There’s been a lot of talk recently – courtesy of the noise made by Elon Musk – that our top priority should be the colonization of Mars. But is this such a good idea? The Opening Opposition Team of Sourish Chanda and Jaden Chiu did just enough to win the debate, presenting the idea as massively risky and problematic. There are, of course, always other things to spend our money on, but Sourish and Jaden managed to present the proposition motion as one that was fatefully flawed, rebutting the Proposition arguments, and showing how this would make the world a worse place. The Closing Opposition Team of Maiko Fairbrother and Georgia Holmes almost took the first place in the debate with a re-framing of the debate: who is going to lose out the most from this motion? It’ll be the poorer 50% who will be left behind, taken advantage of and exploited. Overall, a great debate. Next week we are at Urmston Grammar School for a competition, debating the development of A.I. and banning young students from having mobile phones. The second round will be closed motions: with the teams only discovering the motion 15 minutes before the debate.

 

Mr Ahern & Mr Murphy