Student Unity
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Student Unity (also known as SU or simply Unity) is a factional grouping within the Australian National Union of Students. It is politically aligned towards the Right or Labor Unity faction of the Australian Labor Party. Student Unity usually represents itself by means of a yin-yang logo, representing its position as the centre of the Australian political spectrum.
The faction views itself as being committed to both fiscal responsibility and lobbying for moderate progressive causes, while its more left-wing opponents are critical of the faction's approach to social policy and view the faction as conservative and machinist.
The current National Convenor is Josh Rayner of the University of Adelaide.
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[edit] Student Unity Policy
Aware of the financial collapse of NUS's forerunner, the Australian Union of Students, Unity's policy places particular emphasis on sound financial management and proper administration, often limiting monies appropriated for campaigns not closely linked to education, student unionism and student experiences at University. The faction often votes against motions supporting issues which do not directly affect students or which are felt to be too radical. The core philosophy is that NUS is there to represent students and if it were to spend its money on other social issues such as globalisation, environmental causes or the crisis in the Middle East then it would not only be failing to represent students but it would be diverting money that could otherwise be spent on representing the educational and social needs of those students.
Student Unity policy is broadly consistent with the current policies of the Australian Labor Party and the faction is generally in favour of policies such as free trade and Medicare and among the Labor student factions it is the only faction to support HECS. The faction is often a strong supporter of student poverty motions and can face considerable opposition from both the Grassroots Left and the Socialist Alternative who argue for a broader focus on equality in general.
Like the Australian Labor Party, Student Unity utilises conscience voting on abortion and reproductive rights policies, drug policies and other controversial social issues. Critics of the faction argue that this leads to support of moral and social conservatism, but the faction argues that it allows the faction to unite moderate progressive students under a single banner without splitting the faction on issues that are not critical to student services.
Opponents to Student Unity believe the group gives too little consideration towards feminist and queer issues and allege a lack of support for these member's policies within the caucus. For example, it was common before the 2006 conference for Unity delegates and observers to not be present during the Queer and Women's policy sessions of conference. However, Unity argues that while its caucus is supportive of women's and queer issues, the National Union of Students should focus on issues directly relating to students. At the 2006 conference, the vast majority of Unity members supported pro-choice and pro-queer motions, despite their entitlement to a conscience vote.
[edit] History of Student Unity
[edit] Beginnings
The faction formed in 1991, when David Feeney led members of the Labor Right within the NOLS caucus to join forces with elements of the Independents factions in a successful attempt to elect Pablo Campillos as NUS General Secretary. Since then, Unity has become one of the biggest factions in NUS, with a presence in all Australian states and territories except Western Australia and the Northern Territory.
[edit] 2006 NUS Conference
Until 2006, the faction had successfully retained the position of NUS National General Secretary every year since its inception, due to a 'sweetheart' deal with the former NOLS caucus. In 2006, the faction failed to obtain the position of General Secretary for the first time in its history, the position going to the Independents, despite the continued support of the National Labor Students, the successor to NOLS.
At the 2006 NUS National Conference, votes from Student Unity delegates declined substantially following Unity campuses including Macquarie University, Griffith University, Victoria University, and the University of South Australia losing accreditation. This meant that for the first time in NUS history, the Labor factions did not make up a majority of votes on conference floor.
Seizing the opportunity, the Independents put forward Mathew Chuk as a candidate for General Secretary, in opposition to Camden Gilchrist from Student Unity, securing the support of the Grassroots Left, Socialist Alternative and the NLC.
With support for Chuk and Gilchrist at similar levels, the balance of power was held by the Liberal Students.[1] Unity offered a substantial offer to the Liberals for their votes, including three seats on National Executive, a spot on Budget Committee and an agreement to limit NUS campaigning in the 2007 federal election. In response, a number of independent delegates offered enough votes to give a seat on National Executive to the Liberals. Some of Chuk's independent supporters made the agreement, and despite being offered substantially less, the Liberals agreed to support Chuk. Despite the Liberals officially stating that their support for Chuk was based on his promise of greater accountability and transparency in the Union,[2] it has been alleged that the Liberals were motivated by a desire to support Chuk "with the lively expectation he would drive NUS over a cliff".[3] With Liberal support, Chuk defeated Gilchrist by 39 votes or about 3% of conference floor.
[edit] Future of Unity
On the 9 January 2007 Jamila Rizvi resigned from the position of Ethnocultural Officer leaving Student Unity without any NUS Office Bearers. On the 2 February 2007 Joshua Rayner was elected to the position of National Welfare Officer, beating Anita Thomassan 753 votes to 263, with the support of National Labor Students and the Liberals. Student Unity also presently hold one position on NUS National Executive and ACT President with voting rights on the National Executive. It also controls NUS NSW State Branch and was close to gaining control of the NUS SA State Branch.
This difficulty to gain any NUS federal office bearer level positions in 2006 has led the faction's critics to point to a possible decline and end of the faction. However, unlike other factions that have failed in the past, Unity's institutional base runs deep within the Labor Unity faction of the Australian Labor Party which dominates most state Young Labor branches and the party as a whole.
[edit] List of Student Unity National Office Bearers
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2007
2006
2005
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1992
[edit] References
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