ORANGE High School’s debating team has tasted victory at the Mayor’s Cup debating competition, tackling council issues against three other high schools.
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On Thursday, the OHS team of Freya Hawke, Alexandra Boyd, Eleanor Delaney and Isabella Bankovic took on James Sheahan Catholic High School to debate whether Orange needed a premier recreational sporting facility.
The team argued for the affirmative and won the debate to then face Kinross Wolaroi School’s team, which had earlier defeated Canobolas Rural Technology High School in a debate about graffiti.
The two finalists argued on the topic, ‘The user-pays principle should apply to all council services’.
OHS argued for the negative and were judged the winners by adjudicators Margaret Brown and Ian Jones.
Despite disgruntled ratepayers often expressing their desire for a user-pays system for services they did not use, OHS debating co-ordinator Kristy Hilton thought her students had the easier argument.
“It’s more equitable if we all contribute even if we don’t all use the same services because the council is there to provide services for the community,” she said.
“They’re actually quite a close group of friends ... and that cohesion is hard to beat.”
The win added to a successful week for the awesome foursome after they won the western region final of the Premier’s Debating Challenge on Tuesday in Dubbo.
On August 29, the team will face a school from the New England region in the inter-region final to vie for a place in the state quarter-finals.
danielle.cetinski@fairfaxmedia.com.au
