ANU students go to the polls
By Will Williams
and Erin Killion
CANBERRA — Elections for the students' association at the Australian National University take place this week. Green Left Weekly spoke to Dave Gosling, Resistance activist and candidate for education officer on the ACTIVATE! ticket, about the elections.
Question: How does the ACTIVATE! ticket differ from others?
The other tickets include "Voice", with many members of the current association who ran on the "Counterattack" ticket last year. Voice claims to be an activist-based ticket, but most of the candidates have been conspicuously absent from the Education Action Group [EAG] and other campaigns. Other tickets are the Democrats, a Labor ticket and the Socialist Worker Student Club.
ACTIVATE! differs because we're not simply about representing students, or presenting a positive image of student campaigns to the media. We seek to involve large numbers of students in campaigning to defend their rights.
The association should be a centre for students to organise and run campaigns, not a way of furthering one's career or blocking student campaigns.
Question: What are the key issues facing students on ANU?
Education is being totally decimated. The huge staff cuts and abolition of the classics department are key issues at the moment, but more attacks are set to follow. The focus of the association has to be building a broad and effective campaign against these cuts, and working in solidarity with academic and staff unions.
Other important issues are the rise in racism, and the federal government's continuing attacks on migrants and Aborigines.
ACTIVATE! is dedicated to organising and committing resources to these campaigns, as well as actions like International Women's Day, and the campaigns in solidarity with the Indonesian democracy movement and the East Timor freedom struggle.
Question: What would you do as education officer?
The education officer should be a central part of the campaign by convening regular EAG meetings. The EAG is accessible to all students willing to fight the cuts, which allows the people who build the campaign to decide its direction.
I will also liaise and cooperate with the staff unions.
It's necessary to think nationally, and to work with the National Union of Students (NUS). The education officer would also support other campaigns to defend student interests, the campaign against racism for example.
ACTIVATE! members will be supporting the NTEU picket lines next week as well as campaigning for an active and democratic students' association.