By Jack Cross
The release of candidate lists for the upcoming Guild election confirms the demise of what was once the foundation of UWA student politics: STAR is no more.
Historically dominant, “Students Towards Active Representation” held office for decades with only a single year of interruption in 2012.
This year has seen the formation of several new groups, and although STAR had registered to contest the election, it has nominated no candidates, reducing the field from nine groups to eight.
Although STAR’s achievements were numerous, few students today would remember its final term in office, which ended on 30 November 2021 after it suffered a major defeat. This fading relevancy could have led to the group’s dissolution: with more students now familiar with STAR’s losses, rather than its wins, there is little incentive to keep the name alive.
Pelican contacted STAR’s group agent Alex Ellmer for comment, but did not receive a response.