After intensive skill development introducing a bill at Parliament House in Canberra, last Monday debaters argued a proposition that was close to their hearts: ‘That parents should give their children pocket money for doing chores.’ 

Two debates were conducted. In one debate, arguing for the Affirmative side was Holmes Kilbride (Coco Thomas, Xiaoxi (Maddie) Tian and Bella Bosworth). They were challenged by Davis (Tania Hay, Alexandra Pitt, and Pearl Lee).  

In the other debate, Beaulieu Blair (Carys Dreaver, Chloe Dean-Freeman, and Sunny Xu) argued in support of the proposition against Langley Templeton (Portia Carosa-Koziora, Miya Fei and Joy Lovegrove).  

The arguments put forward by all teams were thoughtful and reflected careful and considered research that went well beyond the superficial. It was heartening to hear young debaters reflect so maturely on the value of money, goal setting, motivation, and hard work.  

But it is a competition, and that means there are winners. As it happened, both Negative sides (Davis and Langley Templeton) were victorious. This is to take nothing away from Holmes Kilbride and Beaulieu Blair who offered fantastic insights that were well presented.