Sydney University elections
By Sarah Peart
In elections at Sydney University, the presidential position has been won by Katrina Curry, candidate for Left Alliance and the Left Caucus. However, at the beginning of counting, Sholto Macpherson (who ran predominantly on the basis of his haircut) was close competition.
During the campaign, the opportunist politics of many candidates were exposed. Preference deals were based on anything but concern for progressive politics and building the education campaign. The Sholto ticket, supposedly supported by Labour left, did deals with the Liberal front ticket Reform.
The election period produced many would-be student politicians who have since gone back into the woodwork.
Four representatives were elected from an anti-racism platform, demonstrating the high level of anger and awareness around this issue. However, despite the immediate potential to build a campaign against racist attacks, the Smash Racism representatives have yet to act.
Resistance activist Mel Penny was elected as an NUS delegate, and Marcus Greville, also from Resistance, was elected as an SRC general representative. Greville told Green Left Weekly, "Thirteen of the 35 SRC positions were won by the left. This has the potential to strengthen the campaign against education cuts next year. Resistance intends to push for more SRC involvement and support for the campaign."
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