Victoria University wins Australasian Debating

Victoria University wins Australasian Debating Champs

A team from Victoria University of Wellington has taken out top honours in the world's second largest university debating tournament.

The team of three students won the 2010 Australasian Intervarsity Debating Championships by defeating Auckland University in the Grand Final on Wednesday night in Auckland. One hundred teams from all over the Asia-Pacific region took part in this year's tournament.

The Victoria team comprised Stephen Whittington (a sixth-year Law and Classical Studies student), and third-year students Udayan Mukherjee (Philosophy) and Ella Edginton (Law and Politics).

Victoria successfully affirmed the motion "That the International Criminal Court should allow for the prosecution of crimes against the earth" in the Grand Final, winning in an 8-1 decision in front of nearly 500 people at the SkyCity Theatre.

Acting Vice-Chancellor Professor Neil Quigley said the win was a fantastic result after all the hard work the team and their supporters put in to the competition.

“We are delighted with the news and congratulate the team on their success in this world-class competition.

“This is the first time Victoria has won the tournament since 1998 and its fourth win since 1975. Victoria is the only New Zealand university to have ever won the tournament and has reached the Grand Final in three of the last four years.”

The captain of the Victoria team, Stephen Whittington, was named as the second best speaker of the 300-person tournament and also won the Jock Fanselow Cup for being the best speaker in the Grand Final.

The winning Victoria team knocked a second Victoria team out in the semi-finals of the competition. The captain of the second Victoria team, Seb Templeton (a fifth-year Law/Computer Science student) was named as the tournament's eight best speaker.

Alongside the Australasian Trophy, the Victoria University of Wellington Debating Society also holds the Joynt Scroll (for prepared debating in New Zealand), the Officers' Cup (for impromptu debating), and the Vice-Chancellor's Cup (for British Parliamentary debating).

ENDS