By Sam King
Activists at Flinders University have formed a "Broad Left" ticket to contest the May 19-22 elections for the Student Association Coordinating Group (COG) and National Union of Students (NUS) delegates.
The Broad Left's platform includes students' rights; free education; women's rights; solidarity with students struggling for democracy in Indonesia; no Jabiluka mine; solidarity with the Maritime Union of Australia; and no voluntary student unionism.
The ticket, initiated by Resistance, unites the left to campaign for a student association which involves and mobilises students. A united ticket gives the left the best chance of breaking the ALP right's stranglehold over COG and NUS at Flinders.
The only group which refused to participate in the ticket was the ALP left faction (NOLS — National Organisation of Labor Students). NOLS' Jason Veliskou said the group wants "to show the Labor right we can stand on our own two feet" and that "we don't always have to be part of alliances".
Veliskou said NOLS' platform would be essentially the same as the Labor right faction's: "We'll run a populist-type campaign; we'll try to take [the Labor right's] vote." Veliskou said NOLS would pick up the "personalised vote" — support from people who knew members of NOLS from previous campaigns — and was not interested in running on "hard left issues" which are electoral liabilities.
Resistance activist Kathy Newnam pointed out that, "NOLS has split the strength of the left and undermined its ability to politicise the elections and use them to build the free education campaign. There is no guarantee that, if elected, its officials will take a progressive stance."