Incumbent brats spit the dummy as left wins UWA Arts Union

In my years at the University of Western Australia, I have seen countless aspiring politicians and résumé-stuffers pass through our student organisations. Far from representing the bulk of the student body, institutions such as the Arts Union (AU) are undisguised playgrounds of the rich and privileged. Their leaders emulate the excesses of the elite circles they aspire to, using student money to host extravagant balls and “charity” galas that often forget to donate to charity.

These organisations have been sycophantic cheers squads for cuts to courses and staff, and have uttered barely a word against exorbitant fees or the gouging of international students. They have never opposed the creeping racism on campus, preferring to contribute to it in their poorly written publications. In all my time, these “unions” have been bastions of the Liberal and Labor students, wilfully excluding the rest of us.

No surprise, then, that the people who control the Arts Union aren’t as popular as they think they are. A group of left wing education activists and socialists decided to demonstrate this in practice during the AU’s annual election.

But, like most privileged brats, the incumbents were loath to let anyone else play with their toy. After a quick remodelling of the electoral regulations to make them acceptable to Kim Jong-un, it seemed the first rule of the Arts Union elections was that you don’t talk about the Arts Union elections. All students were banned from campaigning and handing out material.

Technically, whispering about the election in a UWA library was forbidden, although AU doesn’t have a Gestapo unit to enforce that rule. Normal people may ask themselves, “Didn’t countless people fight and die over the right to vote in free and fair elections? Haven’t these political science students heard of liberal democracy?”

They certainly have, as their frequent campaigning in Australian elections would attest, but the AU aristocrats hoped and believed that the new rules would work in their favour. The idea was they would be effortlessly elected through their friendship networks while the left would be prevented from openly campaigning.

During polling week, there was all the usual, harmless fun of student elections: the requisite stalking and filming of candidates, Liberals telling people “don’t vote for communists” inside the polling booth, the returning officer stopping international students from voting etc.

But the real dummy-spit came after the left won a smashing victory – majorities of up to 66 percent in 14 positions. Throwing a collective tantrum, the Liberals and “independents” decided that, actually, we hadn’t won (read: “but it’s mine!”).

Four students who won executive positions are now being prevented from taking office. For example, while I won the position of president with 66 percent of the vote, my nearest competitor will be named president after receiving just 21 percent.

The attempts at petty revenge haven’t stopped there: the Guild is aiding the AU aristocrats by threatening to ban the Socialist Alternative club, presumably for forgetting our place and daring to be part of the left’s victory. In a blind rage, many have also taken aim at me personally. Rumours have surfaced of an “army of people” working to get me expelled from UWA. This army does not seem particularly menacing, composed as it is of a few snotty-nosed Liberals without a leg to stand on. But their chutzpah knows no bounds.

This episode speaks volumes about student politics. Dare to challenge the power of the elite, and you will feel their wrath. But we also proved that they can be beaten. Most students want their unions to stand up for them and, ultimately, the elite are in the minority. Stay tuned, but we’re hopeful we can get these bans overturned!