Griffith University Student Representative Council
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Griffith University students are currently uniquely represented by three student organisations as a legacy of the Griffith University Act (Qld), political differences and campus amalgamations. The Griffith University Student Representative Council (GUSRC) and Griffith University Post-graduate Students Association (GUPSA) represent undergraduate and post-graduate students respectively in all campuses apart from the Gold Coast. GUPSA is a constituent member of the Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations. Unique to the Gold Coast is the Student Guild (GUSG) which represents all students from this campus and holds an administrative structure that is apparently independent to the university.
Current and past presidents
Leon Bertrand currently holds the position of GUSRC President. Glen Chatterton[link], the previous President and the only incumbent GUSRC President to be re-elected, resigned due to corruption.Most recent past Presidents of the GUSRC have been members of the Labor Club, with that club having won five out of the previous six elections, including the last three. Edwin Michaels was the University's first, and so far only, Chairperson to belong to the Liberal Club.
Past Presidents and Chairpersons of the GUSRC include Glen Chatterton (2005-06, resigned), David Allen (2005, resigned), Monique Bielanowski (2004), Paul Jacobs (2003), Merric Foley (2002), Edwin Michaels (2002, resigned), Duncan Pegg (2001), Tim Collins (2000) and Michael O'Reilly (1998).
Previous election history
The Broad left had a history of being successful winning many of the annual elections during the 1990's, and having notable previous members of the SRC such as Mark Pendleton, (National Queer Officer of NUS 2001), and Camile Barbagello, (National Education officer of NUS 2002), however in recent years members of the Griffith University Labor Club have dominated elections, usually winning with huge majorities.The political environment of the SRC is quite unusual in the fact that it is polarised by an anti-socialist right-wing Labor faction and an ultra-left National Broad Left (NBL) grouping, which consists of members of groups such as the International Socialist Organisation and Socialist Alternative. This can be constrasted with most university student organisations where there is a Labor-left group that is a strong force in annual general elections.
Recent controversy
The SRC became increasingly controversial in 2004 when it re-wrote its Constitution and got the changes passed in a referendum with a 69% majority. The changes abolished the position of Environment Officer and replaced the Women's Officers with a Female Equity Officer. The reforms also increased accountability, gave minimum funding to departments and created a Male Equity Officer. A week into the marathon referendum the far left decided to stop campaigning against the proposed Constitution, and instead decided to storm the GUSRC's Nathan office in frustration, accusing the right-wing Labor students of selling out students and the working class. The SRC also refused to pay affiliation fees to the National Union of Students, yet continued to send delegates to the annual conference.The year 2005 was characterised by much conflict and many forced resignations amongst the Labor Right faction, which had won every position on the GUSRC Board in the 2004 elections. Most of the infighting occurred as a result of Glen Chatterton, the joint Media Officer who forced David Allen to resign and replaced him as President. In spite of this, the Labor Right faction was sufficiently united in Semester 2 to win the elections for a third consecutive time by a record margin[link], which included 83% of the primary vote.
In 2006, Glen Chatterton's reign on the GUSRC ended when he resigned. He annoited Finance Director Brenton Hill as his successor, and Anika Wells as Finance Director. However, the plan failed to actualise when Nathan Campus Co-ordinator Leon Bertrand obtained the support of a majority of the GUSRC Board and had himself appointed as President of the GUSRC at a Board meeting on March 13. Bertrand's opponents refused to recognise his appointment as legitimate, and subsequently held their own meeting, which they represented to other parties as being valid. It all fell through however, when Bertrand filed an application in the Supreme Court of Queensland seeking orders banning Hill and Wells from entering the GUSRC office and preventing them from representing themselves as being President and Finance Director respectively, inter alia. As a result of this dramatic step, Leon Bertrand is now the officially recognised President.
Future of the GUSRC
The GUSRC has been one of the worst prepared student unions in Australia to deal with the onset of Voluntary Student Unionism (VSU). This is for a number of reasons. Firstly, it only received about 25% of the student fees collected by the University as the majority of the monies were given to Campus Life, a University-controlled organisation. Secondly, the GUSRC only owned one shop, the Mt Gravatt campus shop, which consistently made a loss. In 2003, the GUSRC suffered its worst ever budget deficit under the National Broad Left, calculated by SRC auditors in 2004 to be over $226 500. The result was that the SRC owed the University hundreds of thousands of dollars and became 'technically insolvent', since its net liabilities exceeded its net assets. Finally, previous office bearers have not prepared for VSU, even after the 2004 Federal Election, where the Liberal/National government's control of the Senate subsequently made VSU imminent.
When Brenton Hill and Anika Wells held themselves out to be President and Finance Director (respectively) of the GUSRC, it was thought that the GUSRC in its present from would dissolve at the end of Semester 1 2006, as their intention had been to wind up the organisation. However, upon Leon Bertrand's ascendency, the GUSRC has been in talks with the University on how it can survive the introduction of Voluntary Student Unionism, and is in the process of restructuring. Fortunately for the GUSRC, it is not subject to the ordinary rules of insolvency, as it is classed as a charitable organisation. The GUSRC will therefore continue to exist and trade, even if it is said to be 'technically insolvent'.
External links
| National Union of Students of Australia | |
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