Federico Fuentes
This year's national education conference will be held at an important juncture in the struggle to stop universities increasing HECS fees. The conference, which will be held in Sydney between June 30 and July 2, is an annual gathering of education and student movement activists organised by the National Union of Students (NUS).
Despite some of the biggest rallies seen in the education movement for a number of years — including a national day of action involving 5000 students in protests, occupations and blockades of numerous university senate meetings, most universities have imposed the Coalition government's proposed 25% hike in HECS fees.
Since the beginning of the year, 23 universities have moved to increase HECS fees, the latest being Edith Cowan University in Western Australia, which also introduced up-front fee paying places for Australian students.
Murdoch University is set to be the next to raise HECS fees, after its Academic Council recommended the HECS fee hike to the university senate. Given that this same senate introduced up-front fees earlier this year, it will no doubt willingly abide by the recommendation.
At this year's education conference, activists face the question of the looming federal elections. It is clear that a re-elected Coalition government will move to further privatise the university system. The ALP, on the other hand, is promising to repeal the fee increases, but will go no further.
In a number of cities there are plans for broad anti-Howard protests to unite all those who have suffered under the federal Coalition government, to be held the Sunday before the federal election. Not only can such rallies oppose PM John Howard's war-mongering, racist and pro-rich policies, but they could serve as a warning to an incoming Labor government that there will be resistance if it continues along the same lines.
The slogan adopted for the protests in Sydney and Melbourne is "End their lies! Howard out, troops out!"
The Socialist Alternative group has circulated a motion it intends to move at the conference for a student national day of action to be held before the elections using the slogan "Kick Howard out!". If an August 7 election is called, Socialist Alternative proposes that the national protests be held on August 5. If the election is later than August, it proposes August 18 as the date.
NUS should build for and advertise both the student-only and the broader anti-Howard demonstrations.
Many students see the looming elections, quite rightly, as an important opportunity for the anti-fees movement to punish Howard and education minister Brendan Nelson for their anti-student policies, as well as for their support for war and racism.
But we can't just rely on getting Labor elected to end these policies, as the Labor students believe — a belief reflected in their proposal for NUS to relate to the federal elections by focusing on an anti-Coalition marginal seats campaign. After all, it was Labor that first introduced the HECS fee system.
As well as organising a student-specific protest in August, which will help put education issues on the public agenda, NUS should unite with other organisations to help build the biggest and broadest "Howard out!" protests. Uniting with anti-war activists, refugee-rights campaigners, trade unionists and others who are fighting the Howard government's reactionary policies will help increase the political impact of the anti-fees campaign.
While "Kick Howard out!" is a useful over-arching slogan, a rally built simply on this slogan is unlikely to be able to mobilise the broadest layers of students. To the many students who recognise that the ALP is part of the problem not the solution a rally built simply around the "Howard out!" slogan risks appearing as a purely pro-ALP stunt.
All progressive students will be happy to see the back of Howard, but many do not trust the ALP to be any different. That's why we need to build any anti-Howard rally by clearly indicating that our opposition to the Howard government is based on opposition to its reactionary policies, and that it is not simply a disguised "Vote Labor!" rally.
It will be crucial to include in the publicity for the rally slogans and demands that give the broad "Howard out!" slogan some clear content, such as "Books not bombs!" and "Repeal the Nelson legislation!"
Such demands can both tap into students' anger at the HECS fee hikes but also at their opposition to the Iraq war — widely seen as the central issue in this year's federal elections. The "Books not bombs!" slogan also hits a cord that was struck with the huge student strikes in March 2003 against the invasion of Iraq.
Rallying around such slogans and demands now will help put the student movement on the front foot to demand a federal Labor government reverse the damage done by the Coalition.
[Federico Fuentes is a student guild councillor at UWA and a national executive member of the socialist youth organisation Resistance.]
From Green Left Weekly, June 30, 2004.
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