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1996 World Champions

Macquarie University World Chamption debaters Fenja Berglund and Ben Way took out the World University Debating Championships in 1996 hosted by the University of Cork, Ireland. Macquarie A was the highest ranked team after 7 preliminary rounds of debating, with Fenja ranked 2^nd and Ben ranked 3^rd. Australian radio personality Adam Spencer was a member of this team and was named Best Speaker at the tournament.

The topic for the final debate was "That this house prefers strong dictatorship than weak democracy".

The four teams competing in the Final were:

Opening Government: Inner Temple B, England & Wales

Closing Government: Sydney A*, Australia

Opening Opposition: Edinburgh B, Scotland

Closing Opppsition: Macquarie A, Australia

Fenja and Ben, Life Members of MUDS, placed Macquarie firmly in the top 10 debating universities in the world.

When Fenja spoke to The NSW Law Society Journal in April 1996, she highlighted several factors that underpin successful debating. A good general knowledge is essential, she said, and the rip- them-to-shreds approach is not necessarily the best.

"We are not aggressive at all. It is much more important to assess what's needed in a debate. You have to convince the adjudicators and audience and aggression only alienates them. The most important factor is good teamwork. We never argue with each other, there is no competition between us."

Macquarie University debaters are 1999 World Semi-Finalists

Macquarie University was represented at the Semi-Finals in the World University Debating Championships in 1999. The University of Manila hosted Worlds in that year.

Team A, Steven Kaless and Peter Van Onselen, proudly represented Macquarie University in the semi-final. Peter is now a Professor at Edith Cowan University, and in 2007 co-authored “John Winston Howard: The Biography”.