Political Correspondence

1. HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR GROUP’S POLITICAL IDEOLOGY AND PRESENCE AT FLINDERS UNIVERSITY? 2. WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE RECENT RESTRUCTURES, STAFF AND COURSE CUTS AT FLINDERS UNIVERSITY UNDER VICE-CHANCELLOR COLIN STIRLING? 3. HOW DO YOU THINK THE EVENTS OF THE LAST TWO YEARS, AND THE DECISIONS MADE ON BOTH STATE AND FEDERAL LEVELS, WILL IMPACT THE RESULTS OF THE UPCOMING ELECTIONS?

LEFT

SOCIALIST ALTERNATIVE

1. We are Marxists and revolutionary socialists. We recognize that all forms of exploitation and oppression are rooted in the profit motive of the economic system that we live under (capitalism) and that we must replace this system with one that places human need over profits (socialism). We believe that change happens from below and through collective actions such as protests and strikes. We are very active here at Flinders, whether that be organising or building towards protests, petitioning for current issues, or running discussion groups.

2. The cuts and restructures that were pushed through last year were a direct attack on staff and students. The line used from Flinders management was that the cuts were responding to “the challenges posed by COVID-19, Jobs Ready Graduate legislation and continuing loss of student load and, therefore revenue” despite the Vice Chancellor Colin Stirling sitting on a whopping $1.7 million a year and the University making a $37.8 million surplus in 2020 (comparatively a $25.1 million surplus was made in 2019). These cuts and restructures are a result of the University being run for profit rather than what it should be run for: a quality education.

There has been plenty to protest against the Liberals in the past two years, from the bushfire crisis at the start of 2020 3. and to letting COVID rip across the country. Scott Morrison placing profits over health has rightly made him a hate figure for much of the public. It would be welcome to see the Liberals out of office, but from locking up refugees to supporting the fossil fuel industry Labor has shown no alternative to the Liberals. If Labor do win election, which looks likely, then they must not be let off the hook and should be fought back against when the time comes.

CENTRE

LABOR UNITY 1. Labor Unity (or Unite on campus) is the progressive, pragmatic force on campus. We are proudly centre left believing that government services need to be expanded and that the wealthy should pay their fair share of tax.

1 (CONT.) We are focused on how working people can have their lives improved in the here and now. On campus our representatives advocate responsible spending of student money and for the rights of our diverse campus community

2. Terrible, straight and simple - staff are already overworked and students will have a worse quality of education. We believe Creative Industries and Humanities have a very important place in our society and economy (Creative industries provide more jobs per million dollars than construction). Students need to stand up to management and fight these cuts or we will all suffer.

3. The past few years have been a real awakening to many people especially the youth who are increasingly getting interested and engaged with politics. With the rise in online usage during the pandemic, people have been more interested in politics from social justice to the latest events. We can only hope that the federal and state government are punished at the ballot box for their recent mishandlings of the pandemic

RIGHT

FLINDERS’ LIBERAL CLUB 1. The Liberal Club promotes personal responsibility and small governance, championing the individual freedom and rights, provided this does not cause significant physical harm to another. Freedom of expression and a marketplace of ideas is the best way of operating a society. The Liberal Club is currently rebuilding, with strong connections to other University Liberal Clubs, and an all-female leadership team.

2. We believe that the quashing of humanities and arts detracts from student ability to engage in culture and develop nuanced ways of thinking. We oppose the staff cuts and hope the Student Union will be more active in their opposition to the cuts, rather than settle for saving Italian.

3. We believe that both state and federal governments have endeavoured to do what is best for their citizens at all times with the information and resources available. Although, at times, they may have erred, they were learning with us. We have confidence in our state and federal governments moving into the 2022 election cycle, particularly while opposing the Albanese and Malinauskas governments whose policies and approaches seem to indicate a paddling in a circle, having lost their oars of competence somewhere in the mist.