Australian Intervarsity Debating Championships (Easters)

UNSW Easters 2019

Octofinals

That we regret Operation Car Wash

Operation Car Wash was an extensive investigation into political corruption in Brazil. The investigation uncovered extensive money laundering and bribery at Petrobras, a semi-public Brazilian petrol company. As a result of the investigation the left-leaning Workers' Party lost power, and the President, Dilma Rousseff (also a member of the Workers' Party) was impeached and removed from power. Jair Bolsonaro, a far-right politician, was elected President in 2018.

That the public should be given the power to pardon/give amnesty to whistleblowers via referendums

That, as a Rohingya Muslim fleeing the Myanmer military, we would join ARSA

The Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) emerged in October 2016 when it attacked three police outposts in various townships in Myanmar, killing nine police officers. ARSA says it is fighting on behalf of more than 1 million Rohingya Muslims, who have been denied their most basic rights, includig citizenship. Arsa has armed and safly evacuated a significant number of Rohingya from the stat of Rakhine in Myanmar.

The Myanmer authorities, however, say that they are Muslim "terrorists" who want to impose Islamic rule. Amnesty International has published reports detailing the massacres and brutalities done by ARSA on the military and townships that strongly support the government.

Sydney Easters 2018

Round 1

That Australia should abolish its state governments.

That we should allow binding citizen-initiated plebiscites.

A binding citizen-initiated plebiscite is a national vote which, if it passes, directly changes the law, without the need for approval by parliament. They are initiated by voters.

That we should appoint the Senate by random lottery.

Round 2

That, when funding or approving research, we should not consider whether it is potentially controversial.

Academic research is usually funded by either universities or government research councils. If research is considered likely to be controversial (for example if it relates to areas such as sex differences in intelligence or radical political theory), it may be less likely to receive funding.

That we should abolish all exit rankings of high school students (e.g. the ATAR).

That universities should financially compensate students who have tried, but been unable, to gain employment in a field relevant to their studies within 5 years of graduation.

Round 3

That judges should not consider victim impact statements or character evidence in sentencing.

That we should ban plea bargains in criminal trials.

A plea bargain is where an accused criminal is offered a more lenient sentence in exchange for pleading guilty and forgoing a trial.

That women around the world should not be taxed.

UNICEF estimates that women do 66% of the world’s work for less than 10% of its income.

Round 4

That we regret the decline of gaybourhoods.

Gaybourhoods are urban areas with generally recognised boundaries that unofficially form a social centre for LGBT people (eg. Castro in San Francisco, the Greenwich Village in New York, Newtown in Sydney). They are less common and exclusive than has historically been the case.

That, as a parent, we would actively encourage our child to invest in their appearance and physical attractiveness.

That we would prefer a world where sex and love are viewed and conceived of as separate.

Round 5

That charities should not host events that require participants to emulate the experiences of those for whom they are raising money (eg. 40 Hour Famine, CEO Sleep Out, Live Below the Line)

That the Left should use the tactic of doxxing alt-right/nazi sympathisers.

Doxxing is the practice of publicly exposing an individual’s personal details and/or details of their behaviour.

Round 6

That we should allow doctors to prescribe placebos for the treatment of symptoms without informing their patient that they are placebos.

Placebos are imitation versions of a medical treatment, which do not contain the active ingredient or correct procedure of the treatment (for example, a “sugar pill” instead of Paracetamol, the active ingredient in Panadol). They have been shown to psychologically affect a patient, often mimicking the impact of the active ingredient. A symptom is something a patient feels as a result of a condition (eg. pain, anxiety, distress) as opposed to the condition itself (eg. an infection or disease).

That, assuming the players are fully informed of the risk, we support the right of athletes to play violent sports (eg. NFL/GridIron, Boxing).

That we should ban rehabilitation and/or recovery service providers from including religious beliefs as part of their treatment.

Octofinals

That developing nations should adopt near-0% corporate tax rates.

That we should abolish the requirement to prove an ongoing connection to land in Native Title claims.

Native Title is the legal recognition within the Australian legal system of the traditional rights and interests of Indigenous Australians in land. Native Title is only recognised if the claimant can prove an ‘ongoing connection’ to the land in question. When Native Title is recognised, this does not always result in the relevant Indigenous group being granted land rights or control over that land.

That Western nations which militarily intervene in a state should take a significant number of refugees from that state.

Quarterfinals

That families and/or doctors should be allowed to involuntarily commit individuals that express violent intentions even when they have no other mental health disturbance.

At the moment, individuals can only be involuntarily committed to psychiatric care if they have a diagnosed mental health condition and are presenting severe symptoms (eg. suicide risk, mania, extreme delusions.

That we would prefer a world without empathy.

Empathy is the emotional response/ability to adopt the feelings and experiences of another. It is not the rational consideration of those things.

That we should refocus history to emphasise the wrong-doings and moral failings of historical figures to an equal or greater extent than their positive contributions.

There is extensive evidence that Mahatma Ghandi sexually exploited young women, including his great niece. // Mother Theresa denied medically necessary abortion, likely mismanaged large amounts of money, and allegedly kept patients in pain as “the world gains much from their suffering”. // Winston Churchill directed the British government to export food out of India during the Bengal famine of 1943, in which 3 million Indians died of starvation. // Thomas Jefferson owned slaves and serially raped one of them, Sally Hemings.

Semifinals

That Australia should legalise and reward bounty hunting.

A bounty hunter is someone who locates and captures criminals and other people accused of crimes, in exchange for a monetary award – a bounty. They are not a member of law enforcement. Bounty hunting is illegal in Australia but legal in some states in the US.

That we should abolish the recidivist premium and provide a sentencing discount to offenders with criminal records.

Most jurisdictions impose a ‘recidivist premium’ on offenders who have previously committed a crime, which increases the severity and/or length of their sentence.

That we should force symbolic death penalty states to carry out a prisoner’s death sentence at that prisoner’s request.

Nevada has only 1000 prisoners on death row, but has executed only 22 people in the last 40 years. Such states are referred to as ‘symbolic death penalty states’.

Grand Final

That progressives should abandon the rhetoric of the lottery of birth.

That we regret the popularisation of performance and skills previously associated with sex work (eg. Pole Dancing, Burlesque Strip Tease).

That we support the use of violence as a tactic for fighting oppression.

Wollongong Easters 2017

Round 1

That, as a socially conservative Coalition Member of Parliament, we would join Cory Bernardi’s Australian Conservatives Party

That, as the Labor Party, we would remove Bill Shorten as the leader before the next Federal election.

That we should implement a quota for Indigenous Australians in Federal Parliament

Round 2

That we support juries returning a verdict of not guilty when they believe the defendant is technically guilty but that a conviction would be unjust

That non-violent crimes committed by a significant proportion of the population (e.g. internet piracy, jaywalking, possession of marijuana, etc.) should be automatically decriminalised

That we regret the rise of shows (eg. Serial, Making a Murderer) that undertake detailed investigations into criminal cases

Round 3

That the Government should tax companies’ use of technology that is replacing human labour

That we should allow young people to opt out of specific protections of workers’ rights when applying for jobs (eg. minimum wage, maximum working hours, penalty rates)

That the Australian Government should focus on increasing accessibility and reliability of rental properties (eg. long-term leases, greater protections for tenants), rather than on the accessibility of home ownership

Round 4

That we regret the argument of identity politics that you only have a politically legitimate position on an issue if you are a member of the affected group

This House regrets the dominance of sex-positive feminism

That we should force sporting leagues that have both male and female competitions to pay the players equally regardless of gender

Round 5

That we should allow patients to access treatments which have passed safety trials, but have not been proven to be effective

That the cashless debit card should be expanded to all welfare recipients in Australia

Round 6

That centrist US media outlets should actively combat the notion of American exceptionalism

That, as a progressive person or organisation, we would not advise or support the Trump campaign in any capacity

That, as China, we would aggressively sanction North Korea

Octofinals

That we support the hacking and release of confidential information as a form of protest

That we regret the mainstream value of civility in public discourse (eg. the ideal that activists avoid anger and emotion)

That we should celebrate and encourage narratives of the queer community as promiscuous

Quarterfinals

That the European Union should pursue the harshest possible deal for the UK during Brexit

That we should allow states to pay other states to relocate and resettle refugees

That we regret the West’s idolisation of Aung San Suu Kyi as a political leader

Semifinals

That we regret the social fetishisation of hard work

That we should abolish all occupational licensing

That we should never criminalise speech

Grand Final

That, in a world where artificial wombs and contraception have been perfected, we should criminalise natural pregnancy

That the control of all popular social media content selection algorithms should be transferred to an independent public regulator

That we should cease all research into artificial intelligence

UQ(University of Queensland) Easters 2009

Round 1: Children

That we should prohibit international adoption.

That children should not be allowed to work in the modeling industry.

That we should allow corporate sponsorship of schools.

Round 2: Disasters

That the state should refuse to assist in rebuilding areas prone to extreme weather events.

That convicted child arsonists should go to conferencing sessions with victims rather than juvenile detention.

That we should abolish the right to stay and defend during bushfires.

Round 3: Sex

That the use of condoms in pornography should be mandatory.

That anonymous sperm donation should be abolished.

That people should not be allowed to have sex with virtual children in online games.

Round 4: Sponsored by UBS

That government stimulus packages should not include cash handouts.

That the implementation of Australia’s carbon emissions trading scheme should be postponed.

That the minimum wage should be frozen during times of recession.

Round 5: International Relations

That the Unites States should stop giving all forms of aid to Israel.

That Western governments should stop China from buying their natural resource companies.

That we should remove all sanctions on North Korea.

Round 6: Minorities, homosexuals and women

That nightclubs should not be able to exclude people on the basis of sexuality.

That we should make welfare payments to indigenous parents contingent on their children’s attendance at school.

That custody of children born to young teenage mothers should go to the grandparents.

Octo Finals: Civics

That all citizens should be required to complete a set amount of community service every year.

That we should require migrants to pass an exam before granting them citizenship.

That citizens should be able to recall their government at any time.

Quarter Finals: Finance

That the government should limit the amount of debt that corporations can have on their balance sheets.

That the US government should take back executive bonuses paid by companies that have received a bail-out.

That we should restrict poor people’s access to credit.

Semi Finals: Health

That we should ban homosexual re-education camps.

That insurance companies should be able to obtain DNA tests from those applying for coverage.

That it should be an offence for people to fail to have regular medical check-ups.

Grand Final: Law and Order

That we should criminalize membership of bikie gangs.

That indigenous people convicted of a crime should be sentenced traditionally by their own community.

That the media should not be allowed to identify criminal suspects before they go to trial.

Sydney Easters 2007

Round 1

That we should introduce performance based pay for teachers.

That the government should only fund the compulsory years of education.

That we should ban home schooling.

Round 2

That we would put an end to plea-bargaining.

That we would prevent criminals from publishing accounts of their crimes.

That we would stop the extradition of criminals to the US until Guantanamo Bay is shut down.

Round 3

That the Australian Government should pay for a national broadband network.

That governments have an obligation to protect iconic national companies from foreign ownership.

That we should ban character assassination in political advertising.

Round 4

That Western governments should support violent dissident groups in dictatorships.

That religious organizations should not be involved in the provision of foreign aid.

That we would create separate independent states for the ethnic groups of Iraq.

Round 5

That Australia should introduce Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs).

That doctors should be compelled to report suspected instances of domestic violence.

That the state should take custody of morbidly obese children.

Round 6

That we would establish international protectorates over environmentally significant areas.

That all new buildings should be required to generate their own power.

That car manufacturers should be held liable for the environmental damage caused by their vehicles.

Octo Finals

That failure to disclose a sexually transmitted disease to a sexual partner should be a criminal offence.

That we would not allow the prescription of anti-depressants to children.

That the government should fund unlimited cycles of IVF.

Quarter Finals

That we would use military force to oust Robert Mugabe.

That we would support independence for Kosovo.

That the world should lift the sanctions on the Palestinian Authority.

Semi Finals

That vitamins and food supplements should be subject to the same approval and testing requirements as over-the-counter pharmaceuticals.

That intellectual property rights should not be enforced in the developing world.

That we would abolish the minimum wage.

Grand Final

That the permanent members of the UN Security Council should dismantle their nuclear arsenals.

That we should impose a radical tax to eliminate our reliance on oil.

That the US should give up its security guarantee for Taiwan.

UWA(University of Western Australia) Westers 2005

Round 1: Education

That the government should have a greater focus on TAFE education.

That we should impose higher English standards on international students.

That we should have a national standardised secondary syllabus.

Round 2: Sport

That we should remove salary caps.

That teams with hooligan fans should play behind closed doors.

That performance-enhancing drugs have a place in sport.

Round 3: Social Issues

That publicly ‘outing’ gay celebrities, helps the gay cause.

That parents should not have the right to refuse treatment for their child on religious grounds.

That childhood obesity should be treated as child abuse.

Round 4: Politics

That the Prime Minister should have a fixed term.

That we would outlaw political donations by corporations.

That we should give criminals the right to vote.

Round 5: War and Terror

That the US should be forced to pay compensation to families of civilian casualties.

That we would bring Hicks home.

That Mamdouh Habib should be compensated.

Octo Finals

That the US should cease supporting Saudi Arabia.

That we would support US air strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.

That George Bush’s intelligence is a global threat.

Quarter Finals

That we should agree to a Australia-China FTA.

That we should empower the WHO to limit mobility in times of epidemic disease.

That we would employ women as foreign diplomats to countries where women are second class citizens.

Semi Finals

That we believe that heterosexuals make better parents.

That the Courts need to condemn more and understand less.

That HIV positive workers should tell their employers of their status.

Grand Final

That the Iraqi government should seek direction from the Koran.

That tsunami relief should be tied aid.

That Taiwan should declare independence now.

Joke Round

That the problem with political jokes is that they mostly get elected.

That a woman’s intelligence is proportional to the length of her skirt.

That Casey Donovan is a poor Australian idol.

UNSW(University of New South Wales) Easters 2004

Round 1

That we should pay Asylum seekers to go home.

That the Australian Dollar should be pegged to the Euro.

That we should support David Hicks and Marmoudh Habib.

Round 2

That car pooling should be compulsory.

That the Tasmanian Government should lose the right to permit logging.

That high rise development spells the end of Australian Cities.

Round 3

That we should segregate genetically modified products in retail stores.

That parents should have a right to choose the gender of their children.

That exploration of Mars is an exercise in stupidity.

Round 4

That we should offer tax incentives for individuals who become proficient in English.

That smokers should be refused medicare.

That we should put the Doggies on a leash.

Round 5

That we should legalise gay marriage.

That organ donation should be mandatory.

That we should jail people who fail to disclose STD’s before intercourse.

Octo Finals

That Saddam Hussein should be tried in a US military Court.

That we should offer immunity for information to Al Qaeda members.

That the assassination of political leaders can be justified.

Quarter Finals: Australian Politics

That the media is mightier than the parliament.

That the Greens are the future of Australian politics.

That we should abolish the states.

Semi Finals: Indigenous Affairs

That the Redfern riots were long overdue.

That we should dissolve ATSIC.

That we should guarantee indigenous people a place at university.

Grand Final: Law & Order

That imprisonment should be mandatory for white-collar crime.

That DNA evidence should have no weight.

That we should elect the Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia.