Young Liberals ousted at Adelaide University

The left has cemented its place in the Adelaide University Union and Student Representative Council with a comprehensive victory in recent student elections.

Socialist Alternative members have in recent years held positions, including the president of the SRC, but until now, Young Liberals at the university have dominated both student organisations.

They have used their offices to mimic their mates in Canberra. Their social justice officer applauded the government’s treatment of refugees and their welfare officer celebrated government attacks. They cut funding to the National Union of Students and refused to run elections for delegates. They censured and attempted to restrict the rights of activists and socialists on campus.

This year, the Liberals managed to win only one of eight general councillors; their right wing allies also won few positions. Tickets run by Socialist Alternative, National Labor Students (Labor left) and Student Unity (Labor right) won the remaining 21 positions.

While the right presented themselves as apolitical, concerned only with beer and festivals, their hard-right leanings were barely concealed. Toward the end of the first campaign day, it emerged that their social justice candidate, Taylor Malthouse-Bevan, had attended a Reclaim Australia rally.

The contrast with the socialist candidate and eventual winner, Leila Clendon, couldn’t have been clearer – and students voted for a left wing program of supporting refugees, opposing a nuclear waste dump in South Australia and protesting cuts to education.

The Socialist Alternative-initiated ticket Student Voice won a general councillor and the education, social justice, mature age and environment offices.

Labor has been in government in South Australia since 2002 and has overseen cuts to vocational training and rising unemployment. Premier Jay Weatherill of the Labor Left has led the charge to establish a radioactive waste dump in the state.

Now that the Labor students have returned as the dominant groups, the coming year will be a test of their politics in the student union.

For the socialist left, the key tasks will be mobilising students against any attacks – whether they come from the state Labor government, the federal Liberal government or the racist right on or off campus.