Year 10 History Debating Challenge

On the 24/05/19, Gus, Danielle, Allegra, Charlotte and I headed down to Leichhardt High School for a prepared History debate. We were the opposition, and our topic was “Australia day must change or die”.

Gus as first speaker argued that to change the date of Australia Day would breed complacency and that people who are not aware of this issue will assume that the problem is solved with a date change. He also argued that Australian culture is still intrinsically tied to white nationalism and colonialism and that as a whole Australia should be working to combat this rather than wasting political capital on symbolic outcomes.

Allegra as the second speaker argued that change doesn’t occur if only one side of society supports it. It was not the priority in regard to indigenous affairs and there were other issues that seem more prominent in Aboriginal society today, such as death rates and education standards.

She also argued that every year Australia day kept Indigenous issues at the forefront of politics. The day is historically meaningful and provides a platform for Indigenous rights. The date embraces discussion and increases awareness of the past and present problems that indigenous people face

Danielle as third speaker summed up all our points and rebutted ruthlessly. She made all of our points more concise and come together to form one

It was a tough debate, and after much apprehension, the adjudicator stated that we won. 🙂
So, we will be moving forward for a new debate against St George High School in the near future.

Erica Liu (Year 10)

Pictured are Erica, Allegra and Charlotte.