By Kathy Newnam
Political activity at the University of Queensland has declined markedly since the beginning of the second semester. During the first semester, there was a very active campaign to sack "Action", the team of Young Liberals running the Student Union. The attacks on the education system and the threat of Voluntary Student Unionism legislation made it necessary that students demand a union that would fight for their rights.
The key focus of the campaign demanding that Action resign was on the student union, with a number of activists arguing that "without a fighting union, students will not be able to fight the attacks of our education".
While student campaigns should not have to force the support of their unions, this is often necessary when those unions are controlled by Liberal and Labor teams. Building a vibrant student movement will create a situation where those who are elected to the union are elected on the basis of strengthening that movement.
During the UQ campaign, the union offices were occupied for eight days around the slogan "Action must resign". While this slogan initially gathered some support, when the occupation failed to campaign enthusiastically against the Liberal government's attacks on education, the support began to dwindle.
Some students began to see the occupation as an end in itself — the way to build the movement. But although occupations are a valid way to build a campaign, they have to be based on mass support. Where this is lacking, an occupation will not create it, however militant it may be.
Many students expressed concern that the campaign was just about who ran the union and not about fighting the federal education cuts. While a union that is willing to fight plays a key role in building campaigns, it is only when there is real student mobilisation that these resources are best utilised. The most favourable situation is to have people in union positions who are prepared to carry out this work.
Many activists who were involved in that campaign are now asking themselves why there has been such a downturn in activity. The answer is, in no small part, that the campaign failed to adequately address the real concerns of students. At the moment, the most pressing issue is the government's attacks.
The effect of the cuts is already being felt at UQ — 13 existing faculties are being amalgamated into seven "super faculties", and some departments may be closed. A number of activists involved in the University Reform Group and the "Change" election ticket have made this the focus of their political activity.
Following the August 7 national day of action, a forum was organised by these students on "The way forward for the student movement". Held three days after the federal government announced a $1.8 billion cut in education funding, the forum noticeably failed to address this issue. One speaker spoke of the cuts as though they were inevitable and focused exclusively on how students and staff could affect the implementation of the cuts at UQ.
A follow up "super seven" rally held at UQ on the August 15 again failed to make the links between the restructuring at UQ and the attacks on education at a federal level.
We need unity to fight these attacks but a united fight back is certainly not being carried out at UQ. The current student union election campaign is a good example of the disparity of the left on campus.
Despite efforts by Resistance to draw together a united left ticket, there are going to be four other left tickets contesting the September election: the ALP club, running under the name YOU (Your Own Union); the Whitlam Institute, running as Voice; the Change ticket; and Socialist Worker, running as "The Socialists". Yet it is precisely at this point that we need to be united against the Liberals' attacks. The Liberal's are running on the ticket "Direction", and "X Files" for the student newspaper Semper.
Resistance will be contesting two positions: Ruth Ratcliffe is standing for Education Vice-President and Kathy Newnam for National Student Affairs Officer. Resistance's aim is to use these positions to help build the campaign against the attacks on education, and for student rights. Resistance urges that, in the other positions, students vote for tickets that support the campaign for free education.
[Kathy Newnam is the campus organiser for UQ Resistance club.]