Nikki Ulasowski
MELBOURNE — At the National Education Activists Conference held here on November 28-29, more than 100 people met to discuss the future of the campaign against the privatisation of higher education.
One inspiring discussion at the conference focused on the University of Western Sydney (Bankstown) "log of claims" campaign. Activists there compiled a list of demands on the university administration aimed at increasing basic education quality and services for students. They won 30 of their demands following a sustained campaign and a 14-day occupation.
Activists from New Zealand told the conference about their successes in the campaign against the government's voluntary student membership proposal (similar to the "voluntary student unionism" legislation proposed by the Australian government last year).
The conference discussed the need to build the student movement at a campus level by using "logs of claims" and at a national level by focusing on the cause of the problem, the federal government funding cuts.
The National Union of Students annual conference was held in Ballarat from December 610. For the first time in years, the left united to intervene into the conference as the National Broad Left (NBL), although during the conference a separate group, called Progressive Left Action Network, was formed.
The NBL held 20% of the votes at the conference and had around 80 people caucusing with it. The National Organisation of Labor Students (Labor "left") held 20% of the votes, while Unity (Labor right) held 25%. Despite the large combined vote of the NBL and NOLS, Unity and other right-wing factions stitched up a successful deal to excluded any candidacies from the NBL for nation officer positions.
More time was spent this year than previously discussing NUS policy, including support for International Women's Day, environmental campaigns and the campaign to free Indonesia's political prisoners. NUS also decided, after considerable debate, that transgender women should be included in the women's liberation movement, and that prostitution should be decriminalised and the rights of sex workers protected.
However, there was almost no discussion about the campaign against education privatisation, and no policy on this was passed. This, combined with a right-wing NUS national staff, will weaken the national education campaign in 2000.
NBL member and Resistance activist Bronwyn Jennings said, "The NUS conference proved that the left needs to launch into the year with a major priority of re-building campaigns and on-the-ground activism to strengthen our position in NUS. Resistance is currently formulating proposals for a national campaign for students' education rights, to build International Women's Day, organise solidarity with Indonesia and East Timor, and fight the federal government's racist refugee laws."