Ten student activists from the NSW Education Action Network were trapped in the small elevator at prime minister Tony Abbott's Manly office on February 9 for more than half an hour. They were told by police and firefighters that the elevator had being switched off while they were inside it.
Students were midway through a protest of the Coalition government's attempts to push university fee deregulation through the Senate again.
University of Western Sydney student representative and Socialist Alliance candidate in the NSW elections, Mia Sanders, took part in the protest. She told Green Left Weekly: "It's ridiculous that such lengths were gone to in order to prevent students from visiting Abbott's office.
"We're here in peaceful protest against the government's deregulation legislation, and to make a bad day worse for Abbott, in the wake of his close-call leadership spill."
Spokesperson for the NSW Education Action Network Evan Van Zijl said: "The spill ballot today shows how weak the Abbott government is.
"Their policies are hated. They want to put the costs of education and health on the poor. People don't support that. That is what is behind the government's crisis. We are here to remind him of that today.
"Abbott is doomed and students will make sure his education cuts are too."
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