BY SIMON BUTLER

BRISBANE — The left-wing Activist Left ticket failed to win any major office-bearer positions in the October 8-12 Griffith University Student Association election.

The left lost despite the fact that the right wing ALP-Liberal dominated ticket split, resulting in two conservative tickets contesting the election.

Left-wing activists have been well represented as student association office bearers for the past few years.

The result is especially unfortunate considering an August meeting of the Queensland Broad Left overwhelmingly decided to concentrate only on the Griffith University election. Broad Left members and left activists from other campuses were encouraged to campaign for the Activist Left instead of forming left tickets for the October 15-19 University of Queensland (UQ) student union election.

This strategy was argued for on the grounds that the left on Griffith University had an exceptional opportunity to sweep the election, whereas the chances of defeating the incumbent ALP students on UQ were less.

The decision of the Broad Left to pull out of a campaign on UQ made a united left-wing challenge to the ALP-controlled union there untenable. Members of Resistance on UQ were left without significant partners and the opportunity to use the UQ elections to build the movement against war and racism was squandered.

Katelyn Mountford, the Resistance UQ club coordinator, told Green Left Weekly that “the result on Griffith University is obviously bad for the left. Griffith has been an activist and resource base for a range of important campaigns over the past few years.”

“I think everyone on the left can also learn from the experience on Griffith”, said Mountford. “The left can use student elections to politicise and mobilise students in campaigns, such as the anti-war movement. A united left ticket on UQ this year could have played that role.”

The successful ALP-dominated tickets on Griffith University and UQ will demobilise student activism and attack the left. The ALP-dominated UQ union is attempting to disaffiliate the Socialist Worker and Resistance clubs to prevent them from campaigning against war and racism.

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