Students rally in Adelaide

By Alison Dellit

ADELAIDE -- More than 400 students gathered outside of Parliament House here on October 13 to protest against the latest round of HECS increases.

The rally was organised by the right-wing Students Association of the University of Adelaide (SAUA) and addressed by speakers from the Democrats, NUS, SAUA and the Liberal Party.

The Liberal speaker, a state senator, told the rally that free education was unrealistic, and called on the students to support the Liberal Party to guard against further attacks. The president of the SAUA, Anthony Roediger, urged students to lobby their local politicians to block the bill in the Senate.

Despite speeches, the mood of the crowd was militant. The Liberal speaker was heckled throughout.

Many students were upset by the choice of speakers for the protest, among them Lesley High from the radical youth organisation, Resistance.

“The right to a free, accessible education has always been a central demand of the student movement”, High told Green Left. “We need a student union that will be independent and not simply electioneer for a political party, whether Labor or Liberal.

“We need to build an independent movement that can fight off attacks on education without compromises.”

This article was posted on the Green Left Weekly Home Page.
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