After a hiatus in 2019, the Tennyson Shield Oratory Competition between Otago Girls' and Otago Boys' returned to the OBs' Library on Thursday morning.

Our junior debaters Billy Gilchrist, Matthew Bolter, Cheol Shin, and 'research assistant' Ali Taha rose to challenge the OGs' junior team and prove that space exploration is a worthwhile investment. 

Unfortunately, despite presenting a range of benefits that space exploration has provided to humankind and its invaluable worth as inspiration for big, bold dreams, we lost the debate 301 - 271. 

It was another win for those who favour privatisation and austerity.