Student Guild Elections 2023: Get to Know the Independents
Students at UWA will have the opportunity to elect next year’s Student Guild Council later this month. Campaigning has begun and this article introduces the Independents.
Voting begins on the 18th of September and ends on the 21st. Polling will occur on campus, every UWA student can vote and voting is not compulsory. See here for more information.
Get to know Luke Alderslade
What is your vision for the Guild in 2024?
In my opinion, the Guild seems to have lost its relevance in the daily lives of students. Unfortunately, due to the nature of student politics, the Guild has become very cliquey and detached from the rest of campus life. This persisting absence has put an undue amount of pressure on clubs, FacSocs, and students in general to find a community. This to me is a real shame as I hear of “how good” the Guild was pre-Covid and that it’s still struggling to return to its former acclaim.
My vision for 2024 is to see a Guild that is not bogged down by petty party politics that time and time again detract from students’ experience. I want the Guild to be an active and positive force in the lives of UWA students that supports communities rather than leaves them to fend for themselves.
What makes you as a candidate different?
Well, right off the bat, I’m an Independent! I’m not politically aligned with any party and I’m simply wanting to do right by the people who vote for me. After being on Council this year I have worked collaboratively with members of all parties in order to achieve the campaign promises I made last year.
This year as an Ordinary Guild Councillor, I organised and ran the UWA World’s Greatest Shave raising $5,300 for charity, secured $37,500 worth of funding for the Duke of Edinburgh Award, and am currently the Chair of Youth Leaders’ Council. This has given me a wealth of experience in terms of working closely with other students as well as within the confines of the Guild and University. Clearly, I’m not a quitter.
What policies are you most excited about?
The policies that I am most excited about are the ones that I’m running on. Firstly, I seek to continue the World’s Greatest Shave. Despite raising thousands for charity, it also allowed students to connect with the Guild on another level and allowed individuals to do something that they are passionate about.
Secondly, I want to focus on launching and entrenching the Duke of Edinburgh Award, giving students an opportunity to upskill themselves and be recognised for the work that they do. Finally, amidst this cost-of-living crisis, I wish to alleviate some pressure on students by simply reducing the prices of drinks at Guild cafes and outlets.
What is the most compelling reason for students to vote for you?
Elections are often the be-all and end-all for candidates, who continually pester, argue, and pressure students to get them to vote for their party. You might have noticed these candidates popping up quite recently, potentially just to get a position. These same people go and resign soon after. I can assure you what makes me different is that I actually show up. I am present at meetings, I show up to events, and I continuously work for the people who truly have placed their faith in me. I don’t give up easily.
I don’t believe leadership is the title or the position, but rather, it’s the opportunity to serve the community you’re passionate about. If this is a message that resonates with you, I encourage you to go out and vote!
Get to know Parham Bahrami
What is your vision for the Guild in 2024?
To be completely honest, right now the Guild is pretty… lacklustre. It’s increasingly harder to engage people in events. Club executives are often untrained or lack the commitment necessary for the role. Guild services are mostly unknown and unused. This has to change.
I envision a Guild that shows up for the students. A place where each and every student knows exactly where to go to get help, and a Guild that has the necessary resources to help them. A place where every student can easily get involved with exactly what they’re interested in. A fighting Guild, one that stands up for students’ rights, and students’ interests. Both major parties have promised this—I wonder if either of them will deliver?
What makes you as a candidate different?
I am the only candidate running for the NUS (National Union of Students) this year who has been to the NUS National Conference as a delegate or a proxy, after going in 2022. The NUS is a shocking experience, and I went through it first-hand. It is an immature slugfest of party politics, verbal abuse, and shocking political hypocrisy and agendas. You might be asking—why go again? Because it’s important. The NUS has the potential to do great work for all students in Australia, and I aim to make that a reality for UWA.
Running as an Independent, I don’t have to answer to any party here at UWA or nationally. What makes me different is that I can fully focus on representing YOU. I’m no stranger to representation either—I am an executive on the Ethnocultural Department, I am the Admin Deputy Co-Officer, I’m VP of BPhil Union, and I founded and am the president of the E-Rideables Society. I have sat on two further club committees as an executive. While this doesn’t mean I understand student issues any better than you, I firmly believe that my experience enables me to represent you at the highest level.
What policies are you most excited about?
As an NUS candidate, unfortunately my role doesn’t allow me to have flashy policy like Office Bearers or Ordinary Guild Councillors. But, if elected, I do have a few key policies that I would like to push and advocate for at the NUS. The first of these is the NUS recognising the worsening cost-of-living crisis. I believe it is about time that universities across the nation take a unified stance and strategise to support students during this crisis as their highest priority. I will push for a national plan to be formed and discuss how we as student associations can best tackle this problem together.
Secondly, I wish to seriously push for safer club events. I do not believe that the UWA Student Guild or the University has done enough to address the shocking results of the National Student Safety Survey (NSSS). It is about time that an independent taskforce be established across Australia to keep universities accountable to their duty of care to students, to stop covering up and silencing victims of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment all for the sake of their reputations.
It’s crazy to think that one of the main policies of a particular party is to disaffiliate from the NUS—I think this is quite misguided. The NUS is a very important organisation, and student life would be a lot different without it. It is essential that we actively participate in it.
What is the most compelling reason for voters to vote for you?
Candidates come and go. You probably don’t know most of the candidates running beforehand—and you most definitely won’t hear from them after. This election, vote for someone who shows up. Someone who’s had experience in the role they’re going for. Someone who has a vision for exactly what they want to do in the role. Too often the position of NUS delegate is ignored and traded away in a preference deal. This year, the position has even been offered and advertised to potential candidates as a free trip to Melbourne. This is unacceptable.
The most compelling reason to vote for me is simple—I am the only candidate running in this election who is fully focused on representing YOU at the national level. Not a political party, not the group of students they’re running with, and not the people who they had a preference deal with these elections. Only the students of UWA. Vote Independent this election!
Get to know Rama Sugiartha
What is your vision for the Guild in 2024?
The Guild should, and shall, be accessible, inclusive, and sustainable.
Access to Guild services should be streamlined. Accessing, and even navigating, the Guild can be quite daunting. It should be as simple as possible. Information on the Guild’s activities, and that of its subcommittees should be made available online. This information should be regularly updated.
Assistance should continue to be made to students experiencing financial hardship. Cost should not be a limiting factor to education. The University of Western Australia has a diverse student population. Everyone has a right to feel and be included. Bring diversity to the student Guild. Education material should be available across mediums to cater for a wide range of needs, including industry events. Further develop culture events and working in collaboration across a wide range of partners celebrates diversity. Maintain the safe and respectful space that should be our University.
The operations of the Guild must be sustainable well into the future. Policies shouldn’t appease a select few students and be abandoned by the next Council, wasting investments of time and money. We must consider the environmental constraints of Guild activities and advocate to the University to accelerate towards its climate targets. The use of Guild funds should be well considered. The Guild’s finances should be prepared for the unknown. It is essential that cost-benefit analysis is performed, and that the success of events is deemed highly probable. This does not necessitate that events do not run at loss, but the benefit delivered to students is undeniably greater than that cost.
It is not simply a goal or a vision for 2024, but an ongoing commitment to student life at the University of Western Australia. We should be proud to be a part of this community. No drama.
What makes you as a candidate different?
In this election my candidature is unique in that I am running as an independent for office bearer positions, for General Secretary and for President of Education Council alongside National Union of Students delegate and Ordinary Guild Councillor. Office bearer positions are generally controlled by the parties. These parties seem to be in constant disagreement with each other, the Guild could be more efficient by simply skipping the drama with an independent GenSec or Ed President.
As an Independent I would be able to focus on my role and ensure that the expectations of the positions are met. This year, things as simple as being present or uploading minutes in a timely manner have been missed.
As a first year I have found it incredibly difficult to find out what is happening at the Guild. Emails are left unanswered and listed committees seem to be non-existent. It’s important that Guild members, that students, know what is happening. Guild subcommittees and Council should be reporting activities and finances, and these should be easily accessible to all students. Bring fresh ideas to the Guild, not tired old party sayings.
What policies are you most excited about?
My priority is to improve transparency and accountability across the Guild. Information on the current activities and projects of all Guild committees, not just the Council, should be published regularly on the Guild website. The existence of these records should be made clear through Guild media across the year, not to be used as some poorly implemented scare tactic during elections.
LMS and Handbook Unit Outlines should match up. It’s annoying rocking up for your first day of class only to learn your exam free unit now has a 60% final exam.
Industry and study events should be available for all majors, not just the select few. From every school, there’s at least one major that receives a disproportionate amount of attention. It’s important that everyone gains a sense of direction while studying. Industry exposure is immensely essential.
What is the most compelling reason for students to vote for you?
I am passionate, dedicated, and dead keen to use my platform to act in the best interests of ALL students. Bring breadth and depth to the Guild. As an Independent, I can act without consideration of party politics. My focus can well and truly be on improving student life at UWA with well-considered values of accessibility, inclusivity, and sustainability.
Skip the drama, vote Rama!
Get to know Adam Elyousef
What is your vision for the Guild in 2024?
In 2024, I envision the Guild as a place where we have official nap time slots, with a Guild Village full of cozy hammocks and soothing lullabies. Because who doesn’t need a quick power nap between classes?
What makes you as a candidate different?
Well, I’m the only candidate who has been an OGC, Office Bearer, and Executive so I can sing the entire Guild regulations in 41 seconds while doing the Macarena.
What policies are you most excited about?
It’s about time we got a zip line from Reid to the Business School!
What is the most compelling reason for students to vote for you?
And look while my other answers are a bit light and silly, something I am genuinely serious about is keeping the Guild a pro-Palestine advocacy body. I pushed for it in 2021 so vote for anyone who will ensure Palestinian advocacy on campus continues to evolve.