Debating

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Australasian Style
The first semester competition is done in the Australasian (three-on-three) style. This style has two teams debating each other, each team consisting of three members. S peeches are eight minutes per speaker, with a warning bell (or clap) after the 6th minute. New MUDS members who have debated in high school will be familiar with this style and those who have not debated before will find it easy and straightforward enough to pick up. The speaking order is:

First Affirmative Speaker

First Negative Speaker

Second Affirmative Speaker

Second Negative Speaker

Third Affirmative Speaker

Third Negative Speaker

After “Easters”, the national novice tournament early in the year, “reply speeches” are added to the mix, where each team gives a four-minute summary speech. After the speaking order above comes:

The Negative Reply Speech

The Affirmative Reply Speech

British Parliamentary style
The second semester competition is done in the British Parliamentary (BP) style. This style has four teams debating each other, each team consisting of only two members. In keeping with the parliamentary theme, the first speaker of the frontbench 'Government' team is traditionally called the 'Prime Minister' and the second speaker the 'Deputy Prime Minister'. The first speaker of frontbench 'Opposition' team is the 'Opposition Leader' and the second speaker the 'Deputy Opposition Leader'. The first speaker of the backbench Government team, the third team in the speaking order, is known as the 'Government Member' and the second speaker the 'Government Whip'. The members of the backbench Opposition team are the 'Opposition Member' and 'Opposition Whip'. This can be confusing for people new to the style so to clarify, the speaking order is:

Prime Minister
Opposition Leader
Deputy Prime Minister
Deputy Opposition Leader
Government Member
Opposition Member
Government Whip
Opposition Whip

The topic of the debate will be framed as a policy motion put to the parliament, usually starting with the phrase, "This House would..." or, "This House believes..." and the Government teams must argue in favour and the opposition teams against. The backbench teams cannot contradict their corresponding frontbench teams but they must differentiate their cases enough to distinguish themselves from their frontbench teams. This usually involves what is termed an 'extension' which simply means analysing the topic from a different angle to the frontbench or concentrating more deeply on a particular facet of the topic. This style of debating is obviously more complicated and nuanced than the Australasian style, and takes more time to master, but it can be very rewarding once you get the hang of it.