2008, Ateneo Australs

Final: Weapons
That international institutions should use force to restrict the sale of small arms to African nations
That gun ownership should be restricted to law enforcement agencies
That we should rely on mutual assured destruction rather than on nuclear non-proliferation

Semis: Pedophilia
That we would abolish the crime of statutory rape
That police officers should be banned from posing as children on the internet to catch pedophiles
That capital punishment should be allowed in cases of child rape

Quarters: US Racial Politics
That we should vote for Barack Obama on the basis of his race
That low-income ethnic neighborhoods should be protected from gentrification
That Latinos should have the right to be taught in Spanish

Octos: Health
That hymen reconstruction surgeries should be banned
That IVF clinics should be stopped from implanting embryos known to have disabilities
That all restrictions on the advertising of prescription drugs should be removed

ESL Final: Energy
That the price of petrol should be determined entirely by the market
That we would drill for oil in the arctic circle
That the production of non-hybrid cars should be stopped

ESL Semis: Immigration
That industrialized nations should be forced to accept climate change refugees
That states should remove all restrictions against the immigration of HIV-infected people
That medical workers from developing countries should not be allowed to migrate to the developed world

Round 1: Conflict Zones
That the UN should hire mercenaries for military operations
That African states should recognize Tsvangirai as the rightful leader of Zimbabwe
That we would respect China's right to prosecute foreign athletes who protest at the Beijing Olympics

Round 2: Sin
That we would ban groups that glorify obesity
That governments should not take any action to discourage individuals from smoking
That problem gamblers should have their welfare payments suspended

Round 3: Philippines
That we should end US involvement in fighting terrorism in Southern Mindanao
That we have had enough People Power revolutions
That the Philippines should adopt Chavez-style land reforms

Round 4: Business and Trade
That corporate regulators should have veto power over executive bonuses
That we would protect nationally important companies from ownership by foreign government entities
That the WTO should abandon consensus voting as the basis for decision-making

Round 5: Sustainable Development
That areas of high ecological value should be returned to indigenous peoples for management
That arable lands should not be used for growing crops for bio-fuels
That individuals should be given carbon quotas

Round 6: Bois and Grrrls
That we would create separate units for gays in the military
That governments should ban groups that seek to 'straighten out' gay men and women
That we would allow minors to have sex change operations

Round 7: Science and Tech
That all state-funded projects should be open source
That genetic research that attributes negative traits to particular races should not be pubilshed
That nations should be able to charge licensing fees for the use of genetic information from their native plants and animals

Round 8: Democracy
That candidates should be disallowed from using their own money to finance their campaigns
That the West should cease pressuring transitioning democracies to hold elections
That we would abolish political parties

Women's debate:
That pre and post opt transsexuals should be allowed into women-only organizations

While every Australs is different, traditionally the championship has consisted of the following elements:

Day 1:

• Registration
• Welcoming party

Day 2:

• Adjudicator test
• AIDA Pre-council
• Opening Ceremony

Day 3:

• Rounds 1-3

Day 4:

• Rounds 4-5
• Women’s Debate

Day 5:

• Round 6-8 (traditionally, the final two rounds of the Championship are ‘closed’, so that no oral adjudication is given)
• Break Night Party, at which the finalists are announced

Day 6:

• Break Day
• AIDA Council

Day 7:

• Main Break Octo-finals and Quarter-finals
• ESL Quarter-finals and Semi-finals
• Championship Dinner

Day 8:

• Main Break Semi-finals
• ESL Final
• Championship Final
• Final Night Party

The host of the 2009 AustralAsian Intervarsity Debating Championships are Monash University.

Their website can be found at: http://www.monashaustrals.com/home.html.

 

Past Hosts

• 2008: Ateneo de Manila University, The Philippines
• 2007 : UT Mara, Malaysia
• 2006 : Victoria University, New Zealand
• 2005 : University of Queensland, Australia
• 2004 : University Technology Sydney, Australia
• 2003 : Multimedia University, Malaysia
• 2002 : Melbourne University, Australia
• 2001 : Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
• 2000 : Monash University, Australia

The AustralAsian intervarsity is held early in July each year, and hosted by a different institution each year. It was first held in 1975, originally as the Australian Intervarsity Debating Championships. The 1990s saw increasing participation from Asia and New Zealand which lead to the tournament receiving its current name.

Year	Champions	Runners-Up	Hosts
2009			Monash University
2008	University of Sydney	Monash University	Ateneo De Manila University
2007	University of Queensland	Victoria University of Wellington	Universiti Teknologi Mara
2006	Monash University	University of Melbourne	Victoria University of Wellington
2005	University of Sydney	Ateneo de Manila University	University of Queensland
2004	Monash University	Multimedia University	University of Technology, Sydney
2003	University of Sydney	Monash University	Multimedia University
2002	University of Melbourne	Australian National University	University of Melbourne
2001	Monash University	University of Melbourne	Nanyang Technological University
2000	Monash University		Monash University
1999	University of Sydney		Victoria University of Wellington
1998	Victoria University of Wellington		University of Sydney
1997	University of Sydney		De La Salle University
1996	Monash University		Australian National University
1995	University of Sydney		Monash University
1994	Macquarie University		University of Tasmania
1993	Monash University		International Islamic University
1992	Monash University		University of Sydney
1991	Australian National University		University of Melbourne
1990	University of Sydney		University of Adelaide
1989	Australian National University		Australian National University
1988	University of Sydney		National University of Singapore
1987	University of Sydney		Victoria University of Wellington
1986	University of Sydney		University of Melbourne
1985	University of Sydney		University of Auckland
1984	University of New South Wales
1983	University of Adelaide
1982	Victoria University of Wellington		Victoria University of Wellington
1981	University of Sydney		Monash University
1980	Victoria University of Wellington		University of Canterbury
1979	University of Sydney
1978	University of Sydney
1977
1976	University of Melbourne
1975	University of Sydney

Martin Sorensen Prize for Best Speaker in the Tournament

The Best Speaker Award was first given in 1989. In 1994, it became the "Martin Sorensen Best Speaker Prize" in honour of the well-liked Monash University debater who died only days after winning the award for the second time. It is awarded to the debater with the highest total sum of speaker scores in the preliminary rounds of competition.

 

Year	Speaker	University
2009
2008	Naomi Oreb	University of Sydney
2007	Sayeqa Islam	Victoria University of Wellington
2006	Elizabeth Sheargold	University of Melbourne
2005	Ivan Ah Sam	University of Sydney
2004	Matthew Kenneally	Australian National University
2003	Tim Sonnreich	Monash University
2002	Tim Sonnreich	Monash University
2001	Steve Bell	University of Melbourne
2000	Kim Little	Monash University
1999	Dan Celm	Monash University
1998	Praba Ganesan	De La Salle University
1997	Chris Fladgate	Monash University
1996	Lizzie Knight Phillip Senior	Monash University Universty of Western Australia
1995	Christian Porter Matthew Richardson	University of Western Australia University of New South Wales
1994	Tony Burke	University of Sydney
1993	Martin Sorensen	Monash University
1992	Martin Sorensen	Monash University
1991	Julian Beckedahl Rufus Black	Monash University University of Melbourne
1990	Camilla Newcombe	Australian National University
1989	Richard Douglas	Australian National University

Jock Fanselow Cup for Best Speaker in the Grand Final

 

Year	Speaker	University
2007	Sayeqa Islam	Victoria University of Wellington
2006	Roland Dillon	Monash University

Other Resources

• Full Speaker Tabfor Ateneo Australs 2008

AIDA welcomes the participation of non-Australasian teams and adjudicators in the AustralAsian Championships. Past Championships have seen debaters and adjudicators from North America, the United Kingdom, and South Africa participate.

If you are from outside Australasia and interested in coming to the Championships, please contact the Organising Committee at the earliest opportunity.

Debaters - Restriction on participation
Article 24 of our governing Constitution prevents teams from outside the AustralAsian region contesting the final series.

This means that non-AustralAsian teams can compete in the preliminary rounds, but will be ineligible to make the break. A minimum of 7 preliminary rounds are held at each AustralAsian tournament.

If you have any queries as to whether you are an AustralAsian or Non-AustralAsian team, please contact the AIDA President.

Please note also that teams from outside the AustralAsian region will be subject to normal eligibility criteria, including the affirmative action requirement (one-third of debating contingent must be female). For more information on eligibility, please refer to Articles 22 and 23 of the AIDA Constitution.

Adjudicators:
There are no restrictions on the participation of non-AustralAsian adjudicators at the Championships. Such adjudicators are generally described as “independent” adjudicators.

An Independent adjudicator is an adjudicator who is not or no longer enrolled in a member institution of AIDA.

Independent adjudicators should apply directly to the Chief Adjudicator of the AustralAsian Championships, along with a copy of the debating and adjudication CV.

Independent adjudicators should note that strong preference is given to adjudicators that have passed the AIDA Adjudication Accreditation test. Such accredited adjudicators are also given a discount on their registration fees. Independent adjudicators are welcome to sit the AIDA accreditation test prior to the Championships. To get a copy of the Accreditation package, please email your full name and postal address to the Vice President of Adjudication

Independent adjudicators should note that as per Article 25.3 of the AIDA Constitution, adjudicators are only eligible to be selected for adjudication of the final series if they have adjudicated at least 5 preliminary rounds.

Resources for non-AustralAsian teams:
Except for the rule on definitions, the rules of the AustralAsian Championships are contained in the Australian Debating Federation Handbook. This handbook is currently being put into electronic format, and we hope to have it available on this site soon. This handbook is an extremely valuable resource, and we recommend that all non-AustralAsian teams read it before attending the Championships. To obtain a copy, please contact the Vice-President of Adjudication.

For the definitional rules, please see Article 28 of the AIDA constitution.

All debaters and adjudicators also receive a briefing on the rules on the first day of the AustralAsian Championships.