The University of Western Australia prides itself on its liberal image and reputation as one of Australia’s elite campuses. The university’s motto is “seek wisdom”, which rings hollow in the current context of huge cuts to staff and courses—management is compromising the quality of teaching and research to increase profits.
Last October, the administration endorsed a restructure to address a supposed $70 million deficit in the university budget (the figure is has dropped to $40 million this year). The most egregious proposal is to cut 400 staff, according to figures in an <a href="https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/save-our-uwa-stop-job-cuts?fbclid=IwAR3ihRjgo7ydcBUoDFjb8la_IKqW7m-psld1DC3If3G7Ao_t3d8rCCnwQ1o">National Tertiary Education U</a>nion petition. 
Last month, three proposals were put forward, including a plan to abolish anthropology and sociology as areas of study, to reassign research roles to be “teaching focused” and to reduce Asian Studies to language courses only. The proposals were met with a groundswell of public opposition: from students, staff and prominent academics and alumni, to politicians, journalists and professional organisations such as the Australian Anthropological Society. 
Vice-Chancellor Amit Chakma appeared on ABC Radio on 14 July in an attempt to save face. When interrogated about the proposed cuts, he admitted that seven or eight more schools would face “significant restructures”. Management clearly wanted to ram through the first round of cuts during the holiday period to catch students and staff off guard. The intention is to divide and conquer, targeting schools one at a time, allowing the outcry over each to die down before moving on to the next.
A demonstration of 250 people frustrated this process on 29 July, a rainy day during the mid-semester break. The protest was called by Socialist Alternative activists through the UWA Guild’s Education Action Network. A campus protest of an equivalent size hasn’t been seen in nearly two decades. Campaign groups sprung into existence overnight—one organised by a group of <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ProtectSocialSciencesUWA">undergraduates</a>, and another organised by <a href="https://www.savesocialsciencesuwa.net/">postgraduates and alumni</a>. 
The organising efforts of students and staff helped delay the implementation of the proposals, but university management has doubled down. In an all-student email on 6 August, Chakma insisted that any “proposed changes in university operations and courses will not impact your studies”. 
But on 19 August, students and staff were made aware of proposed cuts to the Finance Department, the Office of Research and the School of Molecular Sciences. The latter will lose eight permanent staff positions, contradicting the suggestion that students’ research and study won’t be affected. 
The campaign against the restructure has become a fight against all attacks at the university. The start of semester has seen a flurry of activity—petitions, a forum and another campus protest. A referendum has been called for the Student Guild elections so that students can express their opinions about the restructure in an official vote. A few thousand votes won’t miraculously change Chakma’s mind, but it will put him in the tricky position if he goes against the will of the students—more damage to the precious reputation of university’s liberal values may be the result. 
Students and staff will rally outside a meeting of the university senate on 23 August. In that meeting, a mere seventeen people have the power to make decisions about the future of students and staff. At stake in this campaign is the question of democracy. Do a select few university managers have the ability to scrap entire areas of study, or do students and staff have a say in how the institution is run?

Nicole McEwen

Scott Harney

Students fight cuts at the University of Western Australia

Socialism is in vogue, and the word has become hotly debated. The Socialism Conference’s positive reception in Perth reflects this, with more than 160 people attending the day-long event on 18 August. 
Radicals, unionists and student activists gathered at the University of Western Australia to discuss the world since the 2008 financial crisis, the collapse of the political centre and how to resist racism, among other topics. 
The introductory “Marxism 101” stream was popular, with the session “Why you should be socialist today” attracting one of the highest attendances. 
Historian Chris Owen’s session, “Colonisation’s Bitter Legacy”, was another highlight. Seventy people filled the room to hear Owen discuss his recent book, Every Mother’s Son Is Guilty, which details the colonisation process in the Kimberly region of Western Australia. 
From the 1880s onwards, the police facilitated the expansion of pastoralists’ economic and political power, including through massacres of the Indigenous population. The police continue to be crucial pillars of racial oppression today, reflected in the disproportionately high incarceration rates for Indigenous people. Owen’s history is crucial to understanding the origins of anti-indigenous racism, and how best to fight it today. 
A running theme throughout the conference was radicalism in Western Australia. The rebels and troublemakers in the state’s history are often erased or have their legacies sanitised. One panel session rediscovered the radical legacies of Monty Miller, Paddy Troy and Katharine Susannah Prichard. 
Similarly, the session “From Union Power to FIFO” discussed the Pilbara, a former stronghold of militant unionism. Participants in both sessions grappled with how to revive the same radicalism in today’s labour movement; relevant, given the recent offensive by aluminium giant Alcoa against its workforce. Conference attendees extended their solidarity by raising funds for Alcoa workers fighting to maintain their pay and conditions.
The closing plenary addressed the rise of the far right and proposed strategies to resist. The fascistic comments of Fraser Anning were put in the context of years of mainstream racist policy by the major parties. 
The mood of the session and the day was summed up by visiting socialist and anti-fascist activist Vashti Kenway in her closing remarks: 
“To challenge this state of affairs we need action. We need protest. We need to build a self-confident anti-fascist movement not cowed and intimidated by claims that we ‘went too far’. We need radical anti-capitalist defiance. Defiance with politics with clarity about who we are fighting and why.”

Students fight cuts at the University of Western Australia

Perth Socialism a success

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