Debating News | CAS Round 3

7B Debating Report

On 6 August, the 7B CAS team debated against Waverley College on the topic that ‘All corporate boards should be represented by 50% women’. After a very close debate we as the affirmative were successful. We argued that a board with 50% women will allow for a more diverse opinion which will benefit all corporations. Waverley, as the negative, argued that boards should be chosen based solely on merit. Congratulations to A. Viswanathan (7Ta), H. Chuchra (7He), G. Kariatlis (7La) and A. Yee (7Ta) who through their strong teamwork were able to secure their second win for the season.

G. Kariatlis (7La)

9B Debating Report

Last Friday night, after a solid week of online learning, four Year 9 debaters, Aryan (9Yo), Benjamin (9Du), Dihan (9WJ) and Nicholas (9Fo), debated against Waverley College as the affirmative team on the topic “That Australia’s foreign aid should be tied to the women’s rights records of recipient countries.”

Aryan’s detailed and precise modelling of our team’s case set the stakes high for the affirmative team. He successfully structured our model to reflect the power that restrictions on aid would have on uplifting restrictions on women in those countries to challenge the status quo in these countries. We had lost the previous week’s debate, so when we saw the adjudicator nod in agreement to our arguments, our spirits immediately lifted. Our second speaker Ben, rose to the task of pinning down the arguments of the opposition that we should give foreign aid even if it doesn’t reach the most vulnerable, by strengthening the model’s message that it’s more important to effect change in these countries through the symbolism of the message we will be sending them. Our third speaker, Dihan, strengthened our argument even more through his piercing fracture of the opponent’s argumentative framework. He cleverly summed up our case in the debate, strengthening our rebuttals in the main clashes and raced us successfully to the finish line.

Having watched the Olympics throughout the week, it was motivating for us to have our win and get a feel of victory that has spurred us on to want more!

Nicholas A. (9Fo)

1st III Debating Report

Last Friday evening, Trinity’s 1st III Debating Team, comprising D. Chuchra (12He), W. Martin (12WH) and J. Perera (12La), partook in the third round of the CAS Debating Season against Waverley College. Being Trinity’s first virtual ‘home’ debate, Trinity’s 1st III affirmed the topic: “That, when considering proposed laws that would specifically affect women, only female members of parliament should be allowed to vote”. Coming off a strong ISDA season with frequent practice of Gender-themed debates, this topic presented no obstacles to Trinity. First speaker Daksh cogently opened the debate by characterising the status quo, specifying Trinity’s model, and suggesting mechanisms to reduce systemic discrimination and improve female voice within the Australian Parliament. Startled by Trinity’s rigid model, Waverley undertook an ambitious countermodel to increase the presence of female politicians within the Parliament. Yet, second speaker Will skilfully addressed the vagueness of Waverley’s countermodel by highlighting the lack of pragmatic mechanisms involved. After further rebutting several of Waverley’s points, Will built upon Trinity’s case by depicting the importance of the involvement of women politicians in forming laws that would primarily affect women and displaying the long-term benefits of our model. Despite the attempt of Waverley’s second speaker to find flaws within Trinity’s case, third speaker Josh carefully dissected the main clashes involved with both models and successfully implemented rebuttals to grant Trinity the win. While Josh’s strong closing argument sealed the victory against Waverley College this week, more successful debates are hopefully just around the corner. We want to thank our legion of fans and look forward to seeing more attending within the next two weeks. Nonetheless, this would not have been possible without the motivation from our reserve K. Kwok (12WH), the feedback provided by the adjudication panel, and our coach, Mr Kapaniris, as well as Mr Taplin’s hard work in ensuring that these online debates go as smoothly as possible. We look forward to seeing you all next week at our penultimate debate against St. Aloysius’ College.

D. Chuchra (12He) | Vice-Captain of Debating