The COVID conundrum
“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.
Poll: Do you think NZ should ban social media for youth?
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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84.5% Yes
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14.3% No
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1.3% Other - I'll share below
Got a Minute? Prove You’re the Smartest Neighbour!
What is it that when given one, you’ll have either two or none?
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What's your favourite recipe for courgettes?
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.