Student union refuses affiliation to political clubs
BY RUTH RATCLIFFECANBERRA â Citing its policy of refusing to affiliate any club deemed political, the University of Canberra Union n(UCU) has rejected an application for affiliation from the Resistance club.
Resistance has 25 members on the university and has been active there for many years, including involvement in a campaign this year against the introduction of fees for internet use. Many staff members and students have come to appreciate the socialist youth organisation's activism.
The UCU has been controlled by university management since 1996 and no elections for positions have been held.
The union has no right to dictate which clubs students form on UC, Resistance club member Marcus Pabian said. UCU distributes students' money and should be elected and controlled by students.
By refusing to affiliate political clubs which may oppose the views of university management, the UCU is preventing freedom of speech on campus, Pabian argued, promising that the Resistance club will fight this bureaucratic censorship.
The club will run a petition campaign on the campus when studies resume in July to force a change in the union's affiliation policy and for elections to be held for union positions.