Australian Liberal Students' Federation
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| Australian Liberal Students' Federation | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Leader | Timothy Andrews |
| Founded | 1967 |
| Headquarters | N/A |
| Political Ideology | Classical Liberalism, Liberal Conservatism, Neoliberalism, Libertarianism |
| International Affiliation | International Young Democrat Union |
| Website | Australian Liberal Students' Federation |
| See also | Politics of Australia |
The Australian Liberal Students' Federation (ALSF) is a political grouping of university students informally associated with the Liberal Party of Australia. For over fifty years the Australian Liberal Students’ Federation has bought together Liberal leaning students, and has worked to promote Liberal beliefs and values on campuses throught Australia. Liberal Students are well known for their conservative activism. During the life of the Federation its members have a long-standing history of agitation and direct confrontation against left wing student groups.
ALSF is the body that represents Liberal Students at a national level, with over thirty Liberal Student Clubs from universities throughout the country being affiliated to the Federation. Although each affiliated Liberal Club operates independently, ALSF assists in co-ordinating national Liberal Students campaigns and activities, facilitating communication and co-operation amongst all Liberal Students, and helping right-thinking students to promote the values of individual freedom, small government and free markets on campuses across Australia.
The ALSF is the only major openly conservative force within Australian student politics, and is a member of the International Young Democrat Union. The grouping is frequently referred to as Liberal students or incorrectly as Young Liberals. Whilst many members of the ALSF are members of the Liberal Party, the ALSF itself is not formally affiliated with the party. The Patron of ALSF is The Hon. John Howard MP, Prime Minister of Australia.
The Federation is organised along the basis of campus Liberal clubs, with the various clubs affiliating nationally, electing delegates and voting as a club. State affiliated bodies also exist and they in turn act as state divisions of the Federation. These include the New South Wales Liberal Students' Association (NSWLSA)[1], the Victorian Liberal Students' Association (VLSA), the South Australian Liberal Students (SALS) and the West Australian Union of Liberal Students (WAULS).
ALSF exists independently of the National Union of Students (NUS), holding twice annual conferences. At the July conference the executive is elected by delegates from the constituent university Liberal clubs of the ALSF, which exist in differing levels of strength at virtually every University campus around the country. At each annual July conference, the ALSF awards its coveted 'Club/Association of the Year' Award. In 2002 the award was jointly awared to the Sydney University Liberal Club and the University of Queensland Liberal Club. In 2003 the award was presented to the Melbourne University Liberal Club (which held a significant majority of all office bearer positions in the Melbourne University Student Union in 2003); in 2004 and 2005 the award was presented again to the UNE Liberal Club, a Club which has dominated student politics at the University of New England.
The ALSF's quarterly magazine is entitled Protege.
As of 2006, the ALSF President is Tim Andrews, of the Sydney University Liberal Club, who was elected unopposed to the position at the ALSF's Annual General Meeting on Friday, 7 July 2006. He took over from two term president Julian Barendse, who presided over what the ALSF might consider one of the most successful eras in the Federation's history, with the passage of Voluntary Student Unionism through the Parliament of Australia finally becoming a reality.
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[edit] National Union of Students
Though not usually holding a significant number of NUS delegate positions, the ALSF is nevertheless one of the most vocal and controversial groups within the National Union of Students (NUS) organisation. Its central policy platform is the principle of Voluntary Student Unionism (VSU) and it supports, and had input into, the reforms to Australian Higher Education introduced by Dr. Brendan Nelson (former Minister for Education, Science and Training). The ALSF asserts NUS to be simply an excuse for Labor students to spend students' money on political campaigns, citing the large sums of money used by NUS to campaign for the ALP in the 2004 federal election. The ALSF supports increased deregulation of the tertiary sector, and, particularly with the implementation of VSU, presents itself as being an advocate for freedom of choice within universities.
Like senior Australian Coalition parties, Liberal Students avoid the use of the terms faction and caucus to describe themselves, viewing them as being strongly associated with the Labor Party.
No other faction carries the notoriety attached to the ALSF at NUS National Conference. Opponents claim that the ALSF attempts to disrupt conference proceedings. However, the ALSF claims that despite it preaching tolerance, the Conference does not permit freedom of speech, acting to gag dissident opinions and not allowing Liberal Students to be heard.
At the 2006 National Union of Students Annual Conference, the ALSF was responsible for Student Unity losing the coveted position of NUS General-Secretary for the first time in its history.
Despite the attempts by Student Unity and NLS to gain the votes of Liberal Students in favour of Unity Candidate Camden Gilchrist with and what is generally considered the most generous offer made to Liberal Students at an NUS conference [2], Liberal Students voted according to principle, and as such, delivered their votes to to Mathew Chuk, a member of the Independents faction, thus ensuring his victory [3].
The Liberals currently have one member on NUS National Executive.
[edit] Current Executive
- President: Tim Andrews (University of Sydney)
- Vice-President: Michael Crosby (University of South Australia)
- Secretary: Andrew Campbell (University of Melbourne)
- Treasurer: Luke Tobin (University of Melbourne)
- Publicity Officer: Sai-Chung Chiang (Macquarie University)
- WA Representative: Lisa Butler (University of Western Australia)
- SA Representative: Patrick Giam (University of Adelaide)
- VIC Representative: Courtney Dixon (University of Melbourne)
- ACT Representative: Jacob Zanoni (University of Canberra)
- NSW Representative: Simon Fontana (University of Sydney)
- Immediate Past President: Julian Barendse (University of Melbourne)
[edit] ALSF Presidents
(currently incomplete)
- 1967-68: Ian Renard (University of Melbourne)
- 1968-69: Ian Renard (University of Melbourne)
- 1969-70:
- 1970-71: Paul McClintock
- 1971-72:
- 1972-73:
- 1973-74:
- 1974-75: John Roberts
- 1975-76: Robert Rae
- 1976-77: Paul Coughlin
- 1977-78: Julian Glynn
- 1978-79: Michael Kroger (Monash University)
- 1979-80: Simon Withers (University of Western Australia)
- 1980-81: Eric Abetz (University of Tasmania)
- 1981-82: David Bloom
- 1982-83: Tony Dimmitt
- 1983-84: Richard Camm (University of Western Autralia)
- 1984-85: Richard Camm (University of Western Australia)
- 1985-86: Paul Shalhoub (University of New South Wales)
- 1986-87: Cliff Smith
- 1987-88: Michael Hughes (University of Sydney)
- 1988-89: Gerard Wheeler (Australian National University)
- 1989-90: Gerard Wheeler (Australian National University)
- 1990-91: Justin Mannolini (University of Western Australia)
- 1991-92: Julian Sheezel (University of Queensland)
- 1992-93: Bradley Woods (Griffith University, QLD)
- 1993-94: Alan Rosengarten (Monash University)
- 1994-95: Justin Owen (University of Sydney)
- 1995-96: Thomas Robertson (University of Western Australia)
- 1996-97: Paul Gye (Macquarie University)
- 1997-98: Vanessa Hose (University of Melbourne)
- 1998-99: Nick Tolley (Australian National University)
- 1999-2000: Scott Pearce (University of Melbourne)
- 2000-01: Matthew Fergusson-Stewart (Edith Cowan University)
- 2001-02: Adam Lane (Queensland University of Technology)
- 2002-03: Lorraine van der Ende (University of Western Australia)
- 2003-04: Tanya Sklepic (Australian National University)
- 2004-05: Julian Barendse(University of Melbourne)
- 2005-06: Julian Barendse (University of Melbourne)
- 2006-07: Timothy Andrews (University of Sydney)
