A WINNING ARGUMENT

The Scotch Oakburn College Senior debating squad has capped off an excellent season with first and second positions in the 2026 senior college roster.

On Friday 22 and Saturday 23 these teams also represented the College with distinction winning the prestigious Parliamentary Shield and Parliamentary Plate competitions.

After three very competitive preliminary rounds, the Parliamentary Shield final was held in the Robert Dean Senior Student Centre. It was between Saint Brendan’s Shaw College and the Scotch Oakburn College team of Year 12 students Makaela Fulton, Meg Kilby, Georgette Wilks and Calan Young. The topic was that: Social Cohesion is more Important than Individual Rights, and we won the argument for the affirmative.

In the Parliamentary Plate competition the team of Year 11 students Elizabeth Moore, Annie Laws, Rose Talbot and Clancy Lillywhite won the deciding debate on the topic that: Today’s Politicians are nothing but Celebrities, arguing for the negative.

MHA Michael Ferguson presented the Shield and Plate to the winning teams and invited the debaters on behalf of the Speaker of the House, Jacquie Petrusma, to attend question time and tour Parliament House. All our speakers represented the College with distinction, modelling good sportsmanship, resilience and humility.

We now look forward to the hotly contested Inter-House Debating in Term 3. A sincere thank you to all speakers in the senior competition this year; we fielded four senior teams and also have five high school teams still competing in their roster.

Thank you to Ms Helen Dosser for her mentorship, expertise and passion in fostering our younger speakers and our senior debaters for their enthusiasm and support of these students, and to Mrs Carrie Dunham for her support of the senior squad this year and across Parliamentary Shield weekend.

Sharon Beattie
Person-in-Charge of Debating