Teams of local business celebrities and professionals, leaders and politicians will be squaring off against their junior equivalents in Tauranga’s “Great Debate in the Bay” on May 13 at a charity event hosted at Classic Flyers.

The fight for the Rotary Cup will involve three teams of students facing off against three teams of adults. A political team, a celebrity team, and a local business team.

The Great Debate is an evening of fun and scholarly entertainment and an opportunity to watch MMP in action with the ‘Sam, Cam and Jan’ team of Tauranga MP Sam Uffindell, List MP Jan Tinetti and political candidate Cameron Luxton combining forces to duke it out against a team of college students.

The two other adult teams are made up of Katherine Sandford – Ubco Bikes, Cecilia Burgess – Cooney Lees Morgan, Tauranga District Court Judge Paul Geoghegan, BOPRC chair Doug Leeder, GP and Chief Medical Officer Dr Luke Bradford and real estate auctioneer Will Johnston.

Our school teams are training ahead of the New Zealand Schools Debating Championships which will be held in Wellington in late May 2023. The "Great Debate in the Bay" is another step on the road to help strengthen our Bay school teams and help prepare them for their regional finals later in the month.

All net proceeds go towards the promotion of Rotary Youth Development Programs, School Debating, Road safety Education and Spirit of NZ.