updated: 29 Jul 10
Commemorating the bombing of Hiroshima and marking the 25th Anniversary of David Lange's address to the Oxford Union
A public debate brought to you by the Peace Foundation, AUSA International Affairs Office and the United Nations Youth Association of NZ.
Tuesday 3 August
7:00pm
University of Auckland Business School, Lecture Theatre 260 098
Moot: "This house believes the abolition of nuclear weapons is a pipe-dream"
Negative:
- Jacinda Ardern (Member of Parliament, Labour Party)
- Max Harris (president of the UoA Deating Society)
- Lyndon Burford (postgraduate student, completing a PhD on disarmament issues)
Affirmative:
- Treasa Dunworth (public international law lecturer, LLB(hons), LLM (Harvard))
- Curwen Rolinson (undergraduate student, Law and Asian Studies)
- Akif Malik (executive member, UoA Debating Society)
25 years ago, David Lange astonished New Zealanders and the world by arguing the proposition that "nuclear weapons are morally indefensible". Since then, the appetite for nuclear arms has been increasingly suppressed by calls for global disarmament. With Obama and Medvedev concluding a treaty to further downsize their nuclear arsenals, as well as a growing number of states calling for the elimination of nuclear arms, the world appears to be making positive progress towards disarmament. But can the human race completely liberate itself from the grip of nuclear arms? Is the total abolition of nuclear weapons a mere pipe-dream? Come and find out. Questions and answers will follow the debate so come along with some hard questions.
Note: the views expressed in this debate do not represent the official views of the organisations and institutions represented.
| 
