Over the weekend of May 26th - 29th, PNBHS Senior A debater Tane Neilson competed as part of the Central North Island team at the New Zealand Schools’ Debating Competition. NZSDC is an incredibly prestigious debating competition, comprising the best debaters from each region across the country, and team selections are highly competitive. Preparation for the tournament requires months of training, research on a broad range of topics, and practice debates against other top regional teams.

The CNI team won their first debate on Friday night, successfully arguing against Hawke’s Bay that political parties should be state funded instead of receiving private donations. On Saturday morning, the team then lost to eventual runners-up Canterbury, negating the motion that the environmental movement would prioritise local environmental issues rather than global climate change. This loss was followed with a win against Auckland White, arguing against the abolition of national secondary education standards in favour of secondary schools establishing their own curriculum. Notably, this was the first win for a CNI team over an Auckland-based side in over 20 years. However, in a debate against the House regretting TikTok mental health awareness content, CNI lost their final debate on Saturday against competition winners Wellington Black on a split-decision.

On Sunday morning, the team defeated Auckland White for a second time in the tournament, supporting a significant increase in the progressiveness of the tax system. However, when pitted against Wellington Black again, the team lost by failing to prove the benefits of banning AI in secondary and tertiary education. In the team’s final round debate — a must-win to have any chance of advancing to the semi finals — the team defeated Waikato through disagreeing with regretting the rise of beauty routines as part of self care trends.

For the first time since 2012, CNI qualified for the final four of the tournament, finishing third in regular rounds. The semi-final topic was whether or not the House supports the “Hobbit law” (laws treating film contractors as contractors without the same working rights as employees, i.e., sick or annual leave). The team was drawn against Canterbury for the semi-final, and in a tight decision, the team lost on a 2-1 split decision. Although the team was knocked out, reaching the semi-final stage is an incredible achievement and testament to the dedication of the team throughout.