Commencing at 6:35pm and barely quorate, this month’s Student Representatives’ Council meeting was undoubtedly one of our shortest and most efficient. With issues including the encampment, ongoing student support for Palestine and the Annual Labor Conference on the agenda, we wrapped up well before midnight.
The June meeting began with the appointment of the experienced Riki Scanlan as the Electoral Officer in 2024. They were also the Electoral Officer for last year’s SRC Election.
The meeting then turned to reports. Harrison Brennan (Grassroots) gave the President’s Report, opening the meeting with an Acknowledgment of Country. Brennan focused his speech on the Gaza Solidarity Encampment which has been the focus of student activism on campus for the past 50 days.
Jasmine Donnelly (NLS) was criticised when she gave her Vice President’s reports for her lack of involvement in the encampment and her not taking her role seriously. Jasmine Al-Rawi (SAlt) also condemns Donnelly’s lack of participation in the encampment: “It means very little to say you condemn the Labor Party, but you won’t put that in practice by being involved in Palestine activism. Are you guys planning to turn this around?” Her recent report in Honi Soit was also attacked for including a poem. Deaglan Godwin (SAlt), who also drafted portions of the same report, said he wanted “to distance himself from my co-Office Bearer” and that she should not be submitting “comedy routines to the student newspaper.” Donnelly argued NLS did have a presence and they would “help to build the Student General Meeting.”
Rose Donnelly (NLS) and Dan O’Shea (Unity) then delivered the General Secretary’s Discretionary Budget Report for 2024. The Queer and Welfare collectives along with ACAR also received budget increases of $1000, $500, and $1300 respectivly.. Honi also received $9,000 of discretionary funding. The Queer collective was upset that they had not gotten the $6,000 they wanted. Donnelly responded to these concerns that the money would have had to be taken out of the budget of other collectives, a lot of which has gone into Palestine Activism. Despite the criticisms from the floor, the report was passed.
The first motion called on the council to protest the upcoming ALP State Conference on July 27th. Julius Wittforth (SAlt) moved the motion, attacking the ALP as complicit in trying to shut down and demonise pro-Palestinian activism in Australia. Lauren Finlay (SAlt) seconded saying, “as a left-wing SRC, everyone in this room should commit themselves to coming to this rally.”
Ishbel Dunsmore (Grassroots) spoke in favour, and, as other speakers, called on the Labor factions to come out, “I just want a commitment from NLS that they will commit to this protest. This is the most important thing in our lifetimes… I would like concrete support on this.” Rand (Grassroots) also condemned NLS, accusing them of not being involved enough in the encampment or condemning their party for supporting the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism among other links to Israel.
The primary motion was the backing of a Student General Meeting (SGM) to demand the University disclose and divest all ties to Israel. Godwin moved the motion noting that the recent SGM at the University of Queensland was the largest campus action supporting Palestine in Australia. Ravkaren Grewal (Grassroots) highlighted the significance of the AGM: “this is campus historic. It is the fourth one in Usyd’s history. We are representing the entire student body and giving our demands to management in support of Palestine.”
Shovan Bhattarai (SAlt), in preparation for the meeting, called on all SRC members to send Canvas messages to students they knew were sympathetic to the Palestinian cause. Brennan and Al-Rawi also spoke in favour of the meeting with the former emphasising the importance of connecting with student societies and faculty members to grow numbers. Red Tilly (NLS) affirmed NLS’s support for the SGM.
After the motion passed, the council heard two motions from the floor concerning recent disciplinary action taken by ANU and the University of Sydney against students taking part in pro-Palestinian activism.
The first motion, moved by Vieve Carnsew and seconded by Jacob Starling (Solidarity) called on the SRC to stand in solidarity with Beatrice Tucker, who was recently expelled by ANU for refusing to condemn Hamas in a recent interview with the ABC. Starling said it was “a chilling attack on political expression on campus.” Grace Street (Grassroots) spoke in favour arguing, “on a very basic level this is a very dangerous precedent to set.”
A similar motion was passed condemning the suspension of University of Sydney students Angus Dermody and Maeve Larkins who received suspension for allegedly intimidating students and faculty before classes. The motion disputes that, arguing instead that the suspensions stifle free expression and the protests were entirely peaceful.
The council then closed at a very early 8:20pm.