12 minute read
Indigenous
Shirley Killen | Student Resistance Mining is the beating heart of our country’s economy, and what a morbid thing that is. Indigenous land and the natural beauty of our planet cruelly pillaged to line the pockets of an ultra-rich few, ultimately accelerating the destruction wrought by climate change. I think our environment committee should be dedicated to smashing that morbid logic of unrestricted profit-making at the expense of the planet, and the only way to do that is to build mass activist movements which can challenge the government and big business. We need a committee of radical anti-capitalists and experienced activists like me.
Raphael Duffy | Student Resistance Last year was the year of the climate strikes and extinction rebellion. Millions of people around the world answered the defiant call of Greta Thunberg to come out onto the streets and stop business as usual demolishing the planet. Activists like myself helped organise and promote mass demonstrations like the climate strikes, as well as smaller, more disruptive protests on campus against our own university’s dirty addiction to fossil fuel blood money. If you elect activists like me to the environment committee, we could turn its resources over to deepening and extending radical climate activism before its too late.
Benjamin Fok | Student Resistance When the bushfires ripped through the country in January, blanketing major cities in a suffocating veil of smoke, 30,000 people came out on the streets of Melbourne to demand climate action. Socialist activists like myself organised that demonstration, despite the objections of the police, the state Labor government and a swathe of conservative organisations trying to stop us from “politicising” the fires. Students need an environment committee that is going to stare the Australian state dead in the eye as it tries to protect its mining CEO mates and say “fuck you, we’re fighting for a better planet anyway.”
Terence Taylor | Student Resistance Both major parties have consistently committed to giving huge subsidies to mining corporations and rolling out the red carpet for their new projects like Adani. All this whilst they cut funding for education and welfare; dismantling our quality of education, shattering our social safety net and pouring all that money into the fire that’s burning the planet beneath our feet. I want the UMSU environment committee to use every single resource it has to build the power of student protests against this atrocity. We need to organise to strike, occupy and shut it down. Anneke Demanuele | Student Resistance Morrison blithely commented last year in response to the school strikes for climate that classrooms shouldn’t be turned into parliaments. I think every single classroom would make a far better parliament than our current excuse for a democracy: the lower house, the upper house and the uppermost house of the minerals council of Australia. Our house is on fire and I want our environment committee to fight to turn our classrooms, our workplaces and our streets into parliaments which actually fight for the environment against the parasitic climate criminals at the top.
Timothy Lilley | VVholesome “In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made many people very angry and has been widely regarded as a bad move.” – Douglas Adams, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
Kiara Davies Elected Unopposed
Lauren Scott Elected Unopposed
Lillian Ryan Elected Unopposed PEOPLE OF COLOUR COMMITTEE
Mayank Gurnani | Community for UMSU I’m Mayank, a second-year master’s student from India. People of Colour and the challenges we’ve faced have been overlooked and ignored. I have experienced just how isolating and scary situations can feel sometimes, and I want to change that. I’ll push for the campus to be an open and welcoming space for students from all races, and nationalities, where they not only feel welcomed but celebrated. I wish to help create a campus and university where no student of colour ever feels talked over and/ or alone which we can accomplish with your support. Hibatallah (Hiba) Adam | Community for UMSU Hello! My name is Hibatallah (Hiba) and I am running for PoC Committee. I am currently in my third year of my Bachelor of Arts degree and planning to do postgraduate studies at the university in the future. As a first-generation Eritrean/Libyan refugee who grew up in Australia I have experienced racism not just in public but at the university too. I know what it feels like to maneuverer between different identities, trying to find a space where you fit in. I want to contribute to making structural change within the university and creating a safe space for PoC.
Myo Mon San | Community for UMSU I am Myo Mon San and I am currently studying Masters of Marketing Communication. By running to be a committee member of the People of Colour Department, I am determined to bring different opinions and live experiences to the department and contribute my voice to the UMSU to balance the team dynamic. I will commit my time and effort to push back all forms of discriminations and lift up the voices of the PoC community to create a sense of belonging for everyone on our campus. Vote [1] Community, your community fighting with you!
Vignesh Krishnan | Community for UMSU I’m Vignesh and I’m currently in my second year. As an international student, I am familiar with the challenges we face especially during these unprecedented times. During this pandemic, it is important that international students have their voices heard and needs addressed. If I were to be elected, it would be my primary goal to ensure that this group of students have their problems recognized and are given the assistance they so desperately need while pursuing an education in this country and university. Vote [1] Community, your community fighting with you!
Tejas Sethi | Community for UMSU Hey, I am Tejas Sethi. I am pursuing my Bachelor of Arts majoring in Psychology and Media and Communications. As an international person of colour with disability, I feel COVID has had a severe impact on our community. But having a community of colour on campus by attending POC collectives and workshops gave me a better connection to people of other backgrounds and allowed me to understand the intersectionality between living with a disability and being a person of colour. Vote [1] Community, your community fighting with you!
Joyce Mo- PoC Committee My name is Joyce and I’m a Jaffy studying a Bachelor of Biomedicine. I’m an ABC and incredibly keen to run for the PoC Committee! After learning about the history of student politics at Melbourne, I’m keen to work with the Community to ensure a better future for the Union, and to serve and fight for the interests of students! I’d love to help foster a Unimelb community where there’s less of
Joyce Mo | Community for UMSU My name is Joyce and I’m a Jaffy studying a Bachelor of Biomedicine. I’m an ABC and incredibly keen to run for the PoC Committee! After learning about the history of student politics at Melbourne, I’m keen to work with the Community to ensure a better future for the Union, and to serve and fight for the interests of students! I’d love to help foster a Unimelb community where there’s less of a divide between students from different backgrounds. I also want it to be a place where people are not afraid to speak up, especially international students.
Patricia Agus | Community for UMSU Hi, I’m Trish, a second year Fine Arts student studying in the Drawing and Printmaking Department. As a person of colour I have experienced balancing my Filipino and Australian backgrounds and navigating my journey of self-discovery and acceptance. I am proud to be a person of colour pursuing fine arts and hope to prove that PoC can be successful in this field. I believe in the importance of diverse and multicultural communities such as the PoC Committee; as a VCA student I would like to encourage my peers and expose them to a community where they can belong.
Sian Tjia Hennessy | Stand Up! Hi! I’m Sian (she/her), a Design student majoring in Performance Design/Graphic Design. From my own experiences as a woman of colour on campus, I know that it can be difficult to feel comfortable speaking out as an individual. With a position on POC committee, I want to advocate for safe spaces for POC on campus and ensure that every POC regardless of their background feels welcomed and heard. Together we can fight to solve issues faced by POC in higher education and work towards a more inclusive, anti-racist UniMelb. Vote [1] Stand Up! Keep up the Fight!
Emily Kaji | Stand Up! The university has a long way to go before it is a safe space for students of colour. Be it unrepresentative subjects, inaccessible mental health services or in broader society- the income inequality that occurs for PoC students. The inequalities do not stop once we leave the classroom and a PoC office should be activist in all aspects, be it fighting for fair wages for students of colour or accessible mental health services. I hope to hold next year’s office bearers accountable and push for an activist and inclusive PoC office. Vote [1] Stand Up! Keep up the Fight!
Vishal Chopra | Stand Up! With the way the university has neglected people of colour, now more than ever it is important to keep the fight going and push for an activist People of Colour department. Inequality manifests itself in economic, social and political forms and it is important that the student union is able to fight against racism in any shape or form, be it through boots on the ground activism or Vishal continued... lobbying for change. I hope to push for campaigns on income equality for students of colour and push for an activist department. Vote [1] Stand Up! Keep up the Fight!
Gurpreet Singh | Stand Up! Hey everyone, I’m Gurpreet (he/him) and I was lucky enough to serve as one of the PoC officers in 2019. I’m a third year Science student and growing up in the northern suburbs here I’ve always been aware of the challenges faced by People of Colour, be it economic injustices such as access to housing or fair wages or social and structural injustices. Combined with the challenges of navigating an UMSU office I believe this experience has given me the skills necessary to keep next year’s office-bearers accountable and transparent. Vote [1] Stand Up! Keep up the Fight!
Desiree Cai | Stand Up! Having been involved in activism and UMSU for a few years now, I recognise first hand how important it is to have a student union staunchly and actively fighting for the rights of student of colour. The university has a lot more it can do to support students of colour, as we saw specifically this year with the COVID-19 outbreak which laid bare the inaccessible support structures that were in place for students of colour. We need a student union putting these issues at the forefront, Vote [1] Stand Up! Keep up the Fight!
Varusha Wijesinghe | Stand Up! Hey everyone, I’m name’s Varusha (he/him), a third year Biomedicine student running for People of Colour committee. I grew up in the northern suburbs and have always been passionate about fighting against racism in any way it manifests such as through income inequality and unequal health outcomes as well as being able to call out direct and indirect racism. I will aim to keep the People of Colour officers accountable and transparent and push for campaigns around housing affordability and access for PoC as well as campaigns around income equality. Vote [1] Stand Up! Keep up the Fight! PEOPLE OF COLOUR COMMITTEE
Raymond Wu | Community for UMSU Hi there! I’m Raymond (he/him)! I’m currently on the PoC committee and am the co-coordinator of the Queer People of Colour (Zoom) collective (12pm Thursdays, please come along!) so surprise surprise I’m super passionate about intersectionality within the LGBTQA+ community. I want to bring my lived experience as a Queer Person of ColourTM to the table, and ensure the Queer Department remains committed to fighting for and making space for the entire community (not just for a singular genre of brick-throwing cis gay white men!) Vote [1] Community, your community fighting with you! Kameron La | Community for UMSU Hello! I’m Kam, and I’m a Queer PoC hoping to run for a committee position for 2021! In 2021, I want to Support all LGBTQIA+ people without exception Facilitate a transition from a high school environment that for most of us would not have been so accepting. In addition, build a flourishing campus culture that not only accepts all queer students but actively aims to support them at any and every stage of their journey. I’m particularly interested in addressing internalised biphobia and bi erasure, both things I have struggled with before, and will fight during my term if elected.
Lauren Mendes | Community for UMSU What do I want to achieve through being a member of the Queer Committee? A voice for all, a place to call home when many of us do not have one, a place to find yourself and others like you. And I think, through my experience in leadership and human management, I would be a great candidate to spearhead this vision and help all queer people in getting what they want out of the spaces and department run by the Queer Department!! Vote [1] Community, your community fighting with you!
Kat Zhang | Community for UMSU I have nominated for Queer Committee member for UMSU as I believe it is vital for us to empower and to stand up for the rights of all students. As a woman of colour, I hope to form part of a visible and approachable representative body. I would like the opportunity to make Melbourne Uni an inclusive space where everyone feels welcome and UMSU where students’ voices can be heard. Diversity is the future! Vote [1] Community, your community fighting with you!
Annalyce Wiebenga | Community for UMSU Hey, I’m Annalyce! I’m a bi and ace/aro-spec woman running for Queer Committee. I catalogued the Queer Space library and helped run the Southbank Queer Collective and would love to help in an official way! I’ve had awesome experiences with the Queer Department and want to make everyone feel welcome. We’re a highly diverse community and need people who are sensitive to our varied needs. In particular, I will ensure the ace/aro and Southbank collectives remain safe and inclusive for everyone. Vote [1] Community, your community fighting with you!
Mittraphab (Poom) Sangruang | Community for UMSU Hi, I’m Poom Sangruang! I have personally and socially grown through participating in the multitude of events, spaces and communities available to me at the university. Through volunteering with the Queer department, I’ve come to treasure the opportunity to reciprocate the experiences
