Guild Council December Wrap Up

Every month the elected student body meets to discuss the happenings of the UWA Student Guild, elect new members and pass potential motions. This being the first month of the year meant that there were 2 meetings: the first guild council meeting of the year and the budget meeting for 2022. Below we have summarised the meetings to keep you up to date about how your SSAF money is being spent and what the Guild is currently doing!

Guild Council Meeting- 1^st December 2021

Meeting started at 6:04pm

A lot of elections took place!

• Tony Goodman as Managing Director of the Guild is the appointed Returning Officer
• Rashdina Ayeesha Ramli is elected unopposed as the Chair of the Guild Council.
• Aidan Mansfield is elected unopposed as the Vice- President of the UWA Student Guild
• Prisha Goel is elected unopposed as Deputy Chair of the UWA Student Guild.
• Academic Board is chosen; Guild President Amitabh Jeganathan, PSA President Max Beard, and PSA Research VP Max Davidson are appointed. Geemal Santhus Jayawickrama, Jasmine Hensley and Tanisha Kothari are elected unopposed.
• Julia Aguinot and Tanisha Kothari are elected unopposed to the Strategic Resources Committee.
• Sapphire Carter, Iknur Virik and Joseph Kaddis elected unopposed to the Catering and Tavern Committee. Boni Riad is elected unopposed as the Chair of the Catering & Tavern Committee.
• Jak Beard and Julia Aguinot are elected unopposed to the Student Services Committee. Narendra Gammanpila is elected unopposed as Chair of the Student Services Committee.
• Adam Elyousef, Tanisha Kothari, and Geemal Jayawickrama are elected unopposed to the Corporate Services Committee. Aidan Mansfield is elected unopposed as Chair of the Corporate Services Committee.
• Aidan Mansfield, Ethan Nicholas, and Julia Aguinot are elected unopposed to the Governance Committee. The Guild Council Chair is the automatic Chair of the Governance Committee.
• Dana Fung, Prisha Goel, and Natasha Nicole are elected unopposed to the Welfare & Advocacy Committee. Misha Riaz is elected unopposed as the Chair of the Welfare & Advocacy Committee.
• Louis Cheng was elected unopposed to the Equity and Diversity Committee. Esther Nixon was elect unopposed as Chair of the Equity & Diversity Committee.
• Prisha is elected unopposed to be on the Personnel Board.
• Daniel Roden and Rashdina Ayeesha Ramli are elected unopposed to the Enterprise Bargaining Agreement Committee.
• Aidan Mansfield and Rashdina Ayeesha Ramli are elected unopposed Joint Consultative Committee.
• Charlotte Kennedy is elected unopposed to be Chair of the Tenancy Committee.
• Charlotte Kennedy and Paris Javid were elected unopposed to Publications Committee.
• Sapphire Carter and Daniel Roden were elected unopposed to the Volunteering & Community Engagement Committee.
• Julia Aguinot elected unopposed to be Chair of the Young Leader Council Committee. Amira Suraya Nunnand Louis Cheng were elected unopposed to the Young Leaders Council Committee.

Elections & Cultural Committee elections get interesting!

• The first election takes place! Who would’ve thought that Elections would be a hot topic…
• As 7 members (Melanie De Alwis, Aidan Mansfield, Amitabh Jagannathan, Iknur Virik, Nicole McEwen, Daniel Roden and Julia Aguinot) were running for 5 positions, nominees were given 1 minute to speak to make their case. Followed by a 5-minute recess after which voting began.
• Nicole McEwen believes that including Left Action as a minor ticket brings a different perspective to make sure elections are as democratic and fair as possible.
• Melanie De Alwis believes going for leadership roles should not impact students’ mental health
• Aidan Mansfield and Amitabh Jagannathan want to make drastic changes to the election process and believe it is an urgent issue that needs to be addressed.
• Iknur Virik has been at the receiving end of the Guild election culture which she belives makes her the perfect candidate to help fix it.
• Daniel ran again to address the systemic problems within the election process. He believes mass nominations are a mutually assured destruction in an arms race.Daniel believes that solving the election problems will reform the UWA Student Guild
• Julia has a fresh fresher perspective that will mean she can keep the progress going after 2022.
• Aidan Mansfield, Nicole McEwen, Melanie De Alwis, Iknur Virik and Amitabh Jagannathan were elected to the Election Cultural Committee.

Motions

• The 109th Guild Council accepts the dates as attached to be the tentative dates for all Guild Council Meetings, including the Budget Meeting (on December 15^th notes are below) for the upcoming year. The Guild does not recognise Australia Day as a public holiday; thus, their monthly Guild Council January Meeting will fall on the 26^th Moved: Narendra Gammanpila. Seconded: Amitabh Jeganathan
• “The 109th Guild Council:

1. Condemns the ‘freedom’ rallies which have increasingly been led by far-right activists and COVID-19 deniers.
2. Strongly supports public health measures which benefit public good, such as lockdowns, vaccinations and quarantining.
3. Endorses United Against Bigotry and Racism’s counter-protest on December 11 and encourages all students and Guild Councillors to attend.”

Moved: Catherine Cheesman. Seconded: Natasha Nicole

Meeting ended at 7:16pm

Guild Council 2022 Budget Meeting – 15^th December 2021

Meeting started at 6:05 pm

More Elections

• Daniel Roden, Rashdina Ayeesha Ramli and Aidan Mansfield were elected unopposed to the Alumni Engagement Committee.
• Aidan Mansfield, Rashdina Ayeesha Ramli and Prisha Goel were elected unopposed to the Referendum Standing Committee.

General Business

• All members of the elected student body are required to submit monthly reports. First report is due before the 26^thof January .
• UWA Student Guild may be getting a revamp and potential new outlets in the refractory- no more staring at that gaping hole formerly known as the cutting board!
• Potential Op-Shops on campus!

Budget Report

• Overall budget is reduced for majority of departments.
• Looking to take a more conservative approach to spending, considering covid-19 and smaller number of students at UWA.
• The “conferences” & “stationary & printing” budget line was significantly reduced to reflect the impact of COVID-19 and transition to online platforms
• Former members of the 108th Guild Council questioned as to why the budget was being decreased despite freeze on spending during 2020-2021. Many of the excess allocation of departments from previous years were reduced and that cuts were ubiquitous across all Guild Departments. A conservative budget seems to be necessary for the future health of the Guild.
• Any departments wanting a budget increase must make a business case.

Motions

1. The Guild Council approves the 2022 Preliminary Budget Deficit-Surplus figure of $395,597 (deficit), as recommended by the Strategic Resources Committee.

Moved: Narendra Gammanpila. Seconded: Aidan Mansfield

2. The Guild Council approves the line items in the 2022 Preliminary Budget pack, as recommended by the Strategic Resources Committee.

Moved: Narendra Gammanpila. Seconded: Aidan Mansfield

3. The 109th Guild Council:

11.3.1 Approves the formation of a UWA Student Radio Station, to be named UDUB Radio
11.3.2 Approves the expenditure of $15,500 for the station’s equipment & operations 11.3.3 Appoints Charlotte Kennedy as the station manager for 2022

Moved: Geemal Jayawickrama. Seconded: Amitabh Jeganathan

UWA is getting a radio station!

4. The UWA Student Guild condemns the Liberal government’s Religious Discrimination Bill (2021) Moved: Paris Javid. Seconded: Farran Anwar

This bill would weaken existing anti-discrimination protections and allow religious groups and individuals more freedom to discriminate against women, queer people, people with disability, people of colour, and even people of faith.

Meeting ended at 7:36 pm