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The world that confronts students today is fucked. Whether it’s the looming threat of climate catastrophe as the Labor Party continues to approve more fossil fuel projects. Or rising cost of living and rental prices that means it’s harder to be a student than ever before. Or the ongoing genocide being committed in Gaza which our government and university are complicit in. This is just a short list of the many horrors capitalism has on offer for us right now.
But what does this have to do with the UQ Student Union Elections? Hopefully, it should be clear; students don’t live in a bubble and are affected by all these issues. The UQ Union, as the peak representative body of students on campus, not only has millions of dollars in funding but also access to communication networks of 10,000s of students. I think the Union should be using its resources and connections to organise and mobilise students in campaigns to fight for our rights and more.
This is a far cry from the current strategy of the Union. The student representatives currently running the Union would rather organise parties and give out some free food than organise a political campaign. While this service provision is certainly fine, it goes nowhere in addressing the root cause of why hundreds of students need to line up daily for a free meal in the first place. It’s because the government would rather spend billions on the military or on subsidies for fossil fuel companies. Instead of putting that towards addressing student poverty, by increasing welfare payments, capping rents, or giving all students on placement a liveable wage.
Editor’s Note: The current UQ Union provides bursaries for students on placement, along with various cost of living ventures to assist students. The UQ Union is not the Australian Government, nor can it enact these legislative changes suggested above.
When our representatives do ‘fight’ for students, it amounts to lobbying the university admin or government in closed door meetings that win nothing substantial. All while the government continues to keep welfare payments below the poverty line, and the university continues to cut courses and underpay their staff while taking millions in research funding from weapons companies. That’s because we win nothing without an actual fight. We’ve witnessed inspiring youth rebellions in Nepal and Indonesia recently. Young people there have been disruptive, organising mass protests demanding a better future, one free from greedy politicians and corporations who undermine any chance at dignity. The Nepalese prime minister was forced to resign as a result. That’s the approach I think we need to build in the Union and politics generally.
Editor’s Note: This suggests a systemic, policy change, the onus of which is again, on the Australian Government’s processes or the University of Queensland itself, not the UQ Union.
Their approach isn’t an accident but a reflection of their politics. Many tickets in this election are affiliated with or run by members of political parties. Labor is the current ruling party in Australia, who have refused to take any action against Israel like sanctioning them and ending the two-way weapons trade. The LNP is the pro-business, racist party who have attacked immigrants and pro-Palestine activists. So, it’s no surprise that they don’t want to organise opposition to the same government party some of them are members of. They see their positions in the Union as great for padding their resumes and helping them get ahead in a potential future career in politics.
I think we need something different. Not student politicians trying to get ahead. I think we need an activist Union, one which is committed to organising students to fight for our rights and against all the injustices of the world. We need the kind of Union that is out every day chatting to students about the issues affecting them and getting them involved with activism. We need a Union that sees our government, who refuses to improve welfare payments, who refuses to cap rents, who refuses to stop approving coal and gas projects, as an enemy of students. The current Union’s strategy has failed. Enough talk – we can’t accept a vision of student unions as peaceful partners to our government and corporate university. We should be inspired by the students in Italy who have blockaded their campuses for Palestine. Closer to home, activists at the Australian National University have led a campaign against massive course and staff cuts. Staff and students have protested and demanded a reversal of the plans and have forced the resignation of the Vice-Chancellor Genevieve Bell.
We need a Union that builds this kind of resistance and organises students to fight back. The Union can and should be used to build mass student campaigns to pressure the government to demand real action on the cost of living, on the climate crisis, and on Palestine. The Union should take a left-wing stand on every social justice issue, like the growing anti-migrant and anti-Aboriginal racism being spewed by right-wing racists. The Union could use its funding to send money to organisations like the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, who are bravely attempting to break the illegal siege on Gaza to get vital and urgently needed aid to the starving Gazan population. This is just a glimpse of what could be possible as a student union.
So, if you’re a student who has been horrified by the genocide in Gaza and our government’s complicity in it or are increasingly struggling to afford to live while studying. Then, in this year’s Union elections, you should vote for a group that wants to build an activist union – one that isn’t afraid to organise and fight against our government and university when they attack our rights.
Written by Fletcher Hood Withey
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