What is your ticket about? Why are you running with this ticket for the presidency?
This election I’m running with the Together ticket. The Together ticket is founded on a mission to bring students together from all degrees and backgrounds of UNSW, hence the title, to fight for the UNSW that we deserve.
We are the only ticket that draws from virtually every segment of the University, whether it is domestic or international students, full-time or part-time students, students from different clubs and societies, from colleges, from student accommodation on campus. That definitely goes to why I’m running with Together. I fundamentally believe that an SRC should be truly representative of the student body that it is elected and paid to represent.
What do you think is the most important issue affecting UNSW students? How will you address it?
At UNSW, we have this great paradox and seeming contradiction – UNSW is consistently ranked as one of the top universities in the country, if not the world, and yet UNSW students consistently rate some of the lowest satisfaction scores in terms of student life, academic life and social life at the university. I would say stress is the top issue facing students due to rising academic pressures and cost of living issues.
We are seeing more and more young people reporting mental health conditions and feeling less satisfied with their experiences on campus. That comes down to the fact that a lot of students cannot get short extensions on their assignments; a lot of students are working full-time or part-time, and so are facing competing work and study commitments. It is getting more expensive to be a student and young person here in Australia and on campus as well.
University is meant to be a place where students come to learn, to grow within themselves, and get to know more about the world and meet new friends. It should not be a place where their pressures, stress and anxieties are increased. That is why our ticket really wants to enact policies like 5-day short extensions for all courses, 11:59pm submission times for every assignment, more $5 meals on campus, and cheaper parking, to lower the stress and those academic and cost of living pressures on students.
Why do you think the SRC is perceived as being out of touch with students? Do you plan to address this and, if so, how?
The SRC is perceived as being out of touch with students. If you ask most students what the SRC is and what it does, most students could not tell you. The first statistic you have to look at to prove that fact is the abysmal turnouts we see year-on-year in SRC elections. That proves the point that many students are zoned out of the SRC, which is a shame because, at the end of day, students pay the SRC Office Bearers and the SRC is elected to advocate for and represent students.
I think we have to return the SRC to its basic mission of listening to students and advocating for what students want, and delivering a real impact on students’ lives in the immediate term as well. At the end of the day, most students are at uni for 3–4 years. We need an SRC that can deliver real, tangible results and outcomes in the here and now. Students cannot afford to wait many, many years down the line. There is a lot the SRC could have achieved in the previous year, which unfortunately it has not been able to, and we see that in the policies we are pushing.
Our policies are directed at things that students need. That is how you get the SRC more in touch with students’ lives and concerns, and actually deliver outcomes that students see for themselves.
Do you have a coherent plan to implement your policies? If so, what would that look like?
We can put our policies in two separate camps: academic policies and cost of living policies.
For academic policies, the SRC and the SRC President sit on and liaise with faculty and academic boards on assessment policies and student issues. It is about sitting down with all the stakeholders and making the best case to get these changes implemented. It is about mobilising students as well.
It is one thing that you are elected to the SRC — you have proven yourself to have a mandate — but you then need to keep students engaged and along for the process, which can be through things like using surveys and petitions, and presenting these to boards and management, to show these issues are something that students care about and want.
When students are feeling less stressed, when they feel as though they can perform better and don’t have to choose between life and work commitments, it is logical that students will perform better in their academic results. Universities care deeply about their reputations, overall performance, and rankings, so that reflects better on the university itself.
For cost-of-living measures, it is about taking the same consultative approach with university management, and rallying other stakeholders and allies. Take, for example, fighting for concession Opal cards for international students. UNSW could do more on this. It is about building a grand enough coalition, which means working with international students and community stakeholders — in this case, the Rail, Tram and Bus union, the RTBU.
The National Union of Students is a peak national organising and lobbying body that unfortunately some in the current SRC don’t believe in the value of. Together sees value in working with other student unionists across campuses, achieving things when you are greater in numbers, and rallying together as many stakeholders as possible to make a case.
You plan to reopen the Whitehouse. How will you deal with notoriously antagonistic Estate Management to do this?
It has been many years since the Whitehouse was open. There are a lot of students who have never seen the Whitehouse operating, but it is this large and very beautiful cottage that sits empty on the lawn and surely can be used for the benefit of students in revitalising our public spaces on campus. The way we make that case to Estate Management, who have in the past been very reticent to reopen said spaces, not just the Whitehouse, is by coming to the table with them and showing that it is something that students want and would greatly benefit from.
We would talk to Estate Management about what the university would get from this deal — which would be a greater student life, having far more student spaces with cheaper food and beverages, which creates a better experience for students at UNSW. This is something the university can advertise and promote to increase future enrolments. It is also a revenue stream as well. I’m sure many students would love to go spend a few bucks on some food, beers or wine at the Whitehouse.
You can rally students, use petitions, and consult with Arc. Arc was the operator of the Whitehouse for ten years. If you bring Arc onside, it is separate to Estate Management on these matters which means this is something that the SRC President can be involved in, in also sitting on the Arc Board.
Paid practical placements would be wonderful for students. How do you intend to achieve this? Do you believe it is feasible?
Paid practical placements is a recent win, where the government announced it would introduce them for certain courses and degrees. It came from student unionists and SRCs working together through the National Union of Students, a peak student lobbying body.
For people to doubt what influence and power students can have when they get together, campaign and lobby, sitting down with universities or, in this case, even the government — this is proof of what can actually be achieved. Even the 20 per cent off HECS came as a result of the NUS’s lobbying and campaigning. That is where what really differentiates us from our incumbent SRC President is that our ticket does believe in the value of participating in the NUS and its national campaigns, and putting our name to the paper of campaigning for the government to provide paid [practical placements] to all courses.
It was a welcome step for the first limited number of courses that have been provided [the paid placements] so far. We want it to be for all placements. For the SRC and SRC President of UNSW, one of the largest and most prestigious universities in the country, to join in the NUS campaign, it would be a massive boost to the campaign nationwide. It is a big task, and it will come out of the Federal Government, so it requires as many of our universities coming together and pushing hard in unison to extend paid [practical placements] to all courses. This is something I will incorporate in my presidency, because that is something I fundamentally believe in — student unionism, both on a campus-level here at UNSW and more broadly at the NUS.
It is a shame that students have to choose between feeding themselves and completing their degree. Many students are still in placement poverty. Study should not prevent you from getting a pay check.
Together and past Unity affiliated tickets have been criticised for being unwilling to criticise the Labor party’s failings. Is there any truth to this statement, and do you have a response for these critics?
This is something we get accused of every year. It is an overused line. We have many times criticised the Labor government. The most recent example I can give is the National Student Referendum on Palestine. That was a motion to censure the Australian government for its complicity in the genocide in Gaza. That was something our Together councillors endorsed. I voted yes in the Referendum to both questions put forward, and I am not being shy in criticising the State and Federal Governments on matters where policies and positions run contrary to what students expect of their governments.
Our former Transport Minister in the State Government said that the reason for not having concessional Opal cards for international and part-time students, is that for international students they are financially self-sufficient; for part-time students, they can just work more hours to afford transport fares. I will be on the record for saying that I do not think that is an adequate answer.
I think, on this issue, every student should be paying the same fares. Every student feels the pinch of the rising cost of living. It is discrimination. I suppose that is why previous governments amended legislation to remove the Transport Administration Act from the Anti-Discrimination Act, because they plainly knew it was discrimination. They made that provision to exclude it. There are countless issues where we will criticise any government and any party to put student needs first. We are not a Labor Party ticket. We are a ticket here for students.
We will applaud positive moves by a Labor government, such as 20 per cent off HECS. When it does something that is not good for students, we will oppose it. We put students first and foremost.
What is your plan for dealing with private entities that the university has no control over? For example, in relation to parking fees?
Parking is a big issue for students. A lot of students commute to campus. I am a student who has to commute. Oftentimes I have to park a 10–15-minute walk from campus to avoid the exorbitant parking fees on campus. Some students are paying as much as three times what students at other universities such as USyd and Macquarie would pay for a full day’s worth of parking. Parking is managed by third-party providers, as is the case at most universities. Again, it is university management who signs the contract with these providers. We will sit down with them and explain the issue, that this is what students are feeling.
One of our key policies is having a parking permit for full-time undergrad students. There currently isn’t one. There used to be one, but now it’s only available to PhD students. The SRC should negotiate with these third-party providers. The point is to bring us in line with the parking rates at other universities. There is no justification for the current fees paid by students. The university has a large revenue stream. There could be potential to subsidise part of the cost and bring it down to what other uni students pay.
Voting for the SRC is open now and closes Thursday 30 October at 9pm.