King’s Debating Club took to the dais to defend their position at Otago Debating Regionals.

The Otago Debating Regionals - organised and judged by the University of Otago Debating Society - were held on March 15th and 16th at the University of Otago Business School. An excellent collection of motions were debated. The first motion of the event was, “This house prefers a world where there is an expectation for children to look after parents in their old age,” with following motions being varied and challenging. Highlights included the third motion, where debaters argued whether or not New Zealand would benefit from a significantly increased progressive income tax, and the sixth motion, where arguments were provided as to whether or not mockery is beneficial to left-wing political parties.

King’s took two teams to the Regionals, opting to split the senior’s team up to allow three promising Year 9s to compete with, and be mentored by, seniors. While this meant the odds of winning the competition were lower, nurturing and cultivating talent for the future is an important value for the school’s Debating Club. Despite being a team that combined seniors and juniors, the King’s 1 team at the competition won four out of six debates, placing it tied third with four other teams before the semifinals were announced. Sadly, King’s did not place in the semifinals, but an enjoyable and successful weekend was had by all regardless.

Due to their success, debaters Ben T Nguyen (Y11) and Noah Crannitch (Y10) were placed into the Otago Development Squads, while Ben Paton (Y13) received recognition as a Highly Commended Speaker.