ANU Spring BP¶
ANU Spring 2021 BP¶
R1¶
This house believes prominent male feminists should actively encourage cis-straight men to participate in drag culture.¶
R2¶
This house prefers the holistic education model to systems of student choice.¶
In the holistic education model, students are required to take courses from across a range of disciplines (languages, natural sciences, humanities and social sciences), whereas in systems of student choice, students choose a subject area to focus on and take courses to specialise in this area.
R3¶
This house believes prominent male feminists should actively encourage cis-straight men to participate in drag culture.¶
A drag queen is a person who uses clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, most drag queens have been men dressing as women. In modern times, drag queens are associated with gay men and gay culture.
R4¶
This house, as China, would abandon Wolf-Warrior diplomacy.¶
Wolf-Warrior diplomacy is a Chinese diplomatic philosophy focused on a combative public presence, both in terms of rebutting criticism of China and criticising the actions of other nations. One of the most famous examples was Foreign Ministry of China spokesman Zhao Lijian criticising Australia by sharing an image on Twitter by Chinese cartoonist Wuhe Qilin. The image depicted an Australian soldier holding a bloodstained knife to a child’s throat. The image references Australian warcrimes in Afghanistan, as detailed in the Brereton Report, and its sharing garnered significant global controversy.
R5¶
This house supports norms and institutions which give significant political power to opposition parties (for example, a norm of bipartisan coalitions, appointment to powerful roles in the Executive)¶
QF¶
This house would impose B-Corporation requirements into the governing constitutions of all large companies.¶
To become certified as a "B-Corporation", a company must make changes to its governing constitution. There are three important changes:
1. The establishment of clear wording to "consider stakeholder interests" in company articles of incorporation or company by-laws.
2. Define "stakeholders" as the employees, the community, the environment, suppliers, customers, and shareholders.
3. Forbid prioritization of one stakeholder over another.
If a company acts inconsistently with its governing constitution, interested parties can enforce its provisions through the courts. Examples of B-Corporations are AllBirds (shoes), Patagonia (outdoor-wear), and Ben & Jerries (ice cream).
SF¶
This house opposes the ascension of Naftali Bennet to the Israeli premiership.¶
Benjamin Netanyahu, has been ousted from office by a coalition of rivals, ending his 12-year run in power. Israel's new prime minister, Naftali Bennett was sworn in on Sunday after a vote of confidence with the narrowest of margins; 60 votes to 59. Bennett, the far right leader of Yamina party, will be prime minister until September 2023 as part of a power-sharing deal. He will then hand power over to Yair Lapid, head of the centrist Yesh Atid party, for a further two years. Bennett leads a self-described “government of change” that is a mix of ideologically opposed politicians from the left (Labor), the centre (Lapid), hardline Jewish religious nationalists and a small Arab Islamist party. Bennett has long opposed the two-state solution - and the cessation of military action against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. He is in support of the expansion of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
ESL GF¶
This house believes that journalists who support a Palestinian state should deprioritise Hamas’ role in the escalation of the conflict.¶
Novice GF¶
This house believes that religious leaders should abandon the use of the narrative of “test of God” in religious preachings.¶
For the purpose of this debate, the "test of god" refers to the narrative in which religious followers are taught that their difficulties in life (which may include but are not limited to personal struggles, relationship woes, economic difficulties, natural disasters) are tests of God through which their spiritual and emotional strengths are tested.