The largest point of contention this election is the fact that Education Officer is the only position contested. Incoming General Secretary Lachy Day assures us that this is not necessarily as dire as it has been suggested, highlighting the “cyclical” nature of elections and the similar election that took place in 2013.
Many of the questions put to the incoming executive were subject to the outcomes of the Governance Review that ANUSA is currently undertaking. Issues contingent on the review include; any modification of pay within ANUSA and the nature of the relationship between the SRC and the Clubs’ Council going forward.
Lachy Day: Incoming General Secretary
Lachy asserts that his institutional experience places him in a better position than his predecessor to bring back the Policy Register as instituted by 2016 General Secretary Kat Reed.
He also hopes that Governance Review will present potential avenues for General Representatives to strengthen their involvement with ANUSA. His emphasis on engagement continued in his aspiration to improve student participation and attendance in forums other than the SRC. When asked if the lack of engagement was a result of lack of knowledge about what happens in these forums Lachy joked that perhaps we need to make “OGM’s more spicy.”
Matthew Mottola: Incoming Social Officer
Matthew first fielded a question on the issues which surrounded this year’s Friday Night Party. While he couldn’t say anything concrete without discussion with the incumbent Social Officer, he stressed that starting conversations and planning earlier were things that he could do to ensure that the next Friday Night Party runs smoothly.
When queried as to his promise to pay student leaders, Matthew clarified that he did not believe that student leaders should necessarily be paid more, rather that they should be paid appropriately in accordance with their duties. However, the specifics as to who is to be paid and how much they should be paid is also reliant on the Governance Review.
Dashveen Jose: Incoming Treasurer
Dashveen talked to a number of areas he hopes to address in his upcoming term. The incoming Treasurer outlined his plan to improve financial training for club treasurers so that ANUSA doesn’t have to “bail out” clubs, as it has recently had to do with the ANU Biology Society.
Dashveen wants to work with ride sharing companies or the taxi industry to make sure that students have access to safe transportation around Canberra when other options may not be available.
Dashveen would also like to decrease ANUSA’s dependence on SSAF by garnering more corporate sponsorships. However, to ensure that any potential sponsors are ethically viable, Dashveen intends to collaborate with department officers to devise an ethics criteria, which potential sponsors must adhere to.
What Comes Next?
As it stands each of these members of the incoming executive brings a plethora of experience, as well as an inherent desire to improve the experience of students both on and off campus as well as those participating in governing bodies.
What remains to be seen is whether or not they will be able to apply these policies and achieve their goals once their terms begin in earnest.
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.