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Kylie speaks out

2 February 2005

Monash debater Ms Kylie Lane has been declared 'best speaker in the world' at the 2005 World University Debating Championships.

Champs cheek to cheek: Ms Kylie Lane and debating partner Mr Andrew Fitch at the championships' official dinner.

The economics/law graduate is only the second woman in the competition's 25-year history to be awarded the top prize and the second Monash representative to claim the title. Last year, she also won the Australasian Debating Championships and was a member of the Monash team that came second in the WTO International Trade Law Moot finals in Geneva.

Her Monash teammate, arts student Mr Andrew Fitch, was named sixth best speaker of the 2005 tournament. As well, debating as the Monash A team, the pair reached the semi-finals of the World Championships and was ranked third out of 312 teams at the contest in Malaysia.

Also at the competition, arts/law student Mr Roland Dillon and recent Monash graduate Mr Michael Smith were declared champions in the world masters section, successfully defending the title that had been won the previous year by Monash competitors.

The Monash C team, consisting of commerce student Mr Tom Chapman and arts/ law student Mr Jacob Clifton, made it to the quarter-finals.

Ms Lane said the debates, held at Malaysia's Multimedia University (MMU) in January, had been a team effort.

"MMU ran a fantastic tournament, and Andrew and I were thrilled with reaching the semis as a team and receiving individual speaker prizes," she said.

Ms Lane will begin her articles at Australian law firm Blake Dawson Waldron after completing her double degree with an honours year in economics in 2004.