Whanganui Collegiate School debating team wins Central North Island champs for third year in a row

The Collegiate Gold debating team is (from left): Bella Marks, Olivia Simpson, and Petra Tilley.

The Collegiate Gold team has reigned supreme at this year’s Central North Island Debating Championships, claiming the title for the third year in a row.

Year 13 students Bella Marks, Olivia Simpson and Petra Tilley navigated five preliminary rounds to take on Palmerston North Boys’ High School in the final.

They won by unanimous decision, successfully arguing against the motion ‘This House supports slum tourism’.

Slum tourism refers to people from developed nations visiting poverty-stricken areas, mostly in underdeveloped or developing nations.

“It came down to quite a nuanced debate, and it was something a lot of us hadn’t thought about,” Simpson said.

“It was interesting to see both sides of the argument. We put forward a strong case, about how it’s morally wrong and why it’s better for the country not to engage in it while they are getting better outcomes for people in poverty.

“The other case was quite reliant on the economy and how it [slum tourism] benefits it. Luckily, we were able to disprove that along our bench.”

The motions were quite a lot more serious and topical than in past years, Simpson said.

“We had one on AI [artificial intelligence], [another on] military conscription, and one on the environment.

“The only debate we lost over the weekend was on military conscription, which we had to argue for. We got to have a rematch with Palmy Boys’ though, and we did come out on top in the end.”

Coach Costas Thrasyvoulou said it felt like a bigger competition than usual.

He was joined in the coaching role this year by two-time Central North Island winner and former Collegiate student Elliot Jones.

“There were 22 teams this time, with some, like Spotswood College, New Plymouth Boys’ College and Nga Tawa, who haven’t been there previously,” Thrasyvoulou said.

Tilley said the team was a pretty new combination, so they didn’t go into the competition thinking they would win.

She was entering unfamiliar territory - being the third speaker.

“That involves comparing what has been said on both sides,” Tilley said.

“A lot of it has to be thought up on the spot. As soon as they [the opposition] have said something, you have to come up with a response.”

Thrasyvoulou said a good third speaker went into a debate with next to nothing prepared on paper.

“They have to come up with all of their speech as the debate is happening, whereas the first and second [speakers] can write large portions of theirs in advance.

“Petra was in a really stressful position in the debate and she did incredibly well.”

Collegiate Year 10 student Nathan Yue was jointly named Best Junior Speaker, alongside Tyler Thompson from Palmerston North Boys’ High.

Simpson and Palmerston North Boys’ High School’s Tane Neilson were jointly awarded the Duffy Cup for Best Speaker Overall, and she was also named in the Central North Island (CNI) team to compete in the upcoming national championships.

Yue and Marks were named as reserves.

Thrasyvoulou said the five-person CNI team would soon start a whole new training period for that event, going over “all the intricacies of how to win the nationals”.

“That all kicks off in May.”