Both the President and National Secretary of CAPA (Council of Australian Postgraduates Association) have resigned. CAPA, which is the postgraduate equivalent of NUS (National Union of Students), has been beleaguered with problems this year due to rival factions and depleted funds. CAPA began in 1979 and has over 320 000 members. The resignation of the President and the National Secretary is a significant blow for Australia’s peak representative body for postgraduate students.
Woroni has heard that the now former President, Chamonix Terblanche suggested that CAPA should merge with NUS in order to save CAPA from potential bankruptcy. This news was met with intense criticism and in response Ms Terblanche made the decision yesterday to resign. Following this announcement, the National Secretary, who is allegedly politically aligned with Ms Terblance, also announced her resignation, stating that she no longer had any desire to continue with the role. Throughout her term, Ms Terblance had been the subject of ongoing criticism for her involvement in a Liberal faction and for CAPA being increasingly dominated by factional student politics.
As of yesterday, the Acting Presidents are the current Vice Presidents, Harry Rolf and ANU’s own Areti Metamuate. Mr Metamuate has told Woroni that he has no political affiliations in Australia. They will only be serving until a new President is elected. The election is being held within the next 48 hours.
We acknowledge the Ngunnawal and Ngambri people, who are the Traditional Custodians of the land on which Woroni, Woroni Radio and Woroni TV are created, edited, published, printed and distributed. We pay our respects to Elders past and present. We acknowledge that the name Woroni was taken from the Wadi Wadi Nation without permission, and we are striving to do better for future reconciliation.