Slogan: Let Cass Cook
Colour: White
Faction: NLS
Degree: Arts II (Music and Anthropology)
Quiz Score: 63%
Favourite USU venue on Campus: Hermann’s
Biggest Campus Pet Peeve: Slow walkers on Eastern + western avenue
Most Toxic Trait: Unearned self-confidence
Favourite Bathroom to ‘go piss girl’ on Campus: Bottom of Holme building, just up from the SURG studio
Cassidy Newman is a second year Arts student, hailing from the surviving post-split faction National Labor Students (NLS). He is currently serving as the Treasurer of the Sydney University Radio Group (SURG), the Education Officer of the Conservatorium Student Association, and the Intercampus Officer of the Students’ Representative Council (SRC). He is running his campaign on a platform of “left-wing change from within the USU”.
On the topic of USU incorporation, he believes that it is “necessary and at this point inevitable” but disagrees with the governance changes put forth at the Special General Meeting, stating that they are “unnecessary”. Newman was one of the few candidates that identified in the Honi quiz that the university had to approve of constitutional changes to the USU; however, he incorrectly identified who had to approve of the changes stating that it was the Senate (technically, the Senate can approve or reject changes to the USU constitution if the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education) rejects the changes but the USU makes an appeal to the Senate).
He is campaigning on a suite of policies aimed at reforming Clubs and Societies (C&S). Perhaps the strongest and most concrete policy is for the USU to “employ more administrative staff” — these staff he refers to are presumably Student Activity Officers (SAOs), the first point of contact when a C&S executive emails or calls the Clubs Office — citing the duration of time it takes for Student Experience staff to respond to queries from C&S executives as an issue.
Ambitiously, and admirably, he advocates for there to be mandatory in-person consent training for C&S executives. When pressed on the issue that availability for the existing training sessions are already limited and provided through the University’s Office of Student Life, his response was that the USU could employ more administrative staff to aid in the booking of these sessions.
One of his policies is around relaxing the “overly strict rules around events including alcohol”. Honi and PULP expressed concern at this policy, with PULP editor Hugo Hay querying Newman at the USU Election Soapbox about the lack of oversight Faculty Society camps have and the fact that RSAs are mandated by law for licensed venues that the USU operates. Newman responded affirming the need for club executives to have undergone RSA training but cited the limitations in only being able to hold events with alcohol on campus and no options for BYO.
Clubs are in fact able to host events with alcohol off-campus provided that they submit an adequate risk assessment form. He was unable to provide an answer to specifically how much more lax he would like the alcohol policy to be or what about the pre-event risk assessment process he would change.
Newman believes that the USU could do more to platform C&S events and services like FoodHub, taking particular issue with the advertising boards present in Courtyard and Manning that currently cycle through headlines from Murdoch mastheads.
Like many other candidates, he advocates for expanding the opening hours of FoodHub, which he cites as the most important USU service to students. He seeks to ease the burden on the USU VTeam by encouraging staff who are already employed by the USU at various outlets to take shifts at FoodHub.
When probed about how his policies would be funded, he cited the $1.5 million operating surplus of the USU in 2023 and questioned the utility of the USU hiring consultants, critiquing the efficacy of the money spent on consultancy for the incorporation process so far.
When asked about his involvement in activism, Newman stated that he was not “not involved in the organisation of any campaigns” but had and would take time to partake in campaigns and protests. He participated in the 2024 Gaza Solidarity Encampment but, in his words, felt that he was only there “briefly, not enough”. Newman supports “ensuring that USU sponsorships and investments apply [Boycotts, Divestments, and Sanctions] BDS principles” against Israel.
Newman’s proclaimed strategy of “left-wing change from within the USU” to counteract the “right wing influences” he sees in the Board is a tune that will remind those familiar of the described strategy of his faction: ‘change from within’. Apart from his policy of relaxing alcohol restriction which he was not able to adequately justify, his policies are decent and if elected to the Board he will be a way for NLS to reclaim representation on campus.
Watch Cassidy’s interview here!
