Kristin School)
Lucy Harrison (Mt Albert Grammar School)
Most Promising Speaker
Lucy Harrison (Mt Albert Grammar School)
Highly Commended awards
Lewis Fry (Kristin School)
Lucinda Stothers (St Cuthbert’s College)
Reserves to the Auckland Schools’ Debating Squad
Olivia Hall (St Cuthbert’s College)
Lucy Harrison (Mount Albert Grammar School)
Auckland Schools’ Debating Squad
Frederick Thursfield (King’s College)
Ashish Pandey (King’s College)
Nick Orr (Auckland Grammar School)
Conrad Grimshaw (Auckland Grammar School)
Dushi Rasanathan (Westlake Girls’ High School)
Jessica Storey (St Cuthbert’s College)
Convenor’s Cup for Best Speaker
Frederick Thursfield (King’s College)
2009
Over the weekend of 2/3 May the Auckland Regional Schools’ Debating Championships were held at St Kentigern College, Pakuranga. Despite the rainy weather a strong contingent of twenty teams entered the competition and turned up ready to debate early on Saturday morning. The first round started amongst much excitement as the teams debated the merits of gender quotas for the police force, followed by a second around about abolishing copyright on music.
This year Auckland was lucky to have a special guest, Julia Fetherston, present a coaching and adjudication workshop. Her interactive presentation was of great benefit to all coaches and students who attended and left many students enthused about putting Julia’s advice into practice for the final round of the day. Round three was a make or break round for many teams who were challenged by the moot on whether private mercenaries should be used to defend against pirates.
After a tightly fought break, with ten teams in contention for eight spots, the competition proceeded to quarter-finals on Sunday morning. Teams in the quarters battled over whether vaccinations should be compulsory for children. Four teams emerged as semi-finalists: Kristin School, Auckland Grammar, Westlake Boys’ and St Kentigern College. These teams then battled over whether insulting religion should be a crime in the semi-finals. After five rounds the two finalists were revealed to be Auckland Grammar and St Kentigern College.
The final was a close and interesting debate to watch on the motion “This House would tie the provision of aid to women’s rights”. In a repetition of the 2007 final, St Kentigern College came away with a win on a 2-1 split decision, putting their name to the Claire Ryan Cup for the second time in three years.
Over the course of the weekend an Auckland squad was selected to compete at the National Championships in August. The squad is:
Motaz Al-Chanati (Westlake Boys’ High School)
Natasha Frost (Kristin School)
Scott Ashby (Kristin School)
Joshua Baxter (Auckland Grammar School)
Rory Nolan (St Kentigern College)
Aria Newfield (St Cuthbert’s College)
The best speaker of the tournament was Joshua Baxter, who was the inaugural winner of the Convenor’s Cup.
A number of other awards were given out. Two reserves to the Auckland squad were named: Amy Pollock (Diocesan School) and Ahalya Sethiyaselvan (Epsom Girls’ Grammar School). There were also two highly commended speakers who put in great performances over the weekend: So Yeon Kim (Westlake Girls’ High School), and Cassandra Hidajat (St Cuthbert’s College). The Most Promising speaker of the tournament was Conrad Grimshaw (Auckland Grammar).
An Auckland Development squad was also selected, comprising promising Year 12 debaters. The squad is: Conrad Grimshaw (Auckland Grammar), Joshua Harvey (Mt Albert Grammar School), Amman Bulchandani (Auckland Grammar), and Jeffrey Mei (Westlake Boys’ High School). These debaters will be invited to train with the Auckland squad.
Thanks to Chris Hodder and the team at St Kent’s who put on a great weekend. Also, thanks to the adjudicators who gave up their weekend to help out: Christopher Bishop, Claire Ryan, Julia Fetherston, Jordan Ward, Kathy Errington, Akif Malik, Glenn Riddell, George Minton, Heather Macbeth, Mitchell Cooper, Stephanie Thomspon, Neeharika Chowdhary, Ben Milson, Mark Tushingham, and Brad Ward.
2008
The 2008 Auckland Regionals were held over the weekend of the 15/16 March at St Kentigern College. Twenty teams entered the competition and it proved to be a great weekend for all involved! The first round started bright and early on Saturday morning with teams debating whether voting should be compulsory. Rounds 2 and 3 were just as challenging as teams considered whether animal testing should be banned and whether there should be a Pacific Parliament created.
After a tightly fought break – where ten teams were in contention for 8 spots – the competition proceeded to quarter finals on the Sunday morning. Teams in the quarters battled over whether fast food companies should pay people compensation for damaging their health and four of them – Baradene, Kristin, King’s and St Cuthbert’s emerged as the semi finalists. The four teams then competed over whether gay couples should be allowed to adopt children. At the end of five Rounds two finalists emerged: St Cuthbert’s and King’s College.
The final was a close and very entertaining debate to watch with the topic that ‘This House Believes Parents Should be Allowed to Design Their Children’ – recognizing the Council’s regional partner, the New Zealand Bioethics Council. For the first time ever St Cuthbert’s put their name to the Claire Ryan Trophy for Auckland Schools Debating and won in a 2-1 split decision over King’s College with Jeremy Johnson, NZSDC President, chairing the panel.
Over the course of the weekend an Auckland squad to compete at Nationals in May was selected. The following students were selected to be part of the squad:
Emily Adlam (Diocesan School for Girls)
Sam Horner (Wentworth College)
Alex Kirch (Auckland Grammar)
Ben Kornfeld (King’s College)
Gretta Schumacher (Baradene)
Nupur Upadhyay (St Cuthbert’s College)
The best speaker of the tournament was Ben Kornfeld from King’s College.
A number of other awards were given out to students. Three reserves for the Auckland squad were selected: Marianne Villaneuva (Westlake Girls High School), Rory Nolan (St Kentigern College) and Ella Tunnicliffe-Glass (St Cuthbert’s College). There were also a number of Highly Commended speakers who put in great performances over the weekend: Chloe-Rose Barakat-Devine (Baradene), Peter Kim (Westlake Boys’ High School) and Abdal Al-Chanati (Westlake Boys’ High School).
Furthermore, in recognition of their performances over the weekend an Auckland Development Squad was selected comprised of promising Year 12 debaters. The squad will be made up of Scott Ashby (Kristin), Sam Poole (King’s College) and Natasha Frost (Kristin). These debaters will be invited to train with the Auckland squad.
Thanks to Flora Mather and the team at St Kent’s who put on an excellent weekend! Also, thanks to all the adjudicators who gave up their weekend to help out – Jeremy Johnson, Claire Ryan, Jordan Ward, James Little, Anna-Marie Wallis, Glen Holm-Hansen, Glenn Riddell, Amy Vinkenvleugel, Brad Ward, Ben Milsom, Kate Mills, Dan White, George Minton and Paul Paterson.
2007
The Auckland Schools' Debating Championships were held on 12 and 13 May at Baradene College. Teams from 24 schools made their way through the first 3 rounds, debating topics such as ‘This house would return the drinking age to 20’ and ‘This house believes the use of torture on suspected terrorists is justified’. From there, 8 teams progressed through to the quarters and subsequently the semi finals where they examined the issues surrounding a ban on international adoptions and the merits of boycotting the Beijing Olympics 2008. Auckland Grammar and St Kentigern College emerged as the two finalists, going on to debate the bioethical issue ‘This house would stop government subsidy of IVF treatment’. In a close and highly entertaining debate the panel of adjudicators awarded the debate to the negative team, St Kentigern, who received the Claire Ryan Cup for Auckland Debating.
Adjudicators commented on the high standard of the competition this year and there were a number of prizes awarded to individual speakers. Jeremy Minton (Rangitoto College) was awarded the prize for the Most Promising Speaker. Prizes for highly commended speakers went to Miriam Jobson (Westlake Girls High School), Chen Liu (Rutherford College) and James Ruddell (St Kentigern). The two reserves named for the Auckland representative squad were Samuel Horner (Wentworth College) and Capucine Hague (Diocesan School). Lastly, a representative Auckland squad was selected comprising Sam Bookman (St Kentigern), Edward Brownlee (Rosmini College), William Cheyne (Westlake Boys’ High School), Sam George (Auckland Grammar), Ben Kornfeld (King’s College) and Stephanie Thompson (Diocesan School). Sam Bookman was named speaker of the tournament.
A big thank you must go to Ann Thorn and her girls from Baradene who graciously hosted the tournament and acted as guides for teams over the course of the weekend. Similarly, the Auckland tournament was well supported by a host of experienced adjudicators so a special thank you must go to all those who gave up their time: Claire Ryan, Nick Flanagan, Jesse Wilson, Tim Fitzgerald, Anna-Marie Wallis, James Little, Charlotte Saunders, Glenn Riddell, Ben Milsom, Brad Ward, Glen Holm-Hansen, Amy Vinkenvleugel and Jeremy Johnson.
2005
On the weekend of 14-15 May, 2005, Rangitoto College hosted the Auckland Regional Schools’ Debating Championships. The competition was well attended with 22 teams competing, representing 19 schools from as far a field as Rodney.
On Saturday the teams took part in three limited preparation rounds, debating such diverse issues as the legalisation of marijuana, denying organ transplants to those who led unhealthy lifestyles and whether governments should limit individual rights to protect national security.
Sunday saw eight schools return for the quarter finals. These were quickly whittled down to four and then two for the Grand Final, which saw Long Bay College matched against King’s College on the motion: ‘This House believes that voting should be compulsory in New Zealand general elections.’ After a closely fought debate the judges unanimously named King’s the winners.
At the end of a very competitive competition, which saw a high standard of individual achievement the following speakers were named to represent Auckland at Nationals later in the year:
Ananth Gopal (Kristin School)
Dipra Ray (Mt Roskill Grammar School)
Lucy George (Diocesan School for Girls)
Mitchell Cooper (Kristin School)
Nathanael Gray (Macleans College)
Samuel Coldicutt (Kristin School)
The following students were named as reserves:
Alex Nelder (Rodney College)
Lucas Cooney (St Kentigern’s College)
Finally, the following speakers were awarded Highly Commended awards:
Aajuli Shukla (Epsom Girls Grammar School)
Jack Oliver-Hood (King’s College)
Rupert Abraham (King’s College)