Honi Soit: Week 11, Semester 1, 2023

Honi Soit

Don’t abolish 5-day simple extensions The

Fund the Aboriginal Legal Service

Khanh Tran Analysis, page 14

Daniel Holland Analysis, page 8

Angus McGregor Culture, page 18

Fantastical Historicism

Bring trams back to Parramatta Road

Honi Soit Editorial, page 10

Lia Perkins and Tiger Perkins Analysis, page 7

Luke Mesterovic USU, page 6

USU Soapbox Recap

Acknowledgement of Country

Honi Soit publishes on the Gadigal land of the Eora nation. Sovereignty was never ceded. All our knowledge is produced on stolen Indigenous lands. The University of Sydney is principally a colonial institution, predicated on the notion that Western ways of thinking and learning are superior to the First Knowledge of Indigenous peoples.

At Honi Soit, we rebuke this claim, and maintain our commitment to platforming and empowering the experiences, perspectives and voices of First Nations students. This basis informs our practice as a paper. As a student newspaper, we have a duty to combat the mechanisms of colonisation.

Editors

Misbah Ansari, Katarina Butler, Luke Cass, Bipasha Chakraborty, Ethan Floyd, Veronica Lenard, Luke MešteroviĆ, Eamonn Murphy, Caitlin O’KeeffeWhite, Andy Park

Contributors

Lucy Bailey, Nicola Brayan, Eleanor Douglas, Daniel Holland, Zeina Khochaiche, Angus McGregor, Grace Mitchell, Nicholas Osiowy, Lia Perkins, Tiger Perkins, Evelyn Redfern, Ellie Robertson, Khanh Tran, Kate Zhang

Artists

Long Huynh, Estella Kennedy, Evelyn Redfern, Margot Roberts, Ely Yu

Front Cover

Casey Zhu

Back Cover

Misbah Ansari and Caitlin O’Keeffe-White

As student journalists, we recognise our responsibility as a radical student newspaper to oppose the inherent racism and exclusivity of mainstream media outlets. We also uphold the struggle of other Indigenous communities worldwide and acknowledge that our resistance is intertwined.

As an editorial team of both Indigenous and non-Indigenous heritage, we are both victims and beneficiaries of colonisation. We are committed to unlearning our colonial premonitions and working to hold current institutions accountable.

We are galvanised by our commitment to Indigenous justice.

Editorial

White possession, according to Goenpul academic activist Aileen Moreton-Robinson, impacts our knowledge production in the form of dominant forms, values and beliefs. Being settlers in a colony like Australia means we find ourselves engulfed within the colonised narrative of Indigenous bodies, land rights and sovereignty. This edition, despite all its collaboration and communication, features a lengthy discussion of the Indigenous Voice to Parliament that is up for a vote soon. The edition is curated majorly by settlers who are learning along the way but broadly profit off the heinous possession of this land.

“The act of making a radical case for the Voice is an integral part of our historical contribution to the struggle for civil and political rights. It is Honi’s opposition to the Vietnam War, its support for queer and women’s liberation, its ongoing critique of Invasion Day which come to mind in this history.

“The referendum facing us now is different to these issues. The Voice

has been proposed by the government and has received support from broad swathes of the political and corporate establishment. Yet, it is nonetheless incumbent on Honi , and all leftwing students, to support the Voice because it is fundamentally right to do so. Australian citizens must vote in this referendum. A ‘Yes’ vote will provide a foundation upon which the radical work towards true First Nations justice can begin.”

This edition, however, is thankfully full of our reporters’ pieces too. Khanh Tran speaks of the crisis facing the Aboriginal Legal Service (p. 14), and Grace Mitchell recalls the history of a Glebe women’s refuge (p. 8). Where Nicholas Osiowy speaks of the intersection between art and geometry (p. 15), Nicola Brayan explores how translated language is represented on-screen (p. 18).

We hope that you enjoy this edition.

The Editors

Apology

Honi Soit made a fairly large mistake with the layup of our puzzles in our Week Ten edition, with many of the clues not present in the paper, making it impossible (unless you are very, very, good) to complete the crossword.

Sorry!

This is not the fault of our dedicated

Reviewing the USU Candidate slogans, pt. 2

It’s a Sargun Slay

Oh no. Oh no. This is not a slogan slay. Honi’s first question is “what is a Sargun slay?” The NLS candidate’s use of slay as a noun, rather than as adjective is honestly confusing. Can Sargun be an adjective? Is Saluja herself the eponymous “Sargun Slay”? Slay, we guess!

Sabaat for Change: Your Voice, Your Union, Your Choice

Aww Sabaat. This is a nice slogan, albeit a bit long. Change would be good. I guess it is our union. It is our choice. This is food for thought.

Grow with Grace

Honi loves a verb-based slogan, and this is giving Christian school assembly. It’s still sweet though :)

puzzles team, but the klutzes in charge of editing this rag. Our copyeditor has been sacked for serious misconduct. They have since joined Puzzles Alternative.

Please keep on picking the puzzles up. We’ll get better, we promise.

Dear Honi Soit Editors,

I would like to congratulate Luke Cass and Veronica Lenard on their fine analysis article explaining the flaws in the University’s policy for increasing the proportion of EFR academic positions.

In your article you state that “In her email, Jagose argued that the imperative for introducing EFRs is due to the USyd’s low scores on its teaching efficacy.” In this argument the Provost refers to national student survey results, the QILT survey, as a justification. However, the Provost never actually shows the data. Perhaps she just expects staff to accept her word and not bother to look at the actual data, because if one does, the true data actually paints a very different story which doesn’t support the agenda she is trying to push at all.

I have attached the actual 2021 QILT survey data which was presented to the Vice-Chancellor in a meeting with the University of Sydney Association of Professors (USAP) in December 2022. The attached excerpt of the meeting was approved by the Vice-Chancellor’s own office.

If you look at the histogram plots you can see that amongst the Go8 universities there is virtually no difference in teacher quality. Based on this data It would be untrue to say that

Sydney University’s teaching staff are performing poorly in comparison to other Go8 universities. There is no basis for such a statement in the data.

What the data does show, i.e. the plot with the red box around it, is that Sydney University is performing poorly in student support, which, based on the questionnaire that students completed, includes the following areas: enrolment and admissions processes; online administrative services, frontline staff, enrolment systems; career advisors; academic or learning advisors; counsellors, financial/legal advisors and health services; English language skill support.

These are the areas that are pulling down the overall student educational experience at the University of Sydney.

Therefore, if the Provost was really interested in the quality of the students’ educational experience at the University, she should be trying to improve the quality of student support. The QILT survey data shows that there isn’t a lot to be gained by focussing on teacher quality, and as you point out in your article, it is debatable that education-focussed academics are better teachers than academics on 40:40:20.

So, to sum up, the policy that the University is pursuing and presenting as

Whorescopes

Aries: Does your fire feel dampened? Not too long, Aries, you’re going to need some ice for your knees because you will be on them almost everyday. In the temple of lust, we’re all sinners and we know you’re the naughtiest of them all.

Taurus: Absurd time for Mercury retrograde to be in Taurus season but getting lost in the abyss of your local sex shop can feel better. Pour some vodka in your thermos and go feral with the veiniest dildo you can find. You know that will spark some joy down there and other places no matter what!

Gemini: You might find yourselves amidst the hustle of a corporate meeting but who said you cannot steal a secret kiss from your lover during breaks, slip your hand on their thighs and have a quick fuck in the bathroom?

Excitement in the corporate dullness is risky and oh, so sexy.

Cancer: It’s okay to not want to kiss anyone and simmer in the beauty of your own company. A mocha by the harbour on autumn mornings can be a good expression of love to yourself in the sex-obsessed world that we live in.

Leo: Don’t worry about being too intense, those who actually honour you will love the intense mess that you are. Introduce new positions, light the room with their favourite lavender candles, use a bit of feather for tickling and compliment them raucously in bed.

Virgo: Mercury is the fastest planet but you’re faster. You might have your thoughts racing recklessly but calm down — go amidst nature,

a way of improving teaching efficacy is not based on any solid evidence. In fact the evidence suggests that the policy will do nothing to improve teaching quality.

That said, the alternative hypothesis that you present in your article, that the real reason for increasing the number of EFRs is actually to save money, seems even more plausible.

I just hope that in the enterprise bargaining that is still proceeding, the decision to appoint EFRs is left in the hands of individual schools and that the fallacies in the University policies are recognised by enlightened Heads of Schools. The worst scenario would be if the appointment of EFRs is imposed on Schools by the University Management.

Best regards, Ron

Wednesday 10 May

The Gig Guide letters only

Dragon Friends: A D&D Comedy Show // The Vanguard // 7pm

Thursday 11 May

POC Revue // 11-13 May // Reginald Theatre, Seymour Centre // 7pm

Breaking Sound ft. giddy, Xela, Will Baker + Matt Landi // The Lansdowne // 7:30pm

WANKERNOMICS –Solutionising the Corporate World // Enmore Theatre // 9:15pm

Ting Lim — Every Ting or No Ting // 11-14 May // Enmore Theatre // 9:30pm

Friday 12 May

UNI TUNES: Live At The Metro // Metro Theatre // 6:45pm

Wicked Things // The Lansdowne // 7:30pm

Leak Your Own Nudes Sydney: A Queer Undie Party // Red Rattler // 9pm

Saturday 13 May

Future Science Talks // 1314 May // Enmore Theatre // 5:30pm

The Iron Maidens // Manning Bar // 7pm

Josh Shipton and the Blue Eyed Ravens: Rivers And Bones album launch // Red Rattler Theatre // 7pm

Horny Soit is trying to make it through mercury retrograde.

get rid of your phone and get a sensual massage. Feeling your body well-rested can be an amazing way of feeling yourself again.

Libra: Food is your love language so bond with them better over food: kissing on the tabletop as your pasta cooks and fingering with lemongrass chicken in the oven? Hell fucking yum.

Scorpio: The pool table is your new spot for scoring. Coy eye contacts across the table and slight teaching can land you in that hotti’s bedroom, you’re winning at pool and cumming five times in a row.

Sagittarius: It’s okay to run away from things! The sending you flowers and cake after a mediocre first date can be too much, so communicate that and tell them to slow the fuck down.

Capricorn: Awkward walk of shame out of their home in the morning might be normal these days, but you will be having some mind boggling morning sex. The cold mornings will be warm as they pull you under the blanket or you against each other on the balcony because wow, the sun is shining just for you.

Aquarius: Add some magic to your wardrobe! Little harnesses on lingerie, additional lace and satin bows hurt no one and they won’t be able to get their eyes off you.

Pisces: You’re the ultimate dancing queen. You in that leather jacket, twirling your hair with beer in hand is the move attracting everyone towards you but you need not look at them. Keep dancing and dancing in your own way and the whole world will wait for you.

Art by Long Huynh

Australian universities strike for a week

Eleanor Douglas

Staff at universities across Victoria went on strike last Wednesday as part of a National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) headed state-wide day of action to fight against increasing work hours and workload, pervasive job insecurity and the failure of universities to offer pay rises that keep pace with costs-ofliving pressures.

This strike action is part of a nationwide campaign by the NTEU, with nine universities in Victoria, NSW, the ACT and Queensland also involved this week.

Staff from the University of Melbourne were joined by striking workers from Monash, Deakin, La Trobe and Federation universities as they marched towards Melbourne Trades Hall.

Melbourne, Deakin and La Trobe staff went on strike for four hours, with Monash staff voting for a 24-hour work stop from 11 am on Wednesday. Staff at the University of Melbourne have also voted to continue their campaign from June unless the University improves its offer to staff.

Staff are seeking to improve working conditions, seeking enterprise agreements that provide for continuing employment as the norm with enforceable targets, fair workload and working hours and real pay increase.

The impetus for the strike was outlined by the University of Melbourne’s NTEU Branch President David Gonzalez, who said that the University sent through a revised proposal on Tuesday after a month’s long negotiation for a new agreement that did not come close to meeting union demands.

“There is nothing in there about pay, there’s no target on secure employment, there’s nothing on working from home,” Gonzalez said.

According to the NTEU, in Victoria only three in ten jobs at universities are permanent, with universities heavily relying on casual staff. For example, 52% of the University of Melbourne’s and 55.4% of Monash’s total staff were on casual and fixed-term casual contracts.

Teng Yong Khoo withdraws from USU Board Race

Luke Mesterovic

Teng Yong Khoo (Independent) has announced that they will be exiting the 2023 USU Board Election via Instagram.

NUS Education Officer censured over ANZAC Day post

Luke Cass

The Education Officer of the National Union of Students (NUS), Xavier Dupe, has been censured over public statements he made without the authorisation of NUS President, Bailey Riley.

NUS National Secretary, Sheldon Gait, a member of Student Unity (Labor Right), moved the motion, which was seconded by Riley, a member of National Labor Students (NLS), a Labor Left faction.

The motion was passed nearly unanimously by the NUS’ National Executive, with only ACT Branch President Luke Manning (independent) voting against. Honi understands that all members of the National Executive who approved the motion are members of the two Labor factions.

The censure related comments provided by Dupe, a member of Socialist Alternative, to Honi Soit in February and to Political Alert in April. The motion said “the pinnacle” of Dupe’s allegedly unauthorised comments was a Facebook post Dupe made through the NUS Education Department Facebook page calling on students to oppose ANZAC Day.

“This post was disgusting, an insult to all Australians and goes against the values of this board and the organisation,” the motion read.

Dupe’s alleged breach of the NUS’ bylaws was the basis for the censure. They state that the President is responsible for “authorising and acting as the publisher of all publications of NUS.” To publish material, the National President (or their nominee) “must have access to all material prior to publication; and may, in consultation with NUS’s solicitor, stop publication of the material.”

The motion stated “The National Executive condemns the NUS Education Departments [sic] Oppose Anzac Day post. This statement is not reflective of the organisation’s values or opinions.

“The National Executive censures the Education Officer and directs them to not release statements without approval from the National President as required by the bylaws.

“That any posts or statements released without approval of the National President are NOT statements made on behalf of the NUS and are NOT reflective of the organisation or board’s values and opinions”

Dupe told Honi, “The censure is outrageous for two reasons. First, it’s a right-wing attempt to censor an office bearer for opposing war and militarism, and more importantly, this represents an attack on an important democratic right … of left minorities to argue their politics, publish, and speak via positions within the union.

“It’s worth saying what I’ve specifically been censured for - publishing material opposing war, opposing HECS indexation, and promoting protests against the housing crisis. These are basic tasks of a left-wing student union officer.”

“This is an attempt to stop socialist office bearers criticising the ALP or push the union to the left.”

“I will continue to act in the best interests of students. That means taking public, left-wing positions that challenge the status quo. As a socialist I will not accept any restriction on my right to speak up as Education Officer about HECS debts, and the rental crisis, or my right to publicly oppose the AUKUS deal.”

Bailey Riley did not respond to Honi’s request for comment.

Deakin University staff reject management’s non-union ballot, vote to strike

Luke Cass

Members of the Deakin University Branch of the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) have voted to strike next week, as staff at the University rejected a “non-union ballot” put forward by management.

The non-union ballot, in which management put their proposed enterprise agreement to be approved by all eligible staff without the consent of the NTEU, was defeated with 62% of staff voting against it.

Offering staff a pay rise of just 2.85% salary increase per year, without meaningful protections for staff conditions, Deakin management’s offer failed to meet numerous Union demands, including Indigenous employment parity, reduced workloads and a right for staff to work from home.

The NTEU is demanding a 15% salary increase over the life of the next enterprise agreement or the Consumer Price Index (CPI) +1.5%, whichever is higher, to reduce severe cost-of-living pressures on staff.

Piper Rodd, President of the NTEU’s Deakin Branch, told Honi that “This is good news for all Deakin workers and our students. We look forward to getting back to the bargaining table so we can negotiate better workloads, improved conditions and a good pay offer for Deakin staff.

In the wake of the vote, Deakin NTEU members “passed a motion supporting a ban on all teaching activities next week if management

does not commit to returning to genuine bargaining in coming weeks in good faith,” Rodd told Honi.

“Universities across the country right now are broken. Students are drowning in debt and academics and professional staff are struggling with unsustainable workloads and cost of living pressures.

“This vote is a call for university management’s and our government to think seriously about our sector.”

The developments come during the NTEU’s National Week of Action in which universities across Australia, including Federation University, Monash University and the University of Melbourne, are taking industrial action to fight for better pay and conditions for staff.

May SRC Council Meeting Recap

Misbah Ansari and Bipasha Chakraborty

What do you get when you put a bunch of hacks together in a stuffy lecture room in the dungeons of the Law building? Endless debates, heckling, and bickering that will wear you out. Here’s a recap of all the mischief of May council.

The trial of the Honi 9 Loyal Honi readers, and the chronically online, have been well acquainted with the story that unfolded in early March in regards to a certain previous editor. After the motion had to be rescinded before April Council, a jittery Honi 9 returned to the May Council in hopes of passing their motion to dismiss Christine Lai as an Editor of Honi Soit. After some speeches, heckling, and rude side comments were made, the time for a vote came. It failed.

Dejected and disappointed editors were left at least a little confused. The Editors figured out that something went wrong with the counts, something noticed by a number of Councillors as well. After another motion and a quick break, a procedural was moved by Grace Porter (Unity) to recount the votes. The Council judged that Christine Lai had engaged in “serious misconduct” and the motion was carried. Caitlin O’Keeffe-White was subsequently instated as the tenth editor of Honi Soit

A submarine bound to sink

Labor students Rose Donnelly (NLS) and Daniel Bowron (Unity) moved a motion to condemn the federal government’s decision to invest in eight new submarines in Adelaide and signing the AUKUS deal.

Shovan Bhattarai (SAlt) said that the “$368 billion will be rearming Australia’s defence system when there’s a cost of living crisis” and said that this step will feed the imperialist notions of war. Similar sentiments were echoed by Education Officer Ishbel Dunsmore (Grassroots) who talked about the way “universities have tied themselves to militarism with leaders trying to think how to better expand the war machines in place.”

Freya Leach (Balmain flop/Liberal) defended the investment on the grounds of safety and asked “How many Uyghur Muslims are in concentration camps in China?” Peter Gu (ex-SAlt) said that the Chinese working class must be emancipated but “not through American and Australian defence.”

The motion passed.

TERFs off our turf

A motion was moved by Honey Christensen (SLA) and Shovan Bhattarai (SAlt) to condemn the transphobic attacks in Belfield against queer communities and hold the religious right to account.

James Sherriff (SLA) reminded everyone of the “aggressive attack on a small group of protestors” that took place in March when several Community Actions for Rainbow Rights activists were attacked.

USyd SRC Queer Officer Yasmin Andrews said that “A point that is so often used by these groups is that they are protecting children from thinking critically about gender. It is truly horrific to do so as it has led to increased suicide rates among queer youth.”

Jamie Bridge focused on the intensity of the issue and said “let’s not sanitise our language. These people are fascists… This is the dying breath of a hateful movement.”

The motion received vehement support from everyone except the Liberals, but passed regardless.

Labor’s Budget Sucks

Harrison Brennan (Grassroots) moved a motion to endorse the ANU Housing Action Collective’s “Disrupt Budget Day” protest on 9 May in Canberra, stating that it is necessary to “continue to critique the government.”

Ishbel Dunsmore (Grassroots) added that “it is important to protest the budget which will look like stage three tax cuts, no increase in job seeker… we should stand up and not take this.”

Ella Haid (SAlt) added her support to the motion as the budget “delivers to the rich and gives nothing to the poor,” whilst Liberal Freya Leach opposed, adding that “this budget does enough for regular families and people.”

A similar motion moved by Yasmine Johnson (SAlt) was put forth to recognise that the budget represents an attack on the poor and working class in a cost of living crisis in service of military funding and concessions to the rich. The motion also endorsed a “Protest Labor’s budget for the rich” rally on May 19 at Town Hall.

Refugee Rights Officer Annabel Pettit (SAlt) added that the Labor government is “responsible for overseeing the largest transfer of

wealth from the poor to the rich in history.”

Both motions carried.

The Voice

Honey Christensen and Women’s Officer Alev Saracoglu (both SLA) moved a motion for the SRC to organise a forum to discuss the future of The Indigenous Voice to Parliament. There were several opposing perspectives on the Voice, with James Sheriff (SLA) arguing for nuanced conversations on the issues as “without a voice to grassroots, working-class Indigenous people, all we’re having is a racist NO campaign.”

First Nations Officer Ben McGrory (Independent) called for conservative leaders like Pauline Hanson, Jacinda Price and Warren Mundine to attend the forum, following dissent from other councillors. Ethnocultural Officer Rand Khatib (Grassroots) stated that she’s “sick of identity politics” and wants to work with First Nations activists for Indigenous sovereignty rather than rightwing politicians.

2022 NUS First Nations Officer Zebadiah Cruickshank (NLS) iterated that there’s “80-90% support for the voice from Indigenous communities” and that the community will not progress if a treaty isn’t passed. This was supported by Brydie Zorz who said that “out of 1000 First Nations people, seven walked out” and added that consultation with Indigenous communities is of utmost importance. The motion failed.

From the River to the Sea Global Solidarity Officers Deaglan Godwin and Jasmine Al-Rawi (both SAlt) moved a motion to support the upcoming events commemorating the 75th anniversary of Al-Nakba which marks the “founding of the Israeli Apartheid state.” These include a forum which will be held 9 May at Carslaw and a rally at Town Hall on 13 May.

Freya Leach stated that the day celebrates the 75th anniversary of Israel’s independence “as the only true democracy in the Middle East.” Which was met with loud resistance from the rest of the council.

The motion passed with great support and a group picture was taken. Leach attempted to display the Israeli flag from the back of the room, however she was thankfully covered by other students whilst the room chanted “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”

Student Exploitation

James Sherriff spoke to a motion to demand fair pay for mandatory student placements, noting that the current system of placements exacerbates

inequalities in uni systems.

Yasmin Andrews highlighted demands from the open letter, from paying students at a rate at or above minimum wage to fair remuneration for student placements, adding that in the current system “you are essentially paying for your own exploitation.”

The motion carried with no dissent.

If you are a student on placement affected by the current system of unpaid labour, sign on to the open letter here — http://bitly.ws/E6N2

Accessible activism and classrooms

Disabilities officer Jack Scanlan (NLS) moved a procedural motion to move en bloc motions that support the use of laptops in class, the “we need both” campaign, and the fight against the “Academic integrity” narrative.

Rose Donnelly added that “Education should be accessible to anyone…There should be no circumstance where we deny access to education. People who work unconventional hours should also be afforded hybrid learning provisions.” The motion carried with no dissent, however SAlt notably abstained — so much for radical activism.

Scanlan also provided non-binding guidelines in a motion to make activism accessible to all, instructing event organisers to consider physical and sensory accessibility during activist events. Examples such as routing marches over flat accessible terrains and the dangers of leaving mobilityimpaired marchers at the back of a crowd where they are often overpoliced.

The motion carried and once again SAlt abstained.

Liberals cockblocked

The last motions considered were those put forward by the Liberals on things such as fixing squeaky doors and sending well wishes to King Charles.

Deaglan Godwin proposed a procedural motion to block all the remaining motions and to limit speaking time to zero seconds, which managed to pass with almost unanimous support (somehow?).

Liberals Thomas Thorpe and Satvik Sharma attempted to speak, however were drowned out by the entire council breaking into song, “Lizzie’s in a box, in a box, Lizzie’s in a box!”

***

The meeting adjourned at 12:06am and the Honi Soit Editors ran to their mouldy office to celebrate with some ice cream.

Honi provides live coverage of SRC meetings on our Twitter and Instagram accounts.

“Lizzie’s in a box, in a box, Lizzie’s in a box!”:

USU Soapbox Recap 2023

Clubs, commanders, and killer robots

The Soapbox began with opening statements from the Board hopefuls. With a mere two minutes speaking time, candidates spoke broadly about their campaigns and principles. Most candidates spoke to the importance of clubs and societies (C&S) and outlined their key policies.

The age-old debate of whether the USU should engage in activism flared up once again, with Grace Porter (Unity — Labor Right), Sargun Saluja (National Labor Students — Labor Left), Grace Wallman (Switchroots) and Victor Zhang (Engineers) speaking strongly in favour of it. Cost of living, accessibility, and divestment from fossil fuels were cited by most candidates as issues that an activist union should tackle. It should be noted that (after a lengthy process and delay) the USU will fully divest from fossil fuels on June 30.

Porter spoke to the need of the USU to act as an “active countercourse against the insidious culture of sexual violence on campus,” through her policies which include implementing a standardised reporting system for SASH incidents at C&S events.

Victor Zhang used his opening remarks to argue that “the USU should do both activism and service provision,” adding

“what does it say when one of the three student organisations on campus doesn’t fight and advocate for the needs of students?”

Zhang said that the USU ought to take a stand against rising militarism on campus due to the University’s ties to arms manufacturers such as Thales (joking that the USU could “invest in killer robots”). Conversely, joke candidate Ben Moore said that he’d install himself as Supreme Military Commander of the USU.

Accessibility

Increasing accessibility on campus was a plank that most candidates addressed and offered policy solutions to. Of these policies, a number focused on increasing disability accessibility on campus, specifically in relation to the University’s Disability Inclusion Action Plan (DIAP), which is not registered on the website of the Australian Human Rights Commission.

Grace Wallman (Switchroots) spoke to her experience as the inaugural Sydney University Law Society (SULS) Disability Officer, where she “experienced some of the most difficult sides of the USU,” and the need to foster higher disability inclusion and accessibility in C&S through the creation of Disabilities Officer roles and the prioritisation of a USU DIAP.

Julia Lim has an extensive knowledge of the inner workings of the USU, having worked as a Student Activities Officer for two years and as President of the Korean Law Students Society and Secretary of the Sydney University Law Society. Lim is running as an independent candidate, appearing to be backed by numerous SULS heavyweights, including current Board Director Naz Sharifi — for whom Lim campaigned last year.

Julia Lim (Independent) was asked by Honi to name two measurable outcomes she’d want for a USU DIAP, and why. She answered that it could be as simple as ensuring that “all students find [USU buildings and outlets] accessible” and tangible measures could include “having ear plugs and quiet spaces available.”

Saluja said she would support international student welfare through “maintaining and expanding FoodHub” and “paying USU volunteers”. Sabaat said the USU should “be more transparent and create a more diverse USU app,” citing his experience as a software engineering student.

Philips said that they would increase accessibility by “making the election process better”. When pressed on this, they said they would have the USU “draw more attention” toward elections and “what each candidate stands for”. The USU already manages a page that features candidates and their policies.

Colleges and conservatives

Bryson Constable (Liberal) was questioned on whether his self-described “bold” support of the colleges would act as a hindrance to student safety at the Colleges, and why survivors of SASH at colleges should trust him to take their stories seriously. Constable rejected the

on campus; however, as with her close competitor in the Honi quiz, Grace Wallman, it is unclear whether a position on Board can actually achieve these progressive changes.

claim and reiterated his support for the colleges, stating that they are treated as a “big boogeyman” compared to C&S.

Constable was also pressed as to whether he would take the role of Board Director seriously, given the disruptive behaviour of the Liberals at SRC council meetings. He said that he and the Liberals had “raised motions that are serious,” and “relate to issues students on campus are facing”. Some of these “serious” motions include calling for the SRC to support the abolition of the minimum wage and endorse Ron DeSantis for President.

The “Bens” were questioned by Honi on their conservative ties. Due to his frequent references to Constable’s campaign, Ben Moore was asked whether he was a Liberal in disguise. He rejected the claims, but when asked why he was “so obsessed” with Constable, he sheepishly remarked that the two were “lovers”. Ben Hines was asked what values he would bring to Board (specifically in relation to its corporate ties), given the perception that he is a Libdependent. For clarification, he is a former member of the Liberal Party and has previously served as Vice President of the Liberal Club. Hines said that he “disagree[d] with the premise of the question” and didn’t specify which values he would bring, except that he’s now “progressive”.

80%

Slogan: Join Julia

Colour: Purple

Faction: Independent

Favourite USU Outlet: Courtyard

Slogan: It’s a Sargun

Slay

Colour: Hot Pink

Faction: NLS

Favourite USU Outlet:

Courtyard

22%

Sargun Saluja, a first year Science/Law international student and member of NLS (National Labor Students), is running for USU Board. Saluja is the first NLS candidate for Board since Ruby Lotz in 2020, and represents a progressive campaign aimed at “amplifying the voices of [marginalised] communities.”

Saluja’s policies are broadly organised around welfare for international students, ethical service provision, and environmental protection. As a first year, Saluja pledges to advocate for these policies from a perspective that foregrounds “youth affairs”, arguing that this sets her apart from older students on Board that may not relate to those arriving at USyd.

In terms of Saluja’s policies for international students, she admirably wants to reduce the “culture shock” and “isolation” faced by students arriving in Sydney. She spoke to Honi about the “gap” that the pandemic opened between domestic and international

Lim is promising a “more diverse and inclusive USU” through measures such as cultural competency training, offering resources in different languages and improving allergen management. Programs such as increasing training modules are well-trodden ground for Board hopefuls, but their efficacy isn’t concretely proven. Lim also seeks to improve support for revues, autonomous spaces, Foodhub, cultural accessibility for international students, disability justice, and safer spaces that end sexual assault and harrassment

students, and how proper integration is necessary. To achieve this, Saluja suggested creating “mentoring workshops” hosted by older international students for younger international students. She also spoke to improving employment services for international students, though when asked practically about how she would achieve this — given that the SRC already has this service in place — she could only vaguely suggest a push for “awareness” and “collaboration” with the SRC.

In her policy document, she stresses Foodhub’s essential role in supporting the cost of living crisis facing students. Saluja said that she would like to expand Foodhub for “low SES students” and “international students, even though Foodhub precisely exists for these student demographics: she also wants to increase awareness surrounding Foodhub, stock Foodhub with fresh produce from a new “community garden” on top of Wentworth, allow for more “flexible timing” for Foodhub volunteers, and for the USU to pay these students.

In her quiz, Saluja scored 22%. She demonstrated a worrying lack of institutional knowledge: she was unable

When pressed about the capacity of the USU to openly take political stances, particularly in regards to the Indigenous Voice to Parliament, she said “the USU doesn’t have to hesitate, it doesn’t have to fence-sit in a sense. I think a view can be given, but students can also be informed and encouraged to further explore the issue for themselves”.

When asked about transparency on the USU Board, Lim said that “with my experience as SULS Secretary, I now have an understanding that ideally things should be left for members of the public to view so that the organisation can be held accountable… I do understand from what I’ve seen that there are cases where you have confidential or sensitive information where going in camera is a necessity.”

to name any executive member of the USU Board bar its President, Cole Scott-Curwood, whose faction and last name she did not know; further, she was unaware of the USU’s financial situation, society publications, or revues. Her higher education knowledge was insufficient: though able to explain the “40:40:20” model of teaching, Saluja could not identify the University’s Provost, Australia’s state and federal Education Ministers, or the National Union of Students (NUS) and its President — despite the fact that Bailey Riley is a member of her own faction. When Honi asked her to account for this, she said that she has “met Bailey Riley personally” and just forgot her name. Saluja appears to also be at odds with NLS’ historical practice of members binding with their caucus’ vote: she said that NLS would not bind her decisions on board, and that she “has [her] own perspective and would value it more.”

That being said, Saluja was forthright and well-meaning with Honi, her policies are fundamentally progressive, and she displays a clear desire to improve welfare on campus, particularly for international students. It is up to voters to decide whether

With the secondhighest quiz score, Lim boasts an intricate understanding of the USU, however she faltered in areas such the NTEU’s demands for Indigenous employment and the current NUS President. In her interview, she noted that “the USU is distinct from the SRC”, however also explained the organisation’s history of lobbying in cases such as the Ramsay Centre partnership.

Overall, Lim is a strong candidate with deep institutional experience, however her progressive policy might echo those of past Board Members who have been unable to effect the changes they promised. Despite this, she does see a capacity for the USU to speak out in favour of student welfare, particularly on issues such as the Voice to Parliament. It’s up to students whether they want to “join” Julia, and elect her to Board.

Saluja’s activist platform outweighs her lack of institutional knowledge, and merits a place on Board.

Luke Mesterovic reports. Disclaimer: Luke Mesterovic is a former member of Student Unity.

Don’t abolish 5-day simple extensions

5-day simple extensions were introduced last year as a method to alleviate strains on the special considerations system, which had long been at a crisis point causing extraordinarily long wait times of up to 30 days. When 5-day simple extensions were introduced, the special cons system concurrently hired more staff. It has since seen a 40% reduction in applications compared to this time last year.

Put simply, 5-day simple extensions are doing what they are supposed to do. However, it remains to be seen whether broader changes to special considerations have made lasting reductions to the obscene wait times which significantly harm students.

Recently, the SRC and SUPRA conducted a survey that received over 900 responses from undergraduate and postgraduate students, to understand the student perspective on simple extensions, and to decisively display student sentiment. The results of this survey were overwhelming. When

asked “would you prefer that the University maintain simple extensions as 5-days, or reduce the time to 3-days?”, 98% of students preferred 5-days, and just two per cent preferred 3-days. This was unsurprising, since similarly large proportions of students identified simple extensions as having a positive effect on their grades and mental health.

Numerous students provided detailed testimonial evidence on our survey, identifying stress caused by special considerations and the positive outcomes of 5-day simple extensions. Importantly, a large number of students from equity backgrounds filled in our survey, and it was clear that students from different cultural and religious backgrounds, varied abilities and level of study found positive outcomes.

The responses we received included the following:

“It is so much less daunting and mentally I feel a lot calmer submitting my application through the system instead of asking a teacher and feeling like I’m annoying them. I felt embarrassed asking for an extension as my cultural background meant I felt ashamed and didn’t want to let my teacher down.”

“As someone who has had a chronic illness since 2020 and only received a diagnosis (and disability provisions), late

last year, I often used to rely on these extensions and I think the 5-day system is the best, most accessible system that the uni has offered.”

External factors from the University greatly affect our study. 5-day simple extensions were introduced when COVID was causing increased applications. This year, we can see the cost of living crisis, rent increases and heightened HECS indexation as other major stressors. As one student response said, “with more students having to work as rents increase, shortening time will only increase pressure for no academic benefit.” The University is aware that students are working more than ever, with fulltime study loads falling as the average student takes less subjects each year. Despite this, they are proposing to remove the single most versatile tool available to students who wish to autonomously manage their workstudy-life balance.

The increasing cost of healthcare and recent reduction of bulk billing GPs is a strain on the ability of students to satisfy the requirements of special considerations — sometimes being forced to see their doctor a second time if special cons deem the medical documentation insufficient in detail. This is in contrast to simple extensions, which are automatically approved upon submission of a student

We Are Still Working On Your Enquiry

From: Zeina Khochaiche

To: Student Admin Services & Co

Subject: My desperate plea for your attention (and help)

Hello Student Admin Services, I hope this email receives you well. How are you?

It has been a while. Weeks actually. Have you received my email? Is there anyone I can speak to? It seems like your services are either poorly allocated or horrifically managed. Or both.

Student admin services are difficult to navigate — I can only assume it’s the same on your end. Given that the primary mode of communication is email exchange or ticket submission, I find it difficult to understand the status of any query I submit. The online updates often provide vague updates where your ticket has been “forwarded” or that it is “In progress” but never anything further.

How can I explain to you the nature of my situation in more than a few dot points with my student number tacked on at the end? When I do get to speak to you, it’s only on the phone. Most times the student call centre requires a wait or ends up diverting me to another email or “specialist” service I can contact, passing on my ticket to the next overworked team.

I wait weeks for replies only to receive notices that you are “still working on [my] enquiry”. Is your congestion from under resourcing? Ineffective

structuring? Why can’t we come see you or organise an appointment to get real advice, and answers to all the questions we’re asking?

Throughout my university experience, I have accessed most student admin services. I have changed degrees twice. I have requested credit approval. I have seen an academic advisor. I have navigated the Dalyell requirements. I have applied for and planned a short-term exchange program. I have requested simple extensions. I have used the student call centre more times than I can count. And I have sought out student health resources. Each experience has been burdened by the convoluted and elongated processing times of every resource. The only true and consistent email I receive from student services, ironically, is the program generated mental health service from “Innowell” who asks me about my “wellbeing” more often than I remember to book a psychologist appointment. Innowell can’t help me.

More often than not, admin teams only contact to outline their delay in responding or end up passing on my query to another team. For requests as simple as accessing my official student transcript to apply for internships, youth allowance specifications or exchange programs, the process can take weeks. Months even.

Since I realised email and ticket opening would not reach the pace required for deadlines, I thought I’d come see you in person instead. I tried to find

and book a consultation with a member from the Student Mobility and Dalyell team only to be denied entry at the ground floor. You no longer take walkins or phone calls. The Student Centre prefers calls rather than in-person calls due to the volume of requests coming in. Something needs to give. We need more hands responding to online enquiries and we need more faces to access when email is not enough. We need to provide these service workers with enough resources so they don’t drown, and pay them enough so that admin workers can become specialists, ready to help students with any enquiry.

University management are currently considering removing the 5-day simple extension in favour of a 3-day model which would have drastic effects on student academic participation. Not to mention it would completely overwhelm and congest student academic services on your end. With all the work students put in to get 5-day extensions, why revert back to a broken system? The simple 5-day extension has served as a crux for maintaining personal, mental, academic, and professional balance. Its reduction would not aid the student community.

Did you consult with students or take a survey before you began planning this change? If there was an academic or outstanding administrative issue with this extension model, where is the transparency? Or compromise? Most students rely on this grace period during a semester full of co-curriculars, health

declaration, a non-legal, free and readily downloadable pdf document.

Lia Perkins and Tiger Perkins call on the University to keep 5-day simple extensions. The pressures facing University students are increasing, and it is the University of Sydney’s job to ease these pressures and offer an inclusive, accessible education. Simple extensions are a straightforward and effective tool to address stressors, life events and manage time.

We have prepared a briefing to the University using this data and resources from the SRC. It was the advocacy of student organisations (the SRC and SUPRA) that forced the University to change their broken, harmful systems last year too. The decision to change the system needs to be from the democratic voices of students and staff. As with any other system, there are issues with simple extensions, specifically the hours required by staff to log them in canvas and the uni portals. The solution however, cannot be a simple reduction in duration of simple extensions, which the Uni does not even claim would solve this or any other issue.

In the managerialised University, where decisions are made by a class of professional managers, we know that student voices will be ignored when they do not suit the narrative of the University — as has been the case with the University’s response to casuals demanding pay for all hours worked. But it is imperative that the University listens to the overwhelming student response: 5-day simple extensions are critical to student well-being and academic achievement and should not be scrapped.

issues, caring responsibilities or just plain stress, and this will heavily impact student mental health. The threat that this change poses to our academic experience is a reflection of the admin services’ lack of attunement to student conditions.

At the root of this is a lack of resource accessibility and student consultation. We don’t understand how your system works entirely but we do know that it needs to evolve. What do you need? The student admin services are supposed to aid any student administrative issues and tasks. So why are models not built to compliment both the student lifestyle and the successful functions of a help team?

The task ahead seems sisyphean. Where do we draw the line between balancing sympathy we have for the congestion you experience and the academic, personal, and professional issues it causes for us?

Talk with us. Listen to our student representatives. Let’s transform this email off our keyboards and tab-ridden screens to find better models that serve both you and us. We can guarantee that our communities move fast and we wouldn’t need weeks to respond with our views.

I look forward to hearing from you as soon as possible. And don’t forget to look after yourself.

Kind Regards,

Zeina Khochaiche

Derailed promises: the plans to bring trams back to Parramatta Road

Stroll along Parramatta Road and you’ll encounter boarded-up windows and papered-over shop glass. The urban artery, once part of the city’s tram network, has remained in a sorry state despite the numerous proposals to build a light rail along it. In 2016, Transport NSW developed an internal assessment into the viability of such a project, while the Greens promised during the 2023 State election to construct a Parramatta Road light rail. However, as with many of Sydney’s wishlist projects, these plans have so far failed to advance beyond theory. Students at the University of Sydney and the road’s thousands of daily travellers are worse off for this.

The original 2016 WestConnex planning documents mandated that “at least two lanes of Parramatta Road’’ be reserved for public transport. This concession was based on the promise that traffic from Parramatta Road would be absorbed by the controversial WestConnex project. However, despite WestConnex’s final stages due for completion by the end of this year, the state government has failed to meet this requirement.

Fifty-five thousand cars bound for the city pass through Parramatta Road daily, and the road plays a crucial role in transporting many of the over 10,000 Sydney University students who commute from Western Sydney. The installation of dedicated public transport infrastructure would therefore bring clear benefits for

commuters who face heavy traffic and slow speeds.

While bus lanes stretch along Parramatta Road, they’re shared with cars for much of the day. A 2020 report by the Committee for Sydney found that the average bus speed along Parramatta Road is a sluggish 14km/h. Research shows that faster public transport speeds significantly increase uptake, which would reduce congestion along Parramatta Road.

Light rail introduces a myriad of benefits that makes it well-suited to the problem of Parramatta Road. Its fixed tracks allow trams to travel at higher speeds more safely than buses. The Citadis X05 trams used on the CBD line, for example, have a theoretical top speed of 80km/h. A single five-carriage unit can also carry 450 passengers, the equivalent of about nine buses, making them more space-efficient.

Reconfiguring Parramatta Road to build dedicated light rail lanes would not just allow for more efficient transportation, but also the economic revitalisation of the road. It’s likely that any future light rail would include a University of Sydney stop, bringing USyd’s transport connectivity into line with universities such as the University of New South Wales, which was directly linked to the CBD light rail in 2020. Easier access to Parramatta Road could bolster student life, with its surplus of empty storefronts a treasure trove of opportunity for new hospitality and

entertainment venues. Improved mobility through a light rail could therefore have the flow-on effect of turning Parramatta Road into a cultural hub for young people.

When approached for comment, a University of Sydney spokesperson said that “we remain very concerned about the adequacy of current and future public transport options”, noting that the University has previously made submissions to the government suggesting various solutions, including a proposed Parramatta Road light rail. With 15,000 new enrollments in 2021, improving public transport access is becoming an increasingly urgent issue. Further enrollment increases will continue to strain Redfern station, which funnels masses of students through narrow streets on the final leg of their commute. A Parramatta Road light rail would distribute foot traffic more evenly by improving access to parts of the University’s large campus not serviced by Redfern station. The line could also connect the University more seamlessly with the CBD by providing a link to Central station.

However, any light rail proposal faces competition from a potential alternative: the Sydney Metro. The light rail’s 450-passenger capacity would be a significant improvement on bus services, but the six-car metro trains can accommodate up to 1100 commuters and reach top speeds of 100km/h. While the light rail’s theoretical top speed comes

close, in practice it’s limited to 60km/h along the fastest stretches of the network and has been heavily criticised for even lower speeds in everyday operation.

The University spokesperson noted, “we’ve also advocated for a metro connection between Camperdown and Westmead.” However, the newly-elected Minns government’s announcement of a review into Sydney Metro, which has blown out by $12 billion from initial estimates, may put a damper on hopes for future expansion. Despite this, the University remains optimistic, saying they hope the review “will provide a forum in which we are able to continue to advocate and push for mass transport solutions.”

There’s another sticking point for a potential Parramatta Road light rail— cost. The state government would need to fork out at least $2.7 billion, the estimated cost of the original 2016 Transport for NSW proposal, during a time when Treasurer Daniel Mookhey has signalled significant cuts to spending promised by the previous Coalition government.

The project, however, has a high-profile champion in the Minns government. Newly appointed Minister for Transport and Member for Summer Hill Jo Haylen has previously signalled support for the proposal: in a 2016 statement she said that “Parramatta Road is the perfect place for light rail”. There might yet be hope to bring the trams back to Parramatta Road.

Not the Church or the State: The Promise of Elsie

Sydney’s history is filled with stories of change-makers, gangsters, workers, writers, ordinary and extraordinary individuals; the possibilities of historical inquiry and discovery are endless. Yet, many stories from Sydney’s past remain hidden, visible only to those who have studied them at university, read about them in miscellaneous local history publications, or, if lucky, played a part in their creation. Unlike those histories that are ingrained in Australia’s Eurocentric historical consciousness — think the ANZACs, the “pioneers”, the “pioneering politicians” — many local histories counter the mainstream, those which acknowledge and valorise the stories of the marginalised, those which, often, remain invisible.

One such site that encapsulates Sydney’s “hidden history” is that of 73 Westmoreland Street, Glebe. Only an eleven-minute walk from The Great Hall, this little terrace

house witnessed the onset of a radical and game-changing initiative for Australia’s women, an initiative that is still affecting our lives today. Of course, this site has received little recognition as to its historical importance. I am writing to change this.

This little terrace house — or Elsie, as the house is named — hosted the first secular refuge for women and children in Australia. In early 1970s Australia, it seemed almost impossible that a refuge for women and children fleeing domestic violence could be established and successfully run independently by women, for women. Yet, such was the work that occurred at Elsie in November, 1973. Spurred by the ethos of “solidarity and sisterhood” that shaped the Secondwave Feminist Movement, the Elsie Refuge was established and run by Anne Summers, Jennifer Dakers, and Bessie Guthrie, along with other of the Women’s Liberation Movement. Indeed, it was not the church or the state that ran the refuge. These “Women’s Libbers” viewed Elsie as an essential service for Sydney’s women. Namely,

in early 1970s Australia, domestic violence was not legally considered a crime — often, the police force was reluctant to intervene in what were dismissively called “domestics”. Moreover, women were not eligible for emergency housing as long as the matrimonial home existed and, at this time, the Department of Housing would not house women and their children without a husband.

Thus, Elsie filled this void, aiming to operate “for any woman needing to escape a violent home, needing advice and friends when faced with the legal, welfare, and health system.” This aim made Elsie extremely popular — only six weeks after opening, Elsie had provided accommodation to fortyeight women and thirty-five children. As Anne Summers recalled in her 1999 autobiography, Ducks on the Pond:

Elsie never just provided women with a refuge. It was a shining light, a call to the conscience of society to deal with violence against women and children, a prod in the sides of the law enforcement and court systems to get them to start taking the subject seriously.

Summers’ remark highlights not only the radical nature of Elsie as a safe place for women and children but also illuminates the power of the Second-Wave feminist movement in “prodding” Australia’s archaic policymakers and government agencies. Although Elsie has since closed

down after operating independently and with limited funding for forty years, the refuge set a precedent for the establishment of other female-focused services around Sydney and Australia more broadly that continue to operate today. These include rape crisis centres, health centres, and counselling services. Elsie, therefore, has an influential and ongoing legacy. And luckily, this legacy has gradually gained some attention in recent years. In 2012, the walkway that connects Derwent Street to Glebe Point Road next to Glebe Public School was renamed as the “Elsie Walk” as an ode to the refuge. Finally, Sydney is beginning to remember its hidden histories.

It is very likely — actually, it is certain — that if you ever go on a walk with me through Glebe, I will mention the Elsie Refuge. While there is little commemoration of this site in terms of plaques, statues, and signs, it is now up to us to illuminate this hidden history, a history that highlights the power of radical action to engender sweeping, positive changes for large groups of people. What happened in November of 1973 at 73 Westmoreland Street, Glebe was radical — hopefully, in learning about this history, we can generate a different sort of radicalism through revealing the stories that are currently concealed — albeit not too far from the surface — under Sydney’s sandstone scenes.

Daniel Holland explores the future of your commute.

Grace Mitchell recalls the history of Glebe’s women’s refuge.

How Labor Is Failing Palestine

Penny Wong, the Labor Foreign Affairs minister, has been outwardly and vocally pro-Israel. In February this year, she tweeted on behalf of the Australian government that “we respect Israel’s right to defend itself,” as though an occupying force raiding and terrorising anti-colonial resistance, currently justified under international law, is somehow defensible. Her “both-sidedness” approach to a colonising military super-power backed by the US, and the resisting indigenous population, is a reflection of her and her party’s politics. Labor has never been “good on Palestine”, and this is a fallacy that they project to win over Palestinian, Arab and Muslim voters. But this facade has fallen; the illusion disillusioned.

In the wake of 75 years since the catastrophic invasion of Palestine, Penny Wong, Chris Minns and other Labor figures celebrated the settler-colonial project that is “Israel” for “75 years since its foundation”. As Palestinians prepare to commemorate, share their family Nakba stories and mourn in truth-telling healing circles, Penny Wong decides to take a clear stance on behalf of the federal Labor Party, and thus on behalf of all of Australia, claiming that “Australia reaffirms our close and enduring friendship with the Israeli people.” This tweet, which came completely unprovoked, is a hard stance in support of the Israeli state, its apartheid regime and ongoing projects of settler-

colonialism and ethnic cleansing. As such, it completely erases the oppression and continued anti-colonial resistance of Palestinians over the past 75 years.

But attempts to erase Palestine have not succeeded: Palestinians are louder and more organised than ever, building an international, unified movement both on the ground and across the world. You see, when Israel made over 750,000 Palestinians refugees, they expected those refugees, after a couple of generations, to forget the atrocities of the Nakba and that the newly formed state of Israel would only have to contain and control the Palestinians in the homeland. But actually, wherever Palestinians took root, whether that be in a refugee camp, in an Arab nation, or somewhere in the complicit West, we are proud of being Palestinian; we are proud of our existence — an existence which threatens the very foundations of the Israeli state which claims that our land was uninhabited. A community which, despite all attempts to wipe us out, continues to say: we are Palestinian, we belong to Palestine, and we demand our right to return home (under UN resolution 194).

This is why, when Randwick Local Council decided to “celebrate 75 years of Israeli Independence” by flying the Israeli flag, Randwick locals, Palestinian and non-Palestinian alike, including proPalestine Jewish groups, took to the streets

and to the council meeting to demand they reverse this decision. The initial motion to fly the Israeli flag was opposed by only the four Greens Councillors. All five Liberal, all five Labor and one Independent all voted in favour of flying an oppressor’s flag. The Greens recission motion failed as pro-Israel Labor, Liberal and Independents chose to celebrate the oppressive Israeli regime when they should have really been commemorating 75 years of colonial invasion. We tried to work with the local Labor party: we sent letters, requested meetings and prepared speeches for the council meeting. Alas, we were unsuccessful as the Zionist lobby had infiltrated the party too deeply: Labor politicians refused to meet with us, gave us short-handed replies and did not waver in their unabashed support for Israel.

Why Palestinians keep voting Labor is a mystery to me, particularly when there is a major political party that is radically in support of Palestinian rights and liberation.

Last month, the Australian Young Labor, the national body for Young Labor , adopted the IHRA working definition of antisemitism in their national conference. When I spoke to supposedly pro-Palestine Labor youth about this and demanded an explanation as to how they did not vote down the motion to adopt a definition of antisemitism which dangerously conflates criticism of Israel

with racism, their (paraphrased) response was “oh well, we abstained from voting as we didn’t have the numbers to win.” The future of the Labor Party is dire when it comes to Palestine.

Chris Minns, the Premier of NSW, has himself delivered addresses at zionist conferences, aligning himself with the Zionist Federation of Australia and the Zionist Council of NSW.

The federal, state, and local Labor parties are all complicit in their support for the colonial state: their hands are bloodied with the deaths of over 100 Palestinians this year alone. This year has been one of the worst for our people - the terrorist state commands no respect nor “celebration” so long as it continues to colonise, occupy, murder, steal land, subjugate the indigenous population and grow the settlement project. The Labor party cannot claim they are “proIndigenous rights” yet support the Israeli regime. They have deliberately chosen, time and time again, to stand on the side of the coloniser, not the colonised; the oppressor, not the oppressed.

At what point will Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims finally decide to cut ties with this active player in the oppression of Palestinians?

To rid me of my name, to strip me from my allies

Queer students face a very unique form of bigotry throughout rural Australian schools Though under provisional systems like anti-discrimination law, they are protected by the legal system, one must ask who enforces this in educational settings. You’d assume the teachers, but how are these teachers supposed to protect a group they are widely disconnected from? From what I experienced, because most teachers are the residents of their school’s postcodes, in rural settings they commonly hold a rightwing leaning when it comes to queer and gender diversity-related issues. This creates an environment wherein racial slurs were the only form of offensive behavior that middle aged teachers could clock and that students were punished for under the anti-discrimination policy. But even then, none of this could tame the rage of the common angsty white boy. The apex predator of the Monaro region if you will.

Alongside my own thoughts, I sat with students of my graduating year to discuss their experiences in this very system, where our own educators were not educated enough to be able to rightfully care for their queer students.

The experience of being openly queer in a school of around 300 students is a burden that, in my opinion, no student should have to take on. Openly queer students were granted a badge from the very beginning of their coming out, an unofficial role which held an expectation for them to be the face

of queerness at the mere age of 17. A metaphorical, and mortifyingly sometimes literal, microphone was handed to an unsuspecting adolescent as they were expected to perform like an adult advocate. Pushed into speaking for a community they just entered, queer students take on the role of the worst type of celebrity. A peer recalls “people genuinely not understanding the concept or idea”, which obviously does not help the development of one’s own identity, the routine of justifying your own existence to both children and adults alike.

“There were many instances where I was educating my teachers about queerness.” Yet even as students made themselves vulnerable by accepting the burden of talking about queerness amidst this sea of ignorance, little effort or care was shownby teachers themselves to fix the broken systems that inherently excluded queer students within their own institutions.

My own uniform switch, from “women’s” to “men’s” had to be individually planned and pleaded for

to the board of directors. It was up to a team of elderly white men, who’d never personally met me, to decide how I was permitted to dress myself. The concern of uniforms always seemed to outperform issues of general student wellbeing, “I kept a lot hidden [...] all the conversations about queer people at school were often unproductive.” No system existed to allow gender diverse and non-conforming students an easier and less pride crushing way to change or swap uniforms, no lesson had been learned from my own trial by any adult in the situation. This very sentiment was echoed by a fellow student, saying “It’s still one of those things they kind of just hope won’t raise its head [so] they don’t have to deal with it.”

Additionally, sex education was strictly binary in its lesson structure. Cold shivers run down my spine at the very mention of “Girls Pyjama Party” and “Secret Men’s Business”. Both effectively rejected me as the course did not mention anything about transgender identity, health or even existence. “Our sex education was an absolute nightmare […] queerness was trivialised […] [they] made [queerness] feel childish.”

Alongside this, representation of queer joy is completely overshadowed by its struggle in rural Australia. peer openly stated that “As a straight passing person it was easier [for me] than others around me.” There is no World Pride or Mardi Gras, no tangible existence of queer people that could be traced beyond a deserted facebook group or contemplated text message. Outward acceptance was not permitted as a student states “they supported me as a person but not as my queer identity.” Even when we confided in our teachers,, a peer expressed that “not many people I know would go [to them], cause 9/10 teachers like to talk” as basic respect and privacy was ignored as queer students were slowly outed to an entire staff room of adults who should know better. Like a celebrity with tabloids, the information would leak to the student body and the cycle would repeat itself. Queer students would fall victim to and be thrust into a life of dead-end advocacy and unrestricted backhanded harassment in a community that is supposed to educate and protect them.

I should not have been explaining non-binary identity to my senior school director at the age of 17, just as my peers should not have spent their lives dodging homophobic jokes just for the chance to be included in their “normal” peer groups. It’s a unique form of isolation; of torture. To strip me of my allies and rebrand my name into whatever best suits you, my supposed guardian. Sometimes it would be invisible, at other points prominent, but never human.

Anonymous wants Palestinians (and their supporters) to stop voting Labor.

Evelyn Redfern challenges the expectations of queerness.

Referendum on proposed Constitution alterations

DIRECTIONS TO VOTER

Write “YES” or “NO” in the space provided opposite the question set out below.

A PROPOSED LAW:

A Proposed Law: to alter the Constitution to recognise the First Peoples of Australia by establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice.

Do you approve this proposed alteration?

Rarely in global history has a settlersociety, forged from conflict and cultural erasure, been handed such a simple and painless potential first step towards justice. The chance to include a mechanism in the Constitution for a Voice to Parliament for First Nations peoples — as outlined in the 2017 Uluru Statement from the Heart — is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

As Australia gazes into the mirror of history, it sees itself in the positive achievements of its forebearers, but denies any culpability or undue benefit from acquiring its nationhood for free. John Howard reassured Australians that the crimes of rape and murder and dispossession and discrimination committed in its acquisition were done not by us but by “others”. However, this campaign

The referendum, explained

What is a referendum?

The Constitution provides the basis for the powers and functions of Australia’s three branches of government — the parliament, the executive, and the judiciary. Unlike the ordinary legislative process, the Constitution can only be changed through the process of a national referendum.

Simply, a referendum is a vote in which all eligible voters are asked to respond to a question. The question will relate to a proposed Constitutional amendment. For the proposed change to pass, there must be a double majority — meaning both a majority of all voters and a majority of states are required for a referendum to carry. The result then binds the Government to act based on what the voters decided.

Who can vote?

The vast majority of Australian citizens, aged over 18, can vote in this election. In fact, it is compulsory for them to do so.

However, the crucial misapprehension about the upcoming referendum is that it is a vote for all Australians. It is not. More than 32% of Indigenous people

of official denial is nothing more than a moral dead end, something else weighs on this nation’s heart.

Negation and silence have merely magnified the harm. Howard couldn’t bear to utter a simple apology to the Stolen Generations and victims of forced child removals.

Peter Dutton walked out when Kevin Rudd delivered his apology.

The spirit of the Uluru Statement from the Heart provides an invitation to walk together on the path towards a reckoned-with Australia. Here, we might find an accountable and inclusive society which owns its history, so as to better imagine its future.

The Statement comprises three parts — Voice, Treaty and Truth. Self-evidently, the idea of Voice is

are aged under 18, rendering them ineligible to vote. Fifteen per cent of First Nations people over 18 are not registered voters. Those who are serving a custodial sentence of three years or more are also denied the right to vote in the upcoming referendum. Given that First Nations people are so uniquely disenfranchised by a carceral system which exists to perpetrate settler-colonial violence, it is bizarre to consider that this is used to preclude them from participating in a referendum predicated on the ideals of participation in democracy.

The fact that so much of the Indigenous population is rendered ineligible to vote on what will surely be the defining moment for Indigenous rights in the twentyfirst century should be a call for us to do more to increase First Nations peoples’ access to the democratic process. We cannot assume the Voice alone will deliver this.

What is being asked in this referendum?

The Voice which Australians will be asked to vote on later this year poses a simple but monumental choice: whether or not the First People of this country should have input and play a role in shaping policies and laws being made about them.

concerned with the establishment of a constitutionally recognised Indigenous Voice to Parliament. The principles of Treaty and Truth, as the word makarrata suggests, are about coming together after a struggle. This is the simple invitation extended to all Australians within the Uluru Statement from the Heart.

However, Australia’s timid sentimentality and coloniallyminded constitutional machinery hinders any progress. While there is goodwill in both the political and public arenas, many questions remain about the basic logic of the Voice. Why is it needed? Why must it be in the Constitution? Will it close the gap? Does it create a constitutionally enshrined race distinction where previously there was none? Aren’t the eleven First

The proposed alteration to the Constitution has been drafted as:

Chapter IX Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples

129 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice

In recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Peoples of Australia:

1: There shall be a body, to be called the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice;

2: The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice may make representations to the Parliament and the Executive Government of the Commonwealth on matters relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples;

3: The Parliament shall, subject to this Constitution, have power to make laws with respect to matters relating to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice, including its composition, functions, powers and procedures.

The referendum is expected to occur at the end of this year, sometime between September and December, with a result to be announced before the new year.

YESNations representatives sitting in Parliament already the Voice of “their people”? And, of course, there are deeper and more complex questions of sovereignty, of selfdetermination, and of healing the scars that we carry as a nation.

As students, the editors of Honi support a “Yes” vote. However, we do not wish to reduce the scope of the Voice debate to simply a decision to vote “Yes” or “No”. While a “Yes” vote is an outcome which we support, it is our intention to interrogate Labor’s proposal and counter the unimaginative discourses taking place in the broader media landscape. The Voice is a first step in the change which is needed, but the form it takes — and what follows it — will be critical in paving the path forward.

How will the Voice be structured?

The model set out by the CalmaLangton report provides for two members from each state, both territories, and the Torres Strait. A further five members are expected to represent remote areas due to their unique needs — one member each from the Northern Territory, Western Australia, Queensland, South Australia and New South Wales. An additional member would represent the significant population of Torres Strait Islander peoples living on mainland Australia.

Members of the Voice would serve four-year terms, with half the membership determined every two years. There would be a limit of two consecutive terms for each member. Two co-chairs would be selected by the membership of the Voice every two years. The national Voice would also feature two permanent advisory groups — one for youth and one for disabilities — and an ethics council to advise on the Voice’s values and governance.

That this model will be implemented is not certain, given Parliament’s discretion in determining the makeup of the Voice. But it provides a good guide for what the Voice will finally look like.

Why we support the Voice

The Voice is needed because this country was taken by force. White Australia was forged by colonial might, Indigenous lands and waters were never ceded, and compensation was never paid. The doctrine of terra nullius promoted the convenient fiction of an empty Australia. The dehumanising intent of this claim was, and continues to be, reflected in law and policy ever since. Creating a Voice to Parliament recognises First Nations peoples’ presence and establishes a unique system of influence on policies directly pertaining to them.

The voice and self-determination

At the outset, it should be made clear that approximately 80% of First Nations people support the Voice based on recent polls. We make this observation because it is impossible for the colony to truly move forward with First Nations justice without listening to the voices of First Nations people. The Voice is the culmination of consultation and debate within First Nations communities. This fact goes a long way to why we support a “Yes” vote.

Beyond this, Indigenous peoples have an inalienable right to selfdetermination. It is important that First Nations people have the capacity to exercise self determination by making decisions that impact and shape their lives.

The Voice does not fully implement self-determination. Self-determination also includes the right to have autonomously run institutions which have the power to make decisions relating to their communities. The right to self-determination would also give Indigenous peoples veto power over decisions which negatively affect them, including over the exploitation of their lands. Nevertheless, the Voice would mean First Nations peoples are consulted on decisions which affect them, albeit little else.

Why the Voice will improve

from the release of the Closing the Gap report, none of the targets are progressing — we need an imaginative solution to Indigenous self-determination that will stick.

The Voice looks to the future. Right now, progress is extremely limited and the gap is closing far too slowly. The life expectancy disparity between Indigenous and nonIndigenous people across Australia is still unacceptably high. Aboriginal community-controlled health services have been critical in closing the gap — an example of what can be achieved when Indigenous Voices are heard. So much more could be done if that right to be heard was forever enshrined in the founding document of this country.

By making recommendations to both the legislature and the executive, the Voice will have the ability to influence laws and policies before they are ratified, rather than challenging existing legislation in the courts.

who expressed misgivings about the perceived “bulletproof truth” that constitutional enshrinement will safeguard the Voice against neglect or inefficacy.

“The theory of constitutionally enshrining the Voice is that it can’t be abolished or ignored. I don’t think that’s necessarily a bulletproof truth, though. You can create the Voice and enshrine it, but there’s no legal guarantee that Parliament won’t reform the model of the Voice.”

Abbatangelo stresses that the Voice “relies on the government acting in good faith — something which they have never been able to do. Every time we come to drink from the well under false winds of change, we are drowned.”

To deny that now, given this chance, would constitute an outrageous validation of British dispossession, the injustice it sanctioned and the cultural genocide it licenced.

The risks of a failed referendum

First Nations people have been building towards constitutional recognition since the 1950s, and an immense amount of political capital has been invested into this process. If it were to fail, the political will to pursue Indigenous justice would dissipate. A “No” outcome, resulting from the racist campaigns by the Liberal and National parties — as much as a “progressive ‘No’ campaign” — does not represent a rejection of the political system which upholds Indigenous dispossession and is, instead, an emphatic legitimisation of this system.

There is little prospect that a “No” vote would provide an impetus for a move towards Treaty and Truth. Instead, it would deter any government from pursuing meaningful steps towards justice for First Nations communities. This process was played out with the 1999 republic referendum and it will play out again.

Currently, First Nations people can only challenge legislation through litigation — a status quo which has continually failed Indigenous people, as progress can only be won in the courts by non-Indigenous lawyers. There is no mechanism for the vast majority of Indigenous people to challenge the government. They are always reacting to government decisions, rather than influencing them.

The Voice, as a political tool, will compel consultation between the parliament and the executive government and Indigenous people. This will allow for more meaningful and structural engagement with First Nations voices in the design and implementation of policy. If the Voice is approached in good faith, Honi believes that this will lead to better policies. In a less ideal world, the Voice will deny politicians the ability to feign ignorance. Decisionmakers will be held accountable as recommendations are made public, thus demonstrating the incongruence of their policies with the wishes of First Nations people.

Why the Voice should be enshrined in the Constitution

Honi spoke with Gunaikurnai and Wotjobaluk writer Ben Abbatangelo,

This fear lives in the memories of First Nations communities — that each time Indigenous people are lured into the light, they are mugged by the darkness of this country’s history. The scars of colonial betrayal are worn on the backs of Indigenous people, and communities are naturally hesitant to write the government a blank cheque for their constitutional rights.

However, constitutional law expert Elisa Arcioni claims that the debate about detail is a disingenuous one.

“The Constitution should never contain all of the detail about every institution. The design of the Constitution is to set up the basic framework of an institution and its key role. All of the detail is then to be determined by parliament through legislation.

“But because there are legitimate questions about the detail, that has been weaponised by ‘No’ proponents as a way to sow confusion and concern.”

Constitutional enshrinement retrospectively recognises that even in the tolerant and multicultural nation Australia purports to be, the pre-existing human rights of its original inhabitants are inalienable and unique. This should have been reflected in the nation’s founding document.

A “Yes” vote is the only way to reject the racism of the right-wing “No” campaign. It is the only way — given the referendum has already been announced, and will occur — that momentum towards greater goals can be created. It is largely for this reason that a “progressive ‘No’” position should be rejected by leftwing students.

Why Honi?

As to the specific question of “why Honi?” — the act of making a radical case for the Voice is an integral part of our historical contribution to the struggle for civil and political rights. It is Honi’s opposition to the Vietnam War, its support for queer and women’s liberation, its ongoing critique of Invasion Day which come to mind in this history.

The referendum facing us now is different to these issues. The Voice has been proposed by the government and has received support from broad swathes of the political and corporate establishment. Yet, it is nonetheless incumbent on Honi, and all leftwing students, to support the Voice because it is fundamentally right to do so. Australian citizens must vote in this referendum. A “Yes” vote will provide a foundation upon which the radical work towards true First Nations justice can begin.

There is no mechanism for the vast majority of Indigenous people to challenge the government.

The scars of colonial betrayal are worn on the backs of Indigenous people, and communities are naturally hesitant to write the government a blank cheque for their constitutional rights.

The case against the Voice

The campaign against the Voice has been driven by a racist preoccupation with denying First Nations people a presence in Australian society and the Constitution. This is the reason for which the Liberals and Nationals have never expressed support for the Voice proposal.

Does the Voice create inequality in an otherwise raceblind Constitution?

The Constitution which established Australia was already racially selective by expressly ignoring the existing custodianship of Indigenous peoples before European invasion. Its architects went to great lengths to assuage the guilt and discomfort of Australia’s fledgling colonies, yet said nothing of millennia of prior ownership.

The Constitution must be seen as an instrument of colonial rule, and its silence on Indigenous ownership was deliberate — an explicit act of legal and cultural deletion. Race was assumed to be white European and thus not explicit. Black Australia was dealt with by exclusion.

As such, the recognition of First Nations peoples — and the enshrinement of a Voice to Parliament — in the Constitution is a means by which the colonial logic of the Constitution, and its institutionalised disavowal of the existence of First Nations people can be partially remedied.

The Voice will afford First Nations people no additional “rights” compared to non-Indigenous people. This is not a positive. To herald the Voice’s lack of binding power is to acquiesce to the violent settler state, the system which stole these powers from First Nations people in the first place. Honi rejects this.

The Constitution should give First Nations people the powers to control, not just provide input into, decisions which affect them. Those rights are inherent within First Nations’ people’s historic and ongoing claim to sovereignty. It is

Will the Voice impact Indigenous sovereignty?

Among the most contested myths about the Voice is the question of sovereignty, and the claim that the Voice would force Indigenous people to surrender their sovereignty.

To challenge the claim that any constitutionally-enshrined Voice would extinguish First Nations sovereignty, it is crucial to first understand what sovereignty is.

As constitutional law expert Professor Anne Twomey explained to Honi, “sovereignty means different things to different people. For many Indigenous people, sovereignty is as much a moral or political concept as it is a legal one.”

Under international law, sovereignty refers to a sovereign state — one which has clearly defined borders and a permanent population, and one which exercises control over issues of law, immigration and trade.

It is generally accepted that sovereignty, in the legal sense, can be acquired either through cession, conquest or prescription of land deemed terra nullius. Although it is true that First Nations people never surrendered collective sovereignty over their land, there exists no legal framework for Indigenous people to

Then, there is the more abstract, intangible definition of sovereignty — the right of

people to practise culture and exercise a spiritual relationship with their traditional lands and waters.

In a contemporary settler-colony such as Australia, First Nations people can only exercise a diluted version of sovereignty in the narrow political sense. In real terms, a constitutionally-enshrined Voice has the potential to enable greater exercise of sovereignty.

The Uluru Statement clearly stipulates that Indigenous sovereignty shall coexist with that of the Crown, and neither can be extinguished by a constitutional amendment.

It says: “Our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander tribes were the first sovereign Nations of the Australian continent and its adjacent islands, and possessed it under our own laws and customs …

“This sovereignty is a spiritual notion: the ancestral tie between the land, or ‘mother nature’, and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples who were born therefrom, remain attached thereto, and must one day return thither to be united with our ancestors. This link is the basis of the ownership of the soil, or better, of sovereignty. It has never been ceded or extinguished, and co-exists with the sovereignty of the Crown.”

All of this is to say that a constitutionally-enshrined Voice to Parliament has no legal power to impact sovereignty as it currently exists. This can only be done through a framework of very specific provisions during the Treaty process, and so it is a fallacy to claim that the Voice to Parliament would force Indigenous people to surrender sovereignty to the Crown.

The Constitution must be seen as an instrument of colonial rule, and its silence on Indigenous ownership

In a contemporary settler-colony such as Australia, First Nations people can only exercise a diluted version of sovereignty in the narrow political sense.

What sort of Voice do we want?

Labor’s proposal is intentionally modest — it offers only constitutional recognition, but does not bind the parliament to take the recommendations of the Voice. This should be contrasted with the rights afforded to Indigenous peoples under International Law, with veto powers and autonomous institutions par for the course. The fact that the Voice has deliberately been constructed by the government to withhold these rights from Indigenous people should be vehemently condemned.

The State doesn’t want to relinquish its powers over First Nations people.

The government has calculated that, to convince white Australians of the Voice’s worth, it must be curated to not pose too much of a threat to the status quo. The State doesn’t want to relinquish its powers over First Nations people. Accordingly, the Voice does not do the required work to destabilise settler control. Honi wants a Voice that implements the wishes of First Nations people, that gives true control over their lands and waters. We should not settle for less.

Why Voice first? What about Treaty and Truth?

Principally, the idea of constitutional recognition and an enshrined Voice to Parliament is not one which is revolutionary, or even particularly new. Questions of whether Indigenous people should be included in Australia’s founding document have been asked since the time of Charles Perkins and the Freedom Rides.

The question which must then be asked is why a Voice must come before either of the remaining two components of the Uluru Statement. The Labor government is evidently following the order set out in the Statement chronologically, despite claims from key groups in political and activist circles — particularly

embarking on a Treaty-making process will undoubtedly afford Indigenous communities more political capital to invest in a Treaty.

Wiradjuri woman and spokesperson for Uluru Dialogues Brydie Zorz told Honi about the significance of achieving an established Voice before negotiating a Treaty.

“Australia is the only Commonwealth nation without a Treaty. Because we would be negotiating it so long after first contact, we have no idea how that process will work and what it will look like,” said Zorz.

“Having a Voice which is Constitutionally enshrined will give First Nations people the political power we need to then embark on a Treaty process.”

What happens after the referendum?

Speaking with Honi, Wiradjuri Gamilaraay author and journalist Stan Grant expressed less worry about the referendum itself than the day after Australians cast their vote.

“Irrespective of whether people vote ‘Yes’ or ‘No’, we’re going to wake up in a nation still so deeply wounded,” Grant observes.

“We are all deeply wounded and we are all implicated and complicit in this moment in different ways. But we’re going to wake up and we’re going to be in the same place — in this scarred and broken land asking who we are and asking where we are.”

Australia’s pathetic tradition of low expectations will have triumphed again.

The

and

How will we recover from a “No” vote? How will we come back as a nation? The distrust and alienation of First Nations people will grow, any remnant faith in reforming and improving settler systems will wither.

Indigenous people will continue to be viewed as a problem to overcome, rather than as a people offering ideas and solutions grounded in their deep sense of culture and care for Country and their intimate knowledge of people and society.

The other advantage of the Voice preceding Treaty and Truth is that it means there will be an established, and influential body to represent First Nations voices during the Treaty-negotiating and Truth-telling processes. As it stands, First Nations institutions are highly decentralised, and are run in greatly varying ways, usually dependent on regional differences. Many are underfunded and defunct. A national Voice will be able to bring these regional voices into a single forum, mitigating the issues of resources or factionalism facing some of these groups. This will make negotiating with the State a less onerous process, leading to faster progress towards Treaty and Truth and better outcomes in both respects. Moreover, as the Voice consolidates influence and becomes a normalised feature of government, so too does its authority, improving the political power of First Nations voices.

However, the day after Australians vote on a Voice to Parliament will be a markedly more painful day in the event of a failed referendum. Of course, negative narratives will continue to frame discussions of Indigenous justice, but there will be a new sense of contempt — one which

It will be a day where First Nations people will feel, perhaps more than ever before, invalidated and judged to be of no consequence to a country they have called home for thousands of generations. How can we explain this to our children and grandchildren? How will we explain it to ourselves?

A national Voice will be able to bring these regional voices into a single forum, mitigating the issues of resources or factionalism facing some of these groups.

However, the day after Australians vote on a Voice to Parliament will be a markedly more painful day in the event of a failed referendum.

distrust

alienation of First Nations people will grow, any remnant faith in reforming and improving settler systems will

Albanese must get it right for the Aboriginal Legal Service, lives depend on it

CW: This article contains mentions of Indigenous people who have passed away and Indigenous deaths in custody. As the Voice Referendum inches closer, one of the issues at stake is trust.

On Wednesday night, over three hundred people showed up in solidarity with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Service (ATSILS), from community legal centres, advocacy organisations and grassroots supporters, successive federal governments — particularly the Coalition years — have not met increasing demands for ATSILS’ services. It needs $250 million to be sustainable in the long run. The organisation was forced, just two weeks ago, to freeze services in crucial regional centres to sustain its operations.

Among the stories shared was that of Makayla Reynolds, a Gamilaraay woman and a staff member with the NSW Aboriginal Legal Service and “proud sister” of Nathan Reynolds.

Nathan Reynolds died in custody at John Morony Correctional Centre in 2018 following “inadequate” and “unreasonably delayed” emergency response. Reynolds said that one of the distinctions with the Aboriginal Legal Service was its provision of culturally safe legal aid as opposed to other practices.

really wouldn’t have been able to have a voice for my sister.”

Reynolds concurred, saying that one of the greatest assets behind ATSILS’ model was its holistic approach to legal representation which includes other specialists to help families “be strong enough” to navigate the legal system, including coronial inquests.

“I think once families knew that I went through the same story as them, we connected on an emotional level as well as on a professional level like an Aboriginal family,” said Reynolds.

From the stories, one thing is clear –proper funding of ATSILS’ work is indispensable for Indigenous access to justice. ATSILS’ Redfern Model, emerging from the Australian Black Power Movement and being the first free legal service in Australia, paved the way for community legal centres from its foundation in 1970 to this day.

The need for trust in government for the Voice to be meaningful

What Wednesday’s emergency meeting highlighted was a mammoth gap between grassroots demands for Indigenous justice and government

Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus and Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney but “due to other commitments”, they did not attend.

Dreyfus released a statement stopping short of committing to ATSILS’ demand and instead, promised to consider ATSILS’ funding arrangements in a future independent review of community legal aid due to commence this year, including “alternative” funding arrangements. In layman’s terms, Dreyfus’ response is milquetoast and inadequate.

The consequences of this will be dire: Indigenous communities being left without legal assistance in the face of states’ attempts to prosecute and lock up the most vulnerable members of these communities. The government’s failure to adequately fund the ATSILS will lead to substantial, and avoidable, harm.

Beyond the immediate harm the lack of funding is doing to First Nations communities is the issue of trust. Trust is not unconditional. This colony’s history has given its Indigenous communities very little to be convinced that it will listen. Indeed, one of the key rationales behind the Voice to Parliament is that constitutional entrenchment will help to break the vicious cycle of successive

governments ignoring the needs of Indigenous people.

To break this, First Nations communities must be able to trust that the federal and state governments will listen and take action to close the gap.

Yet, two months into 2023, Queensland’s Labor government passed draconian bail law reforms that breaches children’s human rights. These are kneejerk reforms that ATSILS’ own principal legal officer Greg Shadbolt warns will “widen the funnel of kids going into detention” and are ineffective. It’s taking one step forward and two steps backward at the same time.

Although Albanese is promising a Voice to begin remedying the colony’s horrific treatment of Indigenous people, this can only be the beginning. There are small actions that have been taken, dropping former Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s appeal against Love v Commonwealth, discontinuing some Northern Territory Intervention laws. These, however, are minute changes in comparison to the enormous task that the federal (and state) governments have yet to own in full.

“We had legal services all over in Australia contacting us because they saw a civil claim could arise from Nathan’s case, ALS did not treat us like that, they were culturally appropriate. Throughout the three years, they answered us any time we needed help.

“We didn’t have to worry about any of that [financial resources] with the ALS,” an emotional Raynold told the room.

Similar to Reynolds, Matthew Cash believes that, without the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service (VALS), he and his family would have been lost in the legal system during the start of Australia’s COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020.

“Without VALS, I really wouldn’t have been able to make a connection into the Victorian legal system so I

Khanh Tran analyses the crisis facing the Aboriginal Legal Service.

The Aboriginal Legal Service was forced, just two weeks ago, to freeze services in crucial regional centres to sustain its operations.

If the government is truly serious about closing

manifestations of a glorious shape; deserving of an explicit depiction in his The Sacrament of the Last Supper. But why the fascination? It seems natural to a visual artist, particularly one as outlandish as Dali. But examples go back centuries, including Vermeer’s Lacemaker and Hokusai’s Great Wave.

But again; why shapes? In a world where every year seems to bring more alienation between science and art, chasing mythic geometrics seems utterly useless. But I don’t want to argue that. The fact is that shape, the idea of geometry itself, is the unsung magic of not just art but our entire cultural consciousness. While our sentences and signs sail boldly on, it is shape that holds up the ship. The golden ratio is famous for its beauty and symmetry. Hence, its ability to impel noted artists

the Smithsonian with commas as he is with cauliflowers. But in The Road, he uses shape as much as Dali does, albeit in a completely different way. Unchaptered, The Road lurches forward episodically, its ashen paragraphs culminating in heart-wrenching echoes of conversations between a father and son, starving in a nuclear wasteland. But just as he brings each episode to a glass-like conclusion, he murks it up, and a new circle joins a chain. McCarthy made a novel not

wandering line, ultimately returns in something new, though not by any circle small enough for us to see. WabiSabi, loosely translated as the pathos of things, is often exoticised as ‘antibeauty.’ But although it approaches art in a fundamentally different way, its materials are the same; shapes and geometry, and in its own unique way, is just as beautiful.

Nicholas Osiowy on the geometrics of creativity. It sounds too weird to be true. 1955, Paris. Rosa Parks is sitting down and Menzies is brushing his bootstraps. Salvador Dali, the famed surrealist painter many of us would associate with the orange-tinted glasses of Midnight in Paris, comes thundering to an elite university with a cauliflowerfilled Rolls-Royce. His purpose? A speech on “Phenomenological Aspects of the Critical Paranoiac Method.” There might be some self-promotion

But I hear coming from left and right: Isn’t this too abstract? What’s the

All sydney university students Are invited to submit A WrItten entry on the 2023 theme:

Am I a mess?

I’ve watched Diary more times than I can count. I can quote bits of the film, give you a slightly too detailed yet somehow abridged synopsis and even own all three films on DVD after getting too frustrated that they kept moving streaming services.

Bridget Jones’s Diary (2001), the first of a three film series, was released 22 years ago. While many aspects of the film have not aged well — it really is a product of its time — watching it still brings me so much comfort. I’ve recently wondered what keeps me wanting to watch it again and again.

I think it might be Bridget.

Bridget is a bit of a mess. This might be putting it lightly. She somehow manages to swing from one awkward moment to the next. She’s clumsy. She says the wrong thing. She wears the wrong thing. She always seems to do the wrong thing.

at the moment.” When it feels like everything is out of control and there’s too much going on, I always seem to fall on the explanation that I’m a mess. I think I might have described myself as a mess more than I have described myself as anything else.

life — she doesn’t need to change in order for things to go her way. She doesn’t have a dramatic makeover or realisation where suddenly everything is clearer and calmer. Even when new parts of her life start to fall apart. As Bridget says, “It is a truth universally acknowledged that when one part of your life starts going okay, another falls spectacularly to pieces.”

Bridget doesn’t get less messy as the

Bridget exists as herself wholeheartedly. She openly feels her feelings, whatever they require. Whether it is moping on the couch with a tub of ice cream, or professing her truest thoughts to whoever needs to hear them. She does what she wants, when she wants. Throughout the films, Bridget is allowed to be Bridget, in all her messiness and complexity.

A quick search of my texts revealed far too many occasions where I’ve apologised for doing something not quite right, with saying things along the lines of “Sorry, I’m just a bit of a mess

Whilst Bridget seems like she is trying to pull her life together — she has a large collection of self-help books and starts the titular diary to track her

was stupid and didn’t mean it. And yet, it turns out that he had left to buy her a new diary. For a new start.

I’ve been thinking about this idea that the author Glennon Doyle has about people who feel like they are a mess. She says that rather than being a mess, we are instead people who feel a lot in a world that is messy. You are not a mess, the world is. We feel messy because we are paying attention.

In a world that is constantly full of stress and confusion, it makes sense to feel messy. It makes sense to feel unsure. Everything might be out of control. But also, everything might be okay. We don’t know what is going to happen. Maybe today will be blue soup, but what if tomorrow won’t be?

Maybe I am a mess. Maybe Bridget one too. Maybe neither of us are. What if you aren’t a mess? What if we are all just trying our best, and maybe just maybe, that is good enough.

Art by Veronica Lenard

Magical creatures from around the world

Dragons, Phoenix, Kraken, Sphinx… As humans, we never seem to get tired of the old tales, magical myths, and adventurous stories about mystical creatures. Each culture has their own history of creatures that defy explanation. Let me take you on a journey across space and time to find out more.

Over the mountains, over the sea

“Wish to be a Bi Yi bird and fly together with you in the sky” — here, we find a famous Chinese idiom to describe loyal love, from a poem The Song of Everlasting Sorrow (Cháng Hèn Gē) written by Bai Juyi. Each Bi Yi bird only has one eye, one leg and one wing. They can fly only when they are side by side. The Bi Yi bird is recorded in an ancient Chinese book called Classics of Mountains and Seas (Shān Hǎi Jīng). With a history of more than two thousand years, the book is mainly about the magical flora and fauna found in the mountains and the sea.

Travelling in the world of Shān Hǎi Jīng, you may find yourself on a strange hill filled with streams and

Kate Zhang takes you on a journey through time and space.

rivers, but there are no trees or grass. It’s called Mount Di (Dǐ Shān). This is just the beginning. Every sentence after this one will become stranger and stranger. There’s a kind of fish here called “Lù”. It looks a bit like a cow or an ox. However, it has a snake’s tail, and wings too. Let me remind you that there’s a lot of water here, except Lù, even as a kind of fish, lives on the hillsides. It also hibernates. If you have swelling issues, eating Lù could help.

sentence

Throughout the dynasties, there are other collections of creatures, monsters and magical stories, such as the Album on Beasts (Shòu Pǔ). The book is crafted by two court painters under the order of the Qianlong Emperor of the Qing Dynasty. Many creatures are recorded as signs of auspiciousness to show the prosperity of the country, such as Qilin. Confucius is said to be born after his mother dreamt about Qilin in her arms. If you are stuck on assignments, maybe Bai Ze can help you. It is said that they know everything. The Yellow Emperor recorded their knowledge of how to defend the evil monsters, therefore protecting his citizens.

We hide, until late night

In Japanese folklore, there’s an

I think I might have described myself as a mess more than I have described myself as anything else.

I think it

We feel messy because we are paying attention. Because we care.

Veronica Lenard might be a mess.

As humans, we never seem to get tired of the old tales, magical myths, and adventurous stories about mystical creatures.

Every

after this one will become stranger and stranger.

She doesn’t have a dramatic makeover or realisation where suddenly everything is clearer and calmer.

The Story of Geillis Duncan

“A woman’s voice is a hex. She must learn to exalt men always. If she doesn’t do that, then she is a threat. A demon whore, a witch - so says everyone and the law. So say the King and his guards. So say the witch-pricker and his sadistic friends. So say the husbands, the hates, the wives, the daughters, the God-fearing - demons are always trying to kill them, so they know. So says the hangman who sleeps with a bible in hand.” — Jenni

Fagan,

CW: This article has mentions of torture and sexual violence.

The Great Scottish Witch Hunts of the 16th century is one of the most gruesome, heartbreaking parts of history. Under the ruling of King James VI, over 1,500 citizens were killed under accusations of witchcraft and worshiping the devil. King James VI was extremely fearful of witchcraft, as it had been deemed illegal in Britain since 1563. Among the many witches who were executed in the North Berwick Witch Trials, there was Geillis Duncan.

Duncan was a maid servant who was based in Tranent, a small part of East Lothian in Scotland. Her employer, David Seton, became suspicious of her healing tendencies when she was able to relieve pain and illnesses around her, despite having a poor education. Duncan would also leave the grounds in the middle of the night, and Seton never knew where she would go; as Seton was Deputy Bailiff, he took charge of the examination. Seton accused Duncan of witchcraft and worshiping the devil and despite torturous interrogation, she kept her mouth shut. Duncan didn’t admit to anything and Seton worsened his methods of torture, until she finally confessed to being a witch.

idiom called Hyakki Yagyō, or “night parade of a hundred spirits”, when the supernatural comes into the world of reality at night. I learnt about Japanese monsters and spirits, or Yōkai, mainly through murder mystery fictions, such as Kubinashi no gotoki Tataru Mono. Kubinashi can look like a human but act with their heads off.

Don’t be too scared, Yōkai do not always look horrible. I found a Yōkai called Nurarihyon in the artwork collections of Toriyama Sekien. They looked like an elegant gentleman. When they walk straight into someone’s home on a busy night, start drinking tea, enjoying tobacco and high quality hospitality, no one would have a doubt that they weren’t human or that they were not invited.

Riddles of the Sphinx

My curiosity with ancient Egypt began with the game Predynastic

Duncan was stripped naked, shaved from head to toe, and subjected to a full body examination. In this examination, they found the devil’s mark on her neck which Duncan confessed to, naming over 60 other witches in Scotland. After enduring much pain for simply being able to heal people in a way that Western medicine could not at the time, Duncan was executed on 4 December 1591. She had supposedly tried to retract her confession on the day of her execution, with the reason that she was influenced under torture, but it did not save her from her tragic fate. There are other sources that claim she was raped, penetrated with metal and sticks and her fingernails were ripped out. Historians have argued that her case had a huge influence on

Egypt. In the game, you can worship cults to gain the blessings for your tribe to develop: Falcon Horus supports hunting, whilst Heavenly Cow Nut helps with farming. Wepwawet the Opener of the Ways has a head of a jackal. These creatures seem to have been highly respected by ancient Egyptians, with many of them seen as sacred. For example, the signs of snakes, or uraeus, were traditionally worn by the Pharaoh and their family.

the Scottish witch-hunts in the 16th and 17th century.

Duncan’s story exposes the gratuitous and abhorrent violence against women during the witch-hunts. In fact, although it deviated from medicine at the time — which, admittedly, was fundamentally patriarchal — people were still healing and being relieved of their pain through her work. Geillis Duncan’s alleged “crime” leading to a year of torture and, eventually, death was healing other people and leaving late at night. As is the way patriarchy self-perpetuates, the Scottish witchhunts continued because men profited from a fear of witchcraft. Many “Witch Doctors”, or leaders of the witch hunts, gained a lot of financial benefit

she is a beast. Others said she is a god. Ammit has a crocodile head, lion’s front legs and hippo’s hindquarters. She eats the unpurified heart of the dead.

by charging people for exorcisms and selling body parts of the executed. This further elucidates how vulgar and exploitative men were towards those who didn’t follow their patriarchal traditions.

The line between whether a creature in ancient Egyptian stories is a monster or a god is somewhat of a conundrum. When I researched “Ammit”, some said that she is a demon, and some said

The idea of magical creatures has enthralled people for centuries. Understanding what creatures people believed in throughout time allows us to understand more about their belief systems and what they valued. It can be a fascinating journey to explore these creatures and their old tales, magical myths and adventurous stories.

Art by Estella Kennedy

Though we have come a long way since the Witch Trials, we are still afraid of female knowledge and power; society continues to focus on patriarchal advantage, domination, and power. With female discrimination in the workplace, and the rise of misogynistic figures online, it’s clear that we are still fighting for a world that is equal. The witch hunts were not justice against those worshiping evil, but more a reflection of patriarchal fears towards both gendered empowerment and female sexuality.

If you want to have a more empathetic and in-depth experience with Geillis Duncan’s story, you should read Hex by Jenni Fagan.

Among the many witches who were executed in the North Berwick Witch Trials, there was Geillis Duncan.

As is the way patriarchy selfperpetuates, the Scottish witchhunts continued because men profited from a fear of witchcraft.

Hex

Ellie Robertson hexes all witch hunters.

The idea of magical creatures has enthralled people for centuries.

Lost in Translation: the pros and con(lang)s of multilingual cinema

I have long maintained that, with the exception of Arrival (which you should definitely watch), language is tragically underexplored in film. However, although it may not be the subject of many films, there is actually a lot to explore when looking at how language is represented onscreen, especially in the realm of translation. How do filmmakers translate dialogue between languages, or deal with multilingual scripts? How do they cater to a range of audiences, and how do they deal with languages that no one, in any audience, speaks?

encoded nuance is poorly translated, audiences can miss out on plot-relevant observations and development, as well as beautiful writing. Squid Game was criticised for its English subtitling for this reason. Dubbing, or recording translated dialogue over the top of the original audio, also suffers from this, with the additional loss of the vocal performances of the original actors. There seems to be no perfect way of translating for film.

Dealing with multiple languages in film is tricky. Filmmakers may run into the issue of translating in several contexts; they may depict characters who speak different languages to each other, or may have to translate their film into another language so that foreign audiences can consume it too. The most common method for this, from what I can tell, is subtitling, either for the entire movie or just for the parts where a non-dominant language in the film is being spoken. This isn’t perfect. Some audiences find it difficult to split attention between reading and absorbing information on-screen. Furthermore, these translations can fail to capture the nuance encoded in a script. When culturally-specific or semantically

This may be why, then, many filmmakers ask viewers to suspend disbelief when thinking about language in film. Many films set in non-English-speaking contexts are told wholly, or at least in part, in English: The Woman King, Les Miserables, and Mulan, for example, are all told with varying levels of commitment to linguistic accuracy of the context they occur in. The most egregious example of linguistic “movie magic” I can think of is Disney’s Pocahontas, within which Pocahontas and John Smith, both speaking English in the film, are implied to have a language barrier until they learn to listen to each other “with their hearts”. Contextually inaccurate language use makes a film more accessible to whichever audience speaks the language the filmmaker chose, but it is still an imperfect solution. It creates audience aversion to subtitling, which makes it hard for non-English films to succeed in the mainstream (although there has been a recent pleasing upswing of non-English box office successes like Parasite).

With this in mind, translation can be more of an obstacle a director has to overcome than anything else. Despite this, many films go beyond including multiple real languages in their scripts, and opt to incorporate made-up language into their storytelling. These fictional languages are called conlangs (constructed languages). Famous examples include Klingon from Star Trek, Dothraki from Game of Thrones, and Na’vi from Avatar. Although it is not necessary for alien or fantastical speech to come from a comprehensively thought out language, filmmakers can hire linguists to develop grammars of conlangs for the purpose of consistency within its use in the film. In the cases of well-known conlangs, like the ones I listed above, enough work has been done on these languages to learn to speak them yourself. You can even learn Klingon and High Valyrian on Duolingo.

Despite this possibility, the odds of your audience having any understanding of what conlangs mean without subtitling are negligible. So, why go to the effort of creating a language, only to have to translate it back?

There are several possible reasons. The most intuitive reason, to me, is immersion. The world is a multilingual place. If there were life forms on other planets or in different realities, there’s no reason they wouldn’t also be multilingual. Cross-cultural contact in space ought to have all the linguistic barriers that cross-cultural contact on Earth does. If you are depicting distinct fantastical cultural groups or species, having one speak a conlang is an effective way of making them distinct from one another. It can be a tool for in-group communication on screen — Legolas and Aragorn can discuss their plans in Elvish in front of men who don’t speak it, cluing the audience into something that the characters are oblivious to. Having this linguistic diversity makes worlds seem more real.

Beyond that, the sounds of conlangs can also be evocative and immersive. There are a finite number of consonant sounds a human mouth is capable of making, but no language uses all of them. Drawing on sounds that fall outside of an English consonant inventory, for example, can make a conlang sound especially alien. Perhaps predictably, using consonant sounds as a shorthand for certain traits that a writer may wish to ascribe to an alien culture — brutishness for orcs or sophistication for elves, for example — can be fraught. “Black Speech”, the language Tolkien wrote for Orcs and other evil creatures in Middle Earth, is incredibly laryngeal, with a lot of consonant sounds clustered at the back of the mouth. Some of these sounds can’t be found in English, but can be in languages like Arabic. In contrast, languages that are meant to connote to elegance and sophistication are more likely to borrow sounds from Romance languages. The associations that we have with sounds, for better or worse, tell us about the fantastical characters that speak them.

Language is an integral part of storytelling, in the most literal sense possible, as well as more poetically. Although it can pose an obstacle to audience accessibility, it can also enrich stories in their nuance and believability. Translating is an artform, and even though it can prove challenging, it transforms the media we consume in a really significant way. And I, for one, think that’s kind of magical.

Nicola Brayan explores what goes into the languages we hear onscreen.

When culturallyspecific or semantically encoded nuance is poorly translated, audiences can miss out on plot-relevant observations and development, as well as beautiful writing.

Cross-cultural contact in space ought to have all the linguistic barriers that cross-cultural contact on Earth does.

Translating is an artform, and even though it can prove challenging, it transforms the media we consume in a really significant way.

Fantastical Historicism

Traditionally, mediaeval European settings and stories have dominated the fantasy genre. The influence of Lord of the Rings and other classics has created a sandbox method where, for decades, authors would rewrite the same tales based around knights and heroes, the only meaningful difference being the magic systems and creatures added in to make it a “fantasy” novel.

As the publishing industry and readers have diversified, however, fantasy has been transformed into one of the most progressive and radical genres you can read. BIPOC authors have combined the historical settings, and the almost limitless creative potential that magic allows, to reclaim their own history and breath power into cultural traditions previously erased.

Fantasy has allowed authors to create a world which initiates a process of truth telling around Australian colonisation, or similarly has allowed African authors to write in an African inspired setting completely devoid of a European presence.

A brilliant example of this movement is The Poppy War trilogy, by ChineseAmerican historian and author Rebecca Kuang. Set in a world heavily based on Qing dynasty China, it retells the Opium Wars, Sino-Japanese War, and eventually WWII and the Chinese Civil War. Kuang sets out to highlight

the experiences of the Chinese civilian population who are often ignored in military histories, and create a magic system that elevates Chinese culture as the primary mechanism of resistance.

Unlike most fantasy series which often glorify war and battle, Kuang takes a hyper-realist and confronting approach. As the protagonist Rin — whose arc is loosely based on Mao — uses guerrilla tactics to fight the Japanese, whole towns and cities are destroyed, civilians are mutilated, and thousands become refugees.

Kuang draws from her personal experience, recounting a visit to her family in China: “When I visited my father’s home village, you can see the bullet holes in the walls…that’s a history that has stayed with them.” The scars have not healed for much of China, and the fantasy genre allows Kuang to give a voice to those struggles that are absent in more sterile military histories, where maps and casualty charts are often all people ever get. She has complete control of the world and can draft a plot that elevates the aspects of history she values the most.

Kuang’s use of magic is even more revolutionary. Shamanism and mythology are a syncretic mix of Daoism, Buddhism, and ancient Chinese divination methods. Characters use a combination of meditation and psychotropic drugs

to enter a spiritual realm where they can act as a vessel for a god who gives them power in the physical world. Rin binds with the “Phoenix” god who is associated with fire magic. Many of the gods and spirits are taken loosely from classic Chinese literary works like Journey to the West, written during the Ming Dynasty.

By tying Chinese folklore to magic, the victory of the Chinese people against Japanese and Western imperialists(who don’t have shamans) becomes a victory for Chinese culture as well. Their traditions become weapons that are the decisive force in battles, overcoming physical weapons and tactics; Kuang centres Han resistance on identity.

This counteracts colonial histories which reduce their struggle to a footnote in a larger global conflict, and the supposedly “nationalist” narrative of the CCP who turned 20th century Chinese history into a linear ideological struggle. In order to justify the Maoist Cultural Revolution in the 1950s, where Chinese civilization was decimated, the CCP have ignored the cultural nature of resistance and instead made it entirely political. Kuang goes a long way to correct the record.

When the Japanese torture and experiment on Rin and other shamans, mimicking the genuine crimes against

humanity committed during the Second World War, they are tortured because the Japanese want to harness their magical abilities. Again, Chinese identity is equated with power, and when Rin survives the torture, it is another symbol of the Chinese people maintaining their culture in the face of what seems like impossible odds.

The magic system also allows the representation of China’s ethnic minorities who were equally impacted by the conflict but are even missing from Chinese accounts written by Han historians. The Hinterlanders represent the people of Upper Mongolia and their magical abilities are based on traditional nomadic rituals involving horses and eagles.

The Poppy War is one of the most ambitious projects in modern fantasy. Kuang is very aware of her radical purpose, telling a group of university students in 2020: “I am a Western author writing to a Western audience in a Western literary tradition.” She attempts to rewrite Chinese history, within a Western canon that desperately needs diversity.

It’s a shame the series has not been translated into Chinese, and would likely be banned in mainland China; The Poppy War tells their story through magic and fantasy. Perhaps, hopefully, people like Kuang’s father should get the chance to read it one day.

Toys, Toes & Travel: Women’s Revue Delivers Fast Laughs

This year’s Women’s Revue is a cheeky, fun filled exploration of gender, coming of age, and when it is appropriate to be barefoot. Directed by Eilish Wilkinson and Jacqui Stephens, the show is a high energy romp that delivers strong, snappy, and at times absurd sketches that speak to genuine emotions and experiences.

This year’s theme was TAKE OFF.

The sketches ventured beyond the theme with over a third taking place in medical facilities.

USyd’s various identity revues have the task of balancing comedy that has a universal appeal with observations about the unique experiences of the group they represent. It’s a hard task, but TAKE OFF struck this balance well. There were a few

girlfriends. The best sketch of the night was a monologue exploring one young girl’s experience at summer camp, which was both well scripted and dynamically performed.

The show’s directors showed great restraint in their inclusion of multiple 30-seconds-or-less sketches, which quickly and cleanly delivered their punchlines and helped maintain a sense of energy throughout the show. Other sketches lacked the same level of development and attention to detail: concept was often but would have improved by more varied and engaging blocking and a more ruthless approach to script editing. A sketch in which the toys of Toy Story learn to embrace sharing Andy’s attention with a vibrator was a strong concept, and the vibrator’s performance (and costuming!) was highly memorable — but dragged in the moments between the audience

“getting it” and the actual delivery of the punchline.

The musical numbers were strong throughout the show. Musical pieces are a unique challenge in revues, as even the most confident performers can be very timid singers, and it’s hard to strike the right chord (pun intended) between comedy and musicality. TAKE OFF did this very well, with both the opening and closing numbers delivering a tone-setting high energy bookend to the show, and a FILM1001 presentation parody that had the audience cackling.

This year’s Women’s Revue does a solid job of exploring a range of unique topics and perspectives and makes good use of the unique talents of its cast. The fast paced feel of the show helps to keep audiences engaged throughout its run time, and the crowd’s energy was palpable throughout the performance. There is still one night left to see the show, and it’s very much worth checking out.

Lucy Bailey reviews.

Angus McGregor ref lects on magic as a radical force.

Photography by Kath Thomas

President

LIA PERKINS

Hello! We have now passed the 6 month mark of the 95th SRC and things are going well.

Monday was May Day, and the SRC came out to the march from Belmore Park to Hyde Park, with hundreds of unionists. I particularly enjoyed the line from a speaker “defend your communities and don’t defend the political establishment”.

Vice Presidents

DANIEL BOWRON ROSE DONNELLY

I’m very keen for the May Day rally at Port Kembla, against the proposed Nuclear Base on Saturday.

This week we had our council meeting on Wednesday night, where we passed a range of important motions opposing AUKUS, defending trans rights, supporting protests which commemorate 75 years since Al Nakba and demanding a better Federal budget this week –with a raise to JobSeeker and Youth Allowance for everyone, a rent freeze and action on climate.

I have started work on a review

forum about HECS Indexation.

Some of you may have seen Foodhub on the ABC recently! They’ve visited us a couple of times in recent weeks to gather testimonials about the need for these services in the current climate. Hopefully we can see student support front and centre in the national agenda.

of the SRC’s policies, particularly as they relate to staff and accessing the service. This is essential for the operation of the SRC’s services and the Workplace Health and Safety of everyone who accesses the SRC. Applications for SRC Electoral Officer are now open, and you can find the ad on Ethical Jobs and on our website under ‘SRC Jobs’.

Results of our simple extension survey are now live - check them out on SRC Social Media channels. The University needs to start listening to students when making decisions, and students have spoken in favour of

General Secretaries

TIGER PERKINS JASMINE DONNELLY

5-day Simple Extensions. It was good to meet with Weihong, President of SUPRA, who is on the same page as undergraduate students.

Next week a few officebearers will be going to Canberra to protest the housing crisis during the announcement of the Federal Budget. The rally to commemorate Al Nakba is on Saturday, and I encourage you to attend.

Another fortnight has passed with much to report! USydstudentsforthevoice held its first stall on Tuesday 18 April and are continuing to hold stalls every week to inform students about the upcoming referendum. Follow the instagram @ usydstudentsforthevoice for more. Rose also attended the May Day Rally in Belmore Mark and the NUS

SASH

Disabilities & Carers

Keep in touch with upcoming events: A joint UTS & USyd Yarning Circle held at UTS on May 22 (all students welcome), and the NUS Student Poverty Rally at 10am on May 9 @ Parliament House, Canberra, moving to Civic in the afternoon.

Love Daniel and Rose xoxo

We attended the May Day rally on Monday where it was amazing to see many thousands of proud unionists marching through the streets in recognition of their historical and future struggles. It was great to hear an emphasis on the politics of a just transition and climate change from a number of speakers. Tiger also attended the Thales action in the Quad to protest the presence

of French weapons manufacturer Thales and fossil fuel giant Santos on campus.

Jasmine attended a Senate meeting in lieu of Lia, where they heard concerns from student reps from USU, SUSF, SUPRA and the SRC. We emphasised the impact the cost of living crisis is having upon student life at uni, and vision to expand FoodHub with the USU to reach more students. Teebs not sure how much Belinda Hutchinson and Mark Scott cared given their gratuitous personal spending of university money, but Jasmine really appreciated them inviting us in 40 minutes past the expected start time of the meeting.

Get excited about RadEd Week and good luck with exams!

Lots have happened since we last reported! Back in March with the Wom*n’s Collective we held a snap action at Town Hall to protest the state government’s lack of public abortion services since Abortion Law Reform Act 2019. Although abortion is decriminalised, the right to abortions is being withheld, with only two public hospitals providing abortion services in NSW. This is despicable and it was good to see so many activists in attendance.

We also helped organise the Abolish

Refugee Rights

KHANH TRAN JACK SCANLAN

The Disabilities & Carers Officers did not submit a Report this week.

the Colleges public forum. Chaired by Wom*n’s Officer, Iggy Boyd we hosted Jenny Leong, Nina Funnel, Khanh Tran, and Chloe Drugas with a welcome to country from Nadeena Dixon. The forum facilitated important discussions about the generational culture of sexual violence and the hazing within the colleges and how we as activists can share our own institutional knowledge and experiences to fight against the oppressive structures that uphold the colleges.

As of late, we’ve been putting our efforts towards planning the Wom*n’s Collective rally in week 11 in support of safe and affordable public housing for students and against the colleges and USYD management’s gross inaction towards SASH on campus

We have also been hosting bake sales to raise money for First Nations activist Paul de Silva. If you see us around come say hi! See you at WoCo!

Disclaimer

These pages belong to the Office Bearers of the University of Sydney Students’ Representative Council.

They are not altered, influenced or otherwise changed by the Editors of Honi Soit.

The Global Solidarity Officers did not submit a Report this week.

AKEE ELIOT ANNABEL PETTIT LYDIA ELIAS AMELIE ROEDIGER

ELIZA CROSSLEY ALANA RAMSHAW GRACE PORTER ZOE COLES

Special Consideration During Exams or

Assessments

Ask Abe SRC Caseworker Help Q&A Academic Honesty & Integrity

Dear Abe,

I’ve been told that I’m in trouble for plagiarism, but I don’t think I did anything wrong. The Turnitin report has highlighted a lot of my essay, but I did put references in. What should I have done?

Not Sure.

Too Sick for Exams?

If you are too sick to complete a take home assessment or exam, you can apply for Special Consideration, even if it is a replacement exam.

The SRC has a leaflet and some short videos that explains everything you need to know to apply. See the link belowhttps://srcusyd.net.au/src-help/ academic-issues/special-consideration/

For more information, links and videos on Special Consideration: srcusyd.net.au/src-help/academic-issues/special-consideration

Dear Not Sure, Plagiarism is where you present someone else’s ideas and words as your own. The Turnitin report highlights the parts of your assessment that appear exactly in someone else’s work, whether it is published work, an essay from another student, or one of your old assessments. Where you use someone else’s ideas, you need to give them credit in your references.

When you use someone else’s words, you need to paraphrase what they have written, and give them credit in your references. If you do not paraphrase you must use quotation marks and give them credit in your references. Each faculty uses a different style of referencing, so check your subject outline. The library’s Peer Learning Advisors can help you with this skill, or re-do the Academic Honesty Education Module on Canvas.

SRC Caseworkers are able to help prepare a response to the accusation of academic dishonesty, including plagiarism. Contact a saseworker via the QR code link below. Include a copy of the Turnitin report.

Abe

Contact us if you need help from an SRC Caseworker start an enquiry on our Caseworker Form: bit.ly/3YxvDUf

Quick

Crossword

Across

1. Patron saint of carpenters (6)

5. Street directory contents (4,4)

9. United state (8)

10. Of a teacher temporary, of an event informal (6)

11. Language of Beowulf (3,7)

12. Patron saint of doctors (4)

13. Red wine grape (8)

16. Find (6)

17. Patron saint of Ireland (6)

19. World War I Belgian battlesite (8)

21. Patron saint of hopeless causes (4)

22. Centres of extermination such as Auschwitz (5,5)

25. Object that comes to life in the Pygmalion myth or The Winter’s Tale (6)

26. Crown (8)

27. Parts of a chair or lounge (8)

28. Gibson, Simpson, or Gobi (6)

Quiz

1. In Freudian psychoanalysis, what Latin word is given to the part of the mind that consists of unconscious instinctive desires?

2. What is the third note of the octave using the solfège system?

3. What is the first name of both the real-life gangster known as ‘Scarface’ and the actor who played ‘Scarface’ in a 1983 film?

4. What word, an abbreviation derived from a misspelling of ‘all correct’, is perhaps the most common written or spoken word worldwide?

5. What four letter word can follow soccer, royal, and Met?

6. What links the previous five answers?

Find the answers at

Cryptic

Crossword

Down

2. Bay window (5)

3. Bird of prey (5)

4. Pistol (7)

5. Someone who sees things as they are (7)

6. Booze (7)

7. Lost (9)

8. One who plays practical jokes (9)

14. Imaginary string instrument (3,6)

15. Kitchen implement (9)

18. Los Angeles baseball team (7)

19. Patron saint of animals (7)

20. Stuck (7)

23. Patron saint of girls (5)

24. Patron saint of fisherman (5)

Puzzles by Tournesol.

Across

1. Going for overpowered team in national golf leaders (6)

5. Misandrists’ credo conveyed by hostile letters (4,4)

9. Poor visibility while missing in wild Antarctica (8)

10. Brother, you and I see no end to hurt (6)

11. Spooner’s bread there is falling apart (10)

12. Bad sex after drug with former lovers (4)

13. Drug me, princess, and Blanchett (8)

16. Alternative coke fiend (6)

17. Put DIY construction clean (4,2)

19. Slimy underwear for my bottom (8)

21. Long tree (4)

22. Hand on button in Charles’ bathroom (5,5)

25. Hit the Italian jewellery (6)

26. Leave out egg on quest (8)

27. Half a year (8)

28. Thief returned lyre to Olivia, partly (6)

Down

2. Fruit and vegetable before church (5)

3. One wise man brings a picture (5)

4. Relative to grammar pronunciation (7)

5. Change tack in tool bestseller (7)

6. Bill permits notebooks (7)

7. Play with execution method (9)

8. Copper checker (9)

14. Get rid of man and woman with extreme trampoline (9)

15. Give a Yule party at colleges (3,6)

18. Vet holding rat head follows for abuse (7)

19. C+ for speech in uni building (7)

20. Hate being sick twice, around start of winter (3,4)

23. Girl with no rope (5)

24. Talked of wheel part (5)

Address: http://misinformation.com.au

King Charles spotted inside Manning House Pixii dispenser.

God save the Queen (Ninky Minjaj)

The face only a mother could love and two cousins could produce

Kid with asthma going absolutely fucking feral with their puffer

Student hospitalised after eating soap at USU Soapbox

Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson fuck on top of Lego

Pompeii