By Sean Healy
Resistance got off to a great start to the new university year last week, with more than 60 people joining the socialist organisation in Brisbane, Newcastle and Perth. Many more will join this week, as the semester begins at other universities around the country.
At Murdoch University in Western Australia, 15 people joined Resistance, and many more indicated interest. "Our stall certainly stood out from the crowd. We had a huge banner featuring Che Guevara with the slogan 'Fight the system, join Resistance'", said Resistance organiser Marce Cameron.
Eleven people joined at Curtin University in Perth, where, amongst other actions, Resistance activists picketed the army recruitment stall and students marched on the administration building to protest against Curtin's decision to offer up-front fee-paying places at the university (only eight have been accepted so far).
At the University of Queensland, recognition of Resistance was very high because of its high school walkouts against racism in 1998. "One new member said he'd been meaning to join since our walkout on July 28; he said he was interested in anti-racist activity but mainly in socialism", said Ruth Ratcliffe, a Resistance member at UQ. Five people also joined Resistance at Griffith University in Brisbane.
At Newcastle University, 19 people joined Resistance. "There was a lot of interest in socialism, and many students were very keen on getting active straightaway", said Chris Latham, who was part of Resistance's effort at the university.
"For example, many students I spoke to were keen about Resistance's campaigns in solidarity with students in Indonesia and East Timor, even to the point of wanting to come on the exposure tour to Indonesia that we're organising for April."
1999 could be a hot year for student activism and revolution!