UNSW student elections: left wins big

Left-wing activists have achieved a big victory in the recent Student Representative Council elections at the University of New South Wales. Activists from the Socialist Alternative and Students for Palestine clubs contested the election together as Left Action—Free Palestine, competing against a crowded field of Labor, Liberal and moderate independent students. Left Action candidates won seven of the twelve undergraduate representative positions, as well as receiving more than 60 percent of the vote for every office bearer position they contested, including the Education, Environment and Welfare offices, who each received more than 3,000 votes.

The Liberal Party-backed ticket failed to secure a single position, and the Labor affiliated groups who held a majority of the council in 2024 were reduced to just five of twelve voting positions.

This victory comes off the back of the student general meeting for Palestine held in September, in which more than 600 students voted for UNSW to divest from weapons companies and to support a free Palestine. Members of the Palestine solidarity campaign are a minority of the student body, but after a year of activism, this group has grown into an active, confident and driven force on the campus.

Palestine was not the only issue that drove students to vote for Left Action. Arguments for a free and fully funded higher education sector, and university subsidisation of food and student accommodation struck a chord with many students who have been affected by Sydney’s skyrocketing rents and cost-of-living crisis.

One factor that likely impacted the outcome was that the Labor campaign split prior to the election. This was, at least in part, because the majority faction was trying to drive the socialist left out of the SRC, according to individuals involved in the split. Their plan was to work alongside the Liberals to mobilise a right-wing college vote. In the end, the right-wing vote failed to substantially grow, while the left’s vote doubled.

This victory for the left comes at an important time for student unionism. Like many universities around the country, UNSW has begun cracking down on Palestine activism, threatening to discipline students and suspending the Students for Palestine club. Also, vice-chancellors are gearing up for cutbacks to staff and courses in the coming months. Using the student council’s resources to challenge these attacks and continue to fight for Palestine will be essential in the year ahead.