Close Menu
Honi Soit
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
    Trending
    • Spacey Jane’s  ‘If That Makes Sense’ and Keeping Australian Music Alive
    • Trump administration issues executive order closing CIA black sites, convinced they are “woke” /Satire
    • “Lawfare”: Jewish staff and students rally behind USyd academics now facing federal legal action
    • USyd suspends Palestinian organiser and academic over alleged “violent speech”
    • Interview with Plestia Alaqad on ‘The Eyes of Gaza’
    • Whose Review Is It Anyway?: NUTS’ WPIIA 2025
    •  “Like diaspora, pollen needs to be scattered to different places to survive and grow”: Dual Opening of ‘Germinate/Propagate/Bloom’, and ‘Last Call’ at 4A Centre of Contemporary Asian Art
    • Akinola Davies Jr. on ‘My Father’s Shadow’, Namesakes, and Nostalgia
    • About
    • Print Edition
    • Student Journalism Conference 2025
    • Writing Comp
    • Advertise
    • Locations
    • Contact
    Facebook Instagram X (Twitter) TikTok
    Honi SoitHoni Soit
    Friday, June 20
    • News
    • Analysis
    • Culture
    • Opinion
    • University
    • Features
    • Perspective
    • Investigation
    • Reviews
    • Comedy
    • Student Journalism Conference 2025
    Honi Soit
    Home»News

    Stroppy SAlt walk out over lockdowns in latest SRC meeting

    It was an "old school" meeting.
    By Max ShanahanSeptember 1, 2021 News 4 Mins Read
    Art by Deaundre Espejo
    Share
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email

    After a year of generally benign Students’ Representative Council meetings, tonight’s September Council was an “old school” event, enlivened by shouting matches and a walk out over the decision not to endorse a Socialist Alternative (SAlt) motion calling for a ‘Lockdown to Zero’ campaign.

    Lockdown motion chaos

    The commotion began when SRC Welfare Officer Lia Perkins (Grassroots) moved a motion calling for the SRC to support the #PayPeopletoStayHome campaign. While the motion was eventually passed, SAlt Councillors took issue with the “key question” of the motion. SAlt posited that improvements to welfare would not alleviate the health situation, and a “harsher lockdown” was needed as well.

    SAlt moved a motion to endorse their ‘Lockdown to Zero’ campaign, calling on the SRC to “demand a proper lockdown” and oppose the plan to “live with the virus.” The motion was, helpfully, accompanied by 2000 words of preamble. 

    The discussion quickly devolved into a slanging match, with Grassroots and NLS councillors accusing SAlt of supporting greater policing measures. 

    SAlt argued that “more restrictions on bosses” were required to stop workers being infected with COVID, but, much to the chagrin of Oscar Chaffey (Grassroots), failed to explain how exactly the virus would be eliminated. When it was pointed out that no respiratory virus in history had ever been completely eradicated, Owen Marsden-Readford (SAlt) said that the issue was “capitalism” and “politics.”

    Highlight of the night so far was seeing Oscar (Trinity Grammar) and Owen (Arden Anglical School) accuse each other of trying to speak for the working class

    — Honi Soit (@honi_soit) September 1, 2021

    SAlt used the chat to plug polls by The Guardian which supposedly showed public support for a hardening of lockdowns and a zero-COVID policy. However, they were unable to convince the Council, with all members voting against the motion except for SAlt and Education Officer Tom Williams (ex-Grassroots).

    As the result of the vote became clear, the meeting descended further into chaos, with some distasteful personal remarks made by Lily Campbell (SAlt), while Marsden-Readford told Chaffey that they “wouldn’t know class politics if it hit them in the head.”

    Ater the motion failed, the SRC adjourned, and SAlt councillors failed to return, exiting the zoom en masse after the failed vote.  

    ACNC changes a “crackdown on student protestors”

    Besides the pitiful, but rather entertaining, spectacle of the lockdown debate, some important matters were raised in Council.

    According to a motion brought by Presidential candidate Lauren Lancaster, proposed changes to governance standard 3 of the Australian Charities and Not-for-Profits Commission Regulation (ACNC), “would dramatically expand the reasons for which an Australian charity can be registered.”

    Low-level summary offences, such as unlawful entry and vandalism — which are occasionally incurred at SRC-supported actions — could theoretically place the SRC at risk of deregistration. 

    Recent reviews of ACNC legislation did not find issue with standard 3, and the motion, which passed unanimously, described the changes as “a government crackdown on activist organisations.”

    Special Considerations changes

    In his report, President Swapnik Sanagavarapu pointed to the development of a new special considerations system, which will see a ‘case-management system’ replace the current “simple triage approach.” Sanagavarapu said the changes will “hopefully drastically improve outcomes.”

    The changes will be trialled before they are adopted. 

    A recent report in Honi reported a doubling of waiting times for special considerations applications. 

    USyd Student Unity throws La Trobe under the bus

    Another motion brought by Lancaster sought to condemn the attacks on student unionism at La Trobe University, and Student Unity’s complicity in the founding of a new ‘apolitical’ student association at La Trobe.

    When pressed on the matter, Grace Hu (Unity) said: “We condemn their actions.”

    Other

    The SRC also passed motions condemning the Liberal-controlled Macquarie Uni SRC for locking out left-wing students, committed to campaign for fee-waivers for refugee students in University accommodation, and called for the University to double its general bursary to $2000.

    ACNC COVID-19 la trobe lockdown socialist alternative Special Consideration SRC Student Unity

    Keep Reading

    “Lawfare”: Jewish staff and students rally behind USyd academics now facing federal legal action

    USyd suspends Palestinian organiser and academic over alleged “violent speech”

    USyd doesn’t listen: Five key policies updated and implemented following “feedback” process

    UTS bans indoor protests

    Macquarie University cuts at least 50 jobs

    1 in 3 men  have used intimate partner violence, according to AIFS research

    Just In

    Spacey Jane’s  ‘If That Makes Sense’ and Keeping Australian Music Alive

    June 20, 2025

    Trump administration issues executive order closing CIA black sites, convinced they are “woke” /Satire

    June 19, 2025

    “Lawfare”: Jewish staff and students rally behind USyd academics now facing federal legal action

    June 19, 2025

    USyd suspends Palestinian organiser and academic over alleged “violent speech”

    June 19, 2025
    Editor's Picks

    Part One: The Tale of the Corporate University

    May 28, 2025

    “Thank you Conspiracy!” says Capitalism, as it survives another day

    May 21, 2025

    A meditation on God and the impossible pursuit of answers

    May 14, 2025

    We Will Be Remembered As More Than Administrative Errors

    May 7, 2025
    Facebook Instagram X (Twitter) TikTok

    From the mines

    • News
    • Analysis
    • Higher Education
    • Culture
    • Features
    • Investigation
    • Comedy
    • Editorials
    • Letters
    • Misc

     

    • Opinion
    • Perspective
    • Profiles
    • Reviews
    • Science
    • Social
    • Sport
    • SRC Reports
    • Tech

    Admin

    • About
    • Editors
    • Send an Anonymous Tip
    • Write/Produce/Create For Us
    • Print Edition
    • Locations
    • Archive
    • Advertise in Honi Soit
    • Contact Us

    We acknowledge the traditional custodians of this land, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. The University of Sydney – where we write, publish and distribute Honi Soit – is on the sovereign land of these people. As students and journalists, we recognise our complicity in the ongoing colonisation of Indigenous land. In recognition of our privilege, we vow to not only include, but to prioritise and centre the experiences of Indigenous people, and to be reflective when we fail to be a counterpoint to the racism that plagues the mainstream media.

    © 2025 Honi Soit
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms
    • Accessibility

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.