The Neville Bonner Memorial Prize is a public-speaking competition for students in years 9 and 10, set up by Australians for Constitutional Monarchy (ACM). It honours our first indigenous Senator, Neville Bonner AO, who firmly believed more Australians should have an understanding of their Constitution.
The competition aims to develop students’ understanding of the Constitution through a 10 minute prepared speech, drawing on the knowledge they have attained through ACM’s educational website, www.crownedrepublic.com.au, as well as other sources. This is followed by a 3 minute impromptu speech.
This year's topic for the prepared speech was "What, in your view, is the most important function of the Australian Crown". The impromptu topic was "What impact, if any, do you think the Royal Baby had on the monarchy/republic debate".
This year, ACM held the competition in August and September. Competitors from Sydney and Hobart delivered their speeches in front of an eminent panel of judges in New South Wales and Tasmania Parliament House respectively.
Himaushu Hardikar of Year 10 at The Hutchins School placed first in the Tasmanian Division of the competition and Amy Ngov of Year 10 at Cabramatta High School placed first in New South Wales. Ms. Elise Archer MP and The Hon. Rev Fred Nile MLC attended the respective State Finals.
Winners were presented with a cheque for $250 and their schools were awarded the prestigious Neville Bonner Memorial Shield.
Each participant’s ranking was based on the average score of their performance in the prepared and impromptu speeches.
Congratulations to each of this year’s contestants.
