Slogan: Electrify with Ethan
Colour: Black
Faction: Switchroots
Degree: Arts III
Quiz Score: 65%
Floyd comes to the board with a wealth of experience in student activism and government. He is currently serving as the SRC’s First Nations Officer and was elected as a councilor at the most recent election. His First Nations identity is central to his message. There has never been a First Nations Board Director and Floyd said his election would be “historic.”
Floyd also spoke about his experiences as a renter, arguing that diversity on the board was not just about the background but having Board directors who could emphasize the experiences of students during a cost of living crisis.
He was an Honi editor in 2023, which meant he covered USU Board meetings and the union’s policies more broadly. When asked if that made him cynical about the institution Floyd said that it instead made him “acutely aware of the shortcomings of the board.”
His experience as a student journalist has also directly informed his policy platform. Floyd is advocating for the increased transparency of board meetings with easier access to briefing papers and minutes.
His quiz results displayed excellent knowledge of the SRC and the government’s relationship with the tertiary sector. Knowledge about the USU’s inner workings was sound although Floyd was not able to fully articulate what information the USU keeps on its members and the documents clubs and societies have to submit.
Floyd’s image for the USU is for the union to “become a more politicsed space,” and play a greater role in campus activism. He argues that Board directors should be able to directly criticize USU decisions and build campaigns with the SRC when the union fails to take strong enough stances.
When asked what campaigns he would advocate for, Floyd said he would argue the USU should apply BDS principles to their partnerships and supplies and push for genuine consolidation with First Nations students.
How successful this advocacy will be in a corporate environment remains to be seen but Floyd is confident that he could make a business case for activism. “It puts an organisation at an economic loss to exclude First Nations people on campus.”
Floyd’s known disdain for corporate institutions and heavily critical rhetoric may make it difficult for him to navigate the USU environment constructively, especially considering his policies are a radical departure from the usual role Board directors have.
His policy platform reflects his activist stances. Floyd is advocating for the expansion of USU rewards equity access with a focus on ethnocultural students and argued that the USU should direct a greater portion of its SSAF funding to reduce the price of food on campus.
Unlike other candidates who were vague about where the increased funds would come from, Floyd specifically suggested that executives like the CEO could take a pay cut to fund more food initiatives on campus. He also suggested there was room to decrease the amount of private contractors the USU brings onto campus.
In terms of the union’s engagement with First Nations students, Floyd was heavily critical of the current Reconciliation Action Plan, arguing it was “dead in the water” because it was not consultative and “casted a small net.”
He is advocating for the renaming of the Wentworth Building and embedding Indigenous place names into the USU’s approach to naming venues. Cultural competency training, he argued, should be expanded to all USU members. The current model, run by the NCCC, in his view, needs to be replaced with training by local organizations such as Tribal Warrier and Youth Block
When discussing the USU’s partnership and investment strategy, Floyd highlighted the need to ‘pay the rent’ by putting Indigenous owned businesses at the foreground of the USU and coordinating mutual aid with the SRC. The union needs to “recgonize white Australia’s role in genocide,” he said.
Overall, Floyd is an experienced radical left wing candidate who has a clear vision for how the union can better serve the most vulnerable students on campus. While some of his policies may put him at odds with other directors, Floyd seems to have the institutional knowledge needed to advocate for genuine change.