1253 days ago

The COVID conundrum

Alison Chamberlain from Rotary North Harbour

“Should sports teams and athletes compete overseas during the Covid-19 pandemic?”

Rotary North Harbour’s Great Debate between Carmel College and Westlake Girls High School thrashed this out with counter arguments and rebuttals interspersed with humour.

The teams, in order of speaking, included Members of Parliament:

Affirmative (Carmel College) - Madison Lockyer, Annabel Rhodes, MP David Seymour (Epsom), Ella Copley

Negative (Westlake Girls High School) - Aneta Du, Grace Chen, Lily Qi, MP Chlöe Swarbrick (Auckland Central)

A coin toss to delegate affirmative or negative roles half an hour before the start left limited time to prepare arguments. However both teams are very experienced debaters, the MPs perhaps less so with the strict rules of debate 😆, but they certainly brought a different approach.

The venue was packed and the adjudicators from the Auckland Debating Society congratulated both teams on their level of debating skills before awarding the moot to the negative.

An entertaining event that provided the students with a wonderful opportunity for personal development and interaction with sitting MPs whilst raising funds for Rotary projects.

Thanks to Partners Life Insurance for their sponsorship

Look out for next year’s debate.

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More messages from your neighbours
1 day ago

Poll: Do you think NZ should ban social media for youth?

The Team from Neighbourly.co.nz

The Australian Prime Minister has expressed plans to ban social media use for children.

This would make it illegal for under 16-year-olds to have accounts on platforms including TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and X.
Social media platforms would be tasked with ensuring children have no access (under-age children and their parents wouldn’t be penalised for breaching the age limit)
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Do you think NZ should follow suit? Vote in our poll and share your thoughts below.

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Do you think NZ should ban social media for youth?
  • 84.5% Yes
    84.5% Complete
  • 14.3% No
    14.3% Complete
  • 1.3% Other - I'll share below
    1.3% Complete
1036 votes
19 hours ago

Got a Minute? Prove You’re the Smartest Neighbour!

Riddler from The Neighbourly Riddler

What is it that when given one, you’ll have either two or none?

Do you think you know the answer to our daily riddle? Don't spoil it for your neighbours! Simply 'Like' this post and we'll post the answer in the comments below at 2pm.

Want to stop seeing riddles in your newsfeed?
Head here and hover on the Following button on the top right of the page (and it will show Unfollow) and then click it. If it is giving you the option to Follow, then you've successfully unfollowed the Riddles page.

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11 hours ago

What's your favourite recipe for courgettes?

Mei Leng Wong Reporter from NZ Gardener & Get Growing

Kia ora neighbours. If you've got a family recipe for courgettes, we'd love to see it and maybe publish it in our magazine. Send your recipe to mailbox@nzgardener.co.nz, and if we use it in the mag, you will receive a free copy of our January 2025 issue.

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