THE SRC FUNDING IS ROBBED
Words by Habibah Jaghoori
School may have not officially started for the year here at the University of Adelaide, but that has in no way stopped the political culture of campus from unravelling in the chaos and drama you normally would see during election week. That’s right, while student life was on break, stupol life never slept. A whole lot has happened behind the scenes since last year, all bubbling up to the surface just in time for O’Week.
In a nutshell, the AUU board president Oscar Ong has withdrawn SRC funding for passing a motion that ‘opposes an AUU stance.’
The defunding of the SRC is a shocking but not surprising turn of events. When the Progress and Young Liberals who sit on the AUU board sense a threat to their lifestyle, they simply launch an attack. Their fake and fancy constitutions, jurisdictions, rules and electoral processes mean nothing when their complacency is called out on and they become the subject of scrutiny.
Before I dive into the latest but surely not the last scandal, I will remind readers that the 2021 election week, much to the dismay of the campus right-wingers, saw victory for the left bloc alliance. The majority of the successful 2022 student representatives elected by their fellow peers won their positions based on their campaign pitches involving predominantly left-wing ideals and promises.
To retaliate against this democracy in action, the 2021 SRC executive, long time stupol hack and the notorious face of Progress, Oscar Ong, along with other young Liberals and Progress members passed a funding agreement that ultimately halts this year’s left-wing SRC from doing what they were elected to do. The agreement forbids the elected student representatives from taking any position on any matter that contradicts the formal position of the Adelaide University Union board, and if done so, the SRC, at the hands of the board, loses funding. Given that such a policy has never existed before, given that such a policy was passed on their last term of office and given that they hold a majority of the AUU board, (because they undemocratically and unceremoniously kicked out the board members from other factions, but hey, that’s a completely different scandal) it’s clear Oscar Ong and his team of cronies wanted to immobilise the up-and-coming student representatives from activist work and upholding the legacy of radical achievements that can come from student unionism.
Fascism can be described in many ways, and one of those ways is, a narcissistic cult rooted in the preservation of far-right ideologies and policies including, but not limited to racism, sexism, corporatism, state violence and the repression of social movements.
So, what do we call blocking an attempt to cover up nazi/white supremacist stickers with anti fascist stickers? What do we call prohibiting the use and distribution of a counter guide designed to educate students on the realities of the neoliberal institution they are enrolled in? What does it mean when the motion for it is passed with an overwhelming amount of support and Oscar Ong strikes by financially stripping the council because of it? It means Fa…
This is a cruel and sadistic act. It’s an act that undermines democracy, fairness and just basic morality. It’s a dirty move from Oscar Ong because he cannot accept the fact that he lost the SRC Presidency.
SRC President Ana Obradovic and a member of Socialist Alternative calls it out as it is by referencing the ‘AUU’s power as illegitimate’ and stating that ‘withholding the SRC’s financial resources undermines our ability to fight for student rights.’ She further urges that ‘our unions should be left-wing fighting bodies against injustice.’
While it’s fairly certain that the current AUU board is absolutely not a fighting body against injustice, it’s our current student activists who despite this dirty manoeuvre imposed on them, have taken a firm stance in fulfilling their office bearer duties and using their platform in the right way. SRC Social Justice Officer and a member of Grassroots Tom Wood has said ‘They get scared when we do our job, which is to unashamedly advocate for the interests of students because it makes their management look bad.’ He clarified that the SRC still intends to continue fighting against the cuts on education and to ‘respect the democratic will of students’ even though ‘the same cannot be said about the board.’
It’s quite pathetic really, to see how easily the right-wing AUU board members will sell out to the University’s administration. An administration who are absolutely intent on neoliberal agendas rather than creating a socially-progressive educational institution that will participate in a society flourishing towards justice and equity.
SRC General Secretary and member of Unite, Billy Zimmerman, has served both on the SRC and AUU board alongside Oscar Ong in previous years, is one who has seen these sorts of reactionary power grabs by Progress and Connect before. He says that Oscar ‘should accept defeat’ and just ‘let the SRC have the autonomy we deserve and won last year.’
If these recent series of events between the 2022 SRC and AUU Board are an indication of what the year ahead has in store for UofA, then it’s fair to say we can expect a whole lot of drama filled with supreme stupol hack energy.
Remember, stupol is more than just a mud fight. It’s a reflection of a political conflict that has existed since the beginning of time and it really does impact all students. So, start the year off right by firstly grabbing a copy of On Dit and then a copy of the Counter Guide. Talk to your SRC and make sure to pencil in the up-and-coming SGM at 12 pm on the 24th of March in week 4!
When I asked if it is the different ideologies of the SRC from his and differences in how the University should be managed that motivated him to defund the SRC campaign, Oscar Ong did not respond to my question.
