By Martin Iltis
CANBERRA — The crushing defeat for the Labor right "Rage" ticket, which previously held all executive positions and a majority of other positions, in ANU Student Association elections last week has been attributed to their negative role in this year's campaign against education cuts. One hundred and forty-six votes for Rage presidential candidate Daniel Jenkins were excluded after allegations that a Rage candidate stuffed ballot boxes.
"Independent" ticket Counter Attack won all three executive positions, as well as a large majority of faculty and general representative positions. The Education Action Group (EAG), a coalition of Resistance, Socialist Worker Student Club and progressive activists, gained the uncontested part-time representative position. Resistance member Martin Iltis also won a general representative position.
Resistance member and EAG presidential candidate Nick Soudakoff said, "The fact that Rage have been soundly defeated is positive. The shenanigans of the previous administration in not funding the education campaign and going out of its way to discredit it shows the destructive role that Labor plays in campaigns and movements.
"Stuffing ballot boxes really comes as no surprise. The only time Labor mobilise on campus is at election time, and obviously they see no limits in the lengths they will go to to retain bureaucratic power."
On the EAG's performance in the elections, Soudakoff said, "I am disappointed. It does not reflect the work we have put into building the national days of action and the education campaign. The election presented a good opportunity to talk to people, to build the campaign and the October 10 student actions in Canberra. Unfortunately, only Resistance members and one or two independents actively carried this out."
Counter Attack ran a campaign posing as responsible independents who would address student needs as well as providing opposition to the Liberal education cuts. They claimed that they would organise "responsible" activism.
Commenting on Counter Attack's victory, Soudakoff said, "Hopefully, they will assist the campaign against the cuts and be involved in the cross-campus campaigns. Despite their election propaganda, they haven't done much yet, so the pressure will be on them to live up to their promises."