Words and graphic by Anonymous
Candidates for the 2023 student elections have been announced, and they show further developments in the drama-filled world of student politics at the University of Adelaide.
To recap, in last year’s elections, Unite (the broadly Labor Unity adjacent ticket) broke with the Left Bloc it had previously been a part of to work with controversial International apolitical ticket, Progress (led by stupol luminary Oscar Ong). Unite and Progress would go on to win every office bearing position they contested, and a collection of other positions.
This smashing victory was made possible by the collapse of the Left Bloc. Despite being in coalition in the 2022 SRC, each faction went their separate ways at elections. Grassroots and Socialist Alternative both contested the SRC President position, splitting the left vote and allowing Unite and Progress to romp home.
It seems a similar story may be repeating itself in the coming elections…
The Factions – (Ordered from largest YouX Board vote in 2022, to smallest)
Progress is the biggest faction on campus, consistently electing two board directors. They are running for several office-bearing positions and have employed their usual strategy of nominating dozens of General Council candidates from across cultural clubs in order to boost their Board and SRC vote. This is a sound strategy which has led to their continued success.
Socialist Alternative will be running a full ticket this year under their election name Left Action. This is the second year in a row that they are running without a formalised deal with another faction. Despite this, they enjoyed relative success last year, securing 2 General Council positions and a YouX Board Director. Socialist Alternative have the potential to use the failings of the State and Federal Labor Governments, as well as the merger, to galvanise students into electoral success.
Unite, the ticket broadly associated with the Labor Right has the most to lose this election. They presently hold SRC President as well as a majority of the SRC’s office-bearing positions. Georgia Thomas will be running for a second term. Based on Unite’s history, they will be campaigning around clubs and their practical achievements. It will be interesting to see how much Unite comments on the University merger considering that the Premier and key figures pushing the merger are Student Unity alumni.
Grassroots will be contesting this year’s election with convenor Michael Petrilli making the unusual decision to run for Mature Age Officer rather than a more senior office-bearing position. Grassroots have grown every election they have contested and will be hungry this year after missing out on a second General Councillor last year by less than 5 votes. Michael has put in significant effort this year to build the Grassroots brand through hosting free lunches in the Hub, showing a practical commitment to solving student food insecurity.
For the second year running, the Liberals (running last year as Swipe Right) will not be running with Progress and seem to have collapsed almost entirely. Three years ago, the Liberals commanded 20% of the vote and held the AUU Vice President position. Over the past two years, it is clear that Unite has superseded the Liberals as Progress’ go to partner, locking out the Liberals from any major influence. The Liberals will be contesting President and other Office bearers but with only one candidate. Failed 2023 Queer Officer candidate and Tiktok microcelebrity Jayden Squire will be contesting no less than 5 positions.
The sick man of Student Politics, the ever waning Activate is running again this year with a revitalised team. The Labor Left-aligned ticket is helmed by first year Harry White, who is running for YouX Board. Harry is the brother of former Flinders University Unity convenor Lachlan White. Activate monumentally failed last year, securing a mere 50 votes for Board. This year seems to be different; their number of candidates has more than doubled and they seem to have the drive to succeed.
New on the scene this year is Transparency, a ticket run by 17-year-old whiz kid, Cyrus Kelly. The maths prodigy will be running for SRC President. It is unclear how much institutional support Cyrus has, but he has achieved significant success already in merely putting a ticket together and signing a deal with the rump-left. A lack of transparency has been a constant issue for the AUU/YouX in the past 5 years, but with the departure of various controversial figures and recent reforms on the board, it remains to be seen how much resonance this ticket has.
The Coalitions
Students this year will have the broad choice of three coalitions to give their precious votes to.
The Centre Alliance – Progress & Unite
Progress and Unite seem to have signed a very similar deal to 2022, with Unite running for President and Progress running for General Secretary. This coalition was incredibly successful last year winning every office bearer they contested as well as 3/5 Board Directors and 5/8 General Councillors.
If numbers hold, this should be the team to beat.
The Rump-Left – Transparency, Grassroots, & Activate
Grassroots are in Coalition with Activate and new kid on the block, Transparency. Grassroots and Activate ran together last year after the broad Left Bloc collapsed to disastrous results, losing every office-bearer and winning only 1/8 General Councillors between them, mostly off the back of support from the Roseworthy campus.
Only time will tell how this rump-left coalition fares. The only way for Activate is up after a disastrous showing last year. Transparency has a number of candidates and with proper campaigning, should receive a respectable percent of the vote. Grassroots vote has been harmed however, losing their one remaining Roseworthy connection to Unite.
The Socialists – Left Action
Not much needs to be said about Left Action. Their strategy is increasingly not one of pursuing electoral victory through deals but rather capitalising on their expansive activist credentials to win over hearts and minds with only their own on the ticket. Left Action are running a full suite of candidates but will likely fail to get any office-bearing candidates over the line.
The Presidential Candidates
Current Unite SRC President Georgia Thomas is running for a second year in the top job. She has various achievements under her belt this year and will be hoping to have built enough of a profile as President to win convincingly. The mass of cultural and international votes brought in by Progress won’t hurt either.
Grassroots and Activate will both be supporting Cyrus Kelly of new faction Transparency for SRC President. Cyrus must have worked magic in the negotiating room to secure not only SRC President, but General Secretary from his coalition partners as a brand new faction with unproven candidates. Transparency boasts international and engineering students on its ticket, claiming to be a ‘Progress Killer’.
For the first time in 4 years, 2022 SRC President, Ana Obradovic will not be Left Action’s candidate for President. Instead, Ellie Hall will be leading the Left Action ticket. Many of their candidates have been visible campaigners at protests and stalls this year, and will be hoping this translates to electoral success.
Aforementioned failed 2023 Queer Officer candidate, Jayden Squire will be battling for the top job. Last year the Liberal-aligned ticket, Swipe Right, fell to historic lows – not securing any positions on the SRC or YouX Board. With Jayden seemingly unable to find a single other member of the Liberal Club to run, his chances are slim to nil.
Assessment
A four-way race for President favours the largest coalition, which is clearly the Progress-Unite centre alliance. Georgia Thomas should be easily elected for a second term.
PREDICTION: Georgia Thomas re-elected SRC President with 50% of the vote in the first round of counting.
National Union of Students
2023 marks the first time since 2019 that the University of Adelaide will provide delegates to the National Union of Students (NUS). The NUS is the peak representative body for post-secondary students in Australia.
The University of Adelaide will elect 7 delegates. These delegates vote to decide the direction of the national union and elect (several paid) office bearers.
Historically, some factions have had national counterparts which they support and caucus with. For factions without a national counterpart, they usually leverage their votes in exchange for a greater share of the office bearers pool.
The only two factions left at Adelaide with a strong link to national factions are Unite (who brand themselves as Student Unity on a national level) and Left Action (Socialist Alternative). They have both nominated several candidates, so it is clearly their priority to get elected.
Activate nominally have a national faction, but a split in 2020 has made the whole situation quite confusing. This has not, however, stopped them from nominating.
The only factions to nominate anyone this year are Unite, Activate, and Left Action. Presumably Unite will receive the support of their coalition partner, Progress, which amounts to a significant pile of votes. Similarly, Activate will most likely be receiving the support for their NUS candidates from Grassroots and Transparency, a yet to be determined amount but definitely enough to make an impact.
Left Action will be going alone, but it is likely they will prioritise NUS campaigning on the ground, meaning they will have a significant showing.
Assessment
If Progress are endorsing Unity for delegate positions as seems likely, then Unite will take home the majority of delegates.
The other 3 delegates are more uncertain. Activate and Left Action will easily win at least one apiece but that last delegate will be in play between the two left wing groups.
PREDICTION:
- 4 delegates to Unite
- 1 delegate to Activate
- 1 delegate to Left Action
- 1 delegate in the air
On Dit 