Jack Cross
It is, once again, the most wonderful time of the year. Very shortly, students will exercise their democratic rights to bestow a mandate to rule the campus upon a few arguably unfortunate at amongst their number. These select few campus elites will gain control of the almighty and powerful UWA Student Guild, whose resources and operations they will be responsible for directing next year.
What are we doing?
In short, students are voting for representatives to direct the Guild. This is done via Guild Council, the board that sets the Guild’s policies and manages its operations, which include Guild Village (the complex that houses the IGA, Refectory, and Tavern) and the various cafés around campus. The Guild also provides other student support services and runs a range of activities.
Candidates will run for a range of offices, some of which carry specific responsibilities for particular Guild functions, and others which do not. The most important amongst these is the Guild President, who takes a year off from study to work full-time with the Guild. There will also be elections for the delegates the Guild will send to the annual conference of the National Union of Students.
Campaigning is essentially banned outside of an intense two-week window. Students will vote during the second week.
Why should I care?
Because you give a lot of money to the Guild when you pay the SSAF (which is charged by UWA and shared with the Guild) and it has a very powerful influence on our experience at university. It is obviously better to have its resources (student money) directed to things you value and care about, rather than things you do not want or even would not like to happen at all.
Although student politics is intricate and can be incredibly tiresome, you have a direct interest in ensuring that these resources are managed by competent and sensible people who represent you and your beliefs.
How does voting work?
Voting is conducted by the Western Australian Electoral Commission. It is not compulsory.
Booths will be set up across UWA campuses, and you may also apply for a postal vote.
Guild elections use an optional preferential system. Simply put, you must number your first preference “1”, and can then choose to preference more candidates by using “2”, “3”, “4” and so on, if you wish.
Who are the candidates?
Individual nominations have not yet opened, but groups have already been registered.
A group is often incorrectly called a party. Although groups are similar to political parties since they both run candidates for election under a common brand and have a common policy platform, they are not the same, as groups do not (officially) exist outside the campaign period and do not have an independent institutional existence beyond its candidates (e.g. a party would have non-candidate members, unlike an electoral group).
Groups will campaign by word of mouth, flyers, and websites that will detail their approach and policy priorities. Pelican will also conduct interviews with candidates to cut through the spin and waffling.
Capitalist Union
Promising to fight the “dangerous and corrosive” forces of internationalisation and socialism, the Capitalist Union seeks to ensure the free hand of the market has a tight grip over the Guild and UWA. Pelican understands that the newly formed Capitalist Union intends to run a largely satirical campaign to draw attention to what its organisers argue are inefficiencies in the Guild’s operations, and to poke fun at the Socialist Alternative-run ticket. Its registered agent is Lachlan Rick, likewise a newcomer to Guild elections.
GaG Party
Another new ticket with an apparently not-so-serious take on Guild elections, the self-professed “fun” ticket envisions a campus with a greater focus on the consumption of alcohol than study (and, presumably, graduation). Its agent is Dylan O’Dell, who has also never run in a Guild election.
GLOBAL
A long-running group, GLOBAL has held the presidency of the International Students’ Department for several years with effectively no serious opposition. Although it previously ran candidates for numerous portfolios, it has in recent years limited itself to running for the ISD, along with a range of OGC and NUS candidates. GLOBAL was successful in having several of these other candidates elected last year. Its agent is Archit Menon, the current ISD President.
LIFT
Having contested its first election last year and having won one OGC (Lachy Flavel), LIFT will be hoping for greater success in its second campaign. The group’s statement focuses on supporting students through their studies to employment, and on club culture. Its agent, Ciara Gannon, was the group’s candidate for Education Council President last year, and was an OGC candidate for its predecessor (Launch) in 2023.
REVIVE
Also contesting its second campaign is REVIVE, which won several OGC and NUS positions last but finished runner-up in all office-bearer contests. Presenting itself as a reformist option, REVIVE casts itself as anti-status quo and promises to turn “good intentions into real, impactful outcomes”. Its agent, Reuben Baeli, did not run with the group last year.
Social Justice
Closely associated with the national Trostkyist organisation Socialist Alternative (SAlt), Social Justice is also in its second year after the group moved away from the Left Action brand. It succeeded in electing Finn Penter (president of SAlt’s UWA branch) as an OGC last year. As usual, the group argues for a Guild that deploys its resources to support protests and activist movements. Its agent Danica Scott (vice-president of SAlt UWA) was its presidential candidate last year.
SPARK
The current reigning group, SPARK has largely dominated the Guild since defeating STAR (and finally driving it into oblivion last year). SPARK will seek to defend its record to win a fifth year in office, pointing to its work in campus culture and advocating for academic reforms, and promising to continue “putting students first”. Its agent Jay Williams is the current President of the Education Council.
This article is from Issue 4 2025 and was originally published in July.
Two groups have been removed; Thunder and Impact, which were registered at the time of writing, but subsequently declined to run candidates in this election. If you’d like to read the original article including those groups, you can find it our digital archive.
Two groups have been removed; Thunder and Impact, which were registered at the time of writing, but subsequently declined to run candidates in this election. If you’d like to read the original article including those groups, you can find it our digital archive.