SRC 4 Liveblog

20.40

The meeting has closed and the argument has finished. See you next SRC!

20.39

A non-SRC student earlier sent Lachy a message for an item to be added for other business. After some discussion out the front, it was denied. She has taken to the microphone to object Lachy’s decision. The non-SRC member wanted to discuss the federal election result. Representatives are now walking out the room while she continues to talk, and other non-SRC members heckle representatives.

20.38

We now move to the recommendations of the Honoraria Committee. The Committee can award a maximum of AUD4000 in a year, and AUD1000 to any individual. The following amounts are recommended by the Committee, and approved by the SRC:

Jacob Howland (“for his active contribution to the Clubs Council as Funding Officer specifically for drafting the new funding policy”): AUD400

Annabelle Nshuti (“for her effort as a general representative and active contribution to off campus student advocacy”): AUD200

Dominic Harvey-Taylor (“for his active role in engaging in his CAP college rep duties and advocacy”): AUD200

Kai Clark (“for his active role in engaging in his CAP college rep duties and wider ANUSA advocacy”): AUD200

Jason Pover (“for his contribution to Clubs Council and active contribution to ANUSA”) :AUD175

Ebe Ganon (“for her contribution to Clubs Council as Community Officer”): AUD150

Ailsa Schreurs (“for her effort as a general representative and Environmental initiatives”): AUD100

Myra Escobado (“for her role in establishing and executing the farmers market during O-week”) AUD75

TOTAL: AUD1500

20.33

Gen Sec Lachy is moving motion 8.2, which will delegate his duties to organise and assist with ANUSA’s elections. The delegation will last until the Probity Officers’ report is presented.

Lachy says that the motion is “good governance,” as he declared he is running for ANUSA next year. Bec seconded the motion, saying it “prepares Brendan and myself” for the election ahead.

The motion passes unanimously.

20.29

The motion passes with two votes against (both proxies). There were a few amendments accepted as friendly, so the motion now says:

– ANUSA declares a Climate Emergency.

– ANUSA condemns both major parties for their inaction and negligence towards climate

change

– ANUSA commends all groups and activists who have been fighting for the planet. Such

as the recent School Strikes, and the Stop Adani Canberra campaign group.

– ANUSA will publish a press release declaring a Climate Emergency

– ANUSA reps are encouraged to attend, promote and where appropriate speak, at all future actions,

protests and meetings tackling the climate emergency.

– ANUSA will commit funds, resources and time towards such progressive actions where appropriate.

20.28

A procedural motion passes to allow for multiple people to speak for the motion.

Disabilities Officer Madhumitha says that ANUSA could release a statement outlining the specific policies of the parties that it is condemning. She thanks activists for their work on the issue.

A non-SRC member, Layla, also speaks for the motion. “As student unionists, we shouldn’t appeal to [the major parties] until they understand and come to our side,” she says. She further says the motion is important as a “principled statement”.

20.25

We have a speaker against the motion: Brentan Honeywood, who is holding a proxy vote for an SRC member who is absent. He says he “agree[s] in principle with the heart of this motion”, but that it has “many issues”. He says that “by attacking both major parties, especially Labor”, the motion is “alienating and damaging”. There’s a lot of heckling from the motion’s supporters behind us, and some back and forth with the speaker. Lachy gives him some extra time to speak as a result.

CAP Rep Kai Clark speaks for the motion. He says that the criticism of the major parties is mostly in the preamble, and that he overall does think “there’s more that Labor could do”.

20.24

Social Officer Matthew Mottola seconds the motion. “We can all agree on the importance of this,” he says. He points out that the ACT Government has recently declared a Climate Emergency. He also notes that he is sometimes unable to attend protests due to work, but that reps should generally be encouraged to attend such events.

20.16

There’s a small hold-up: original mover Kim Stern wants to give his speaking rights to another person, but Gen Sec Lachy says this is not allowed. What ends up happening is the mover of the motion is changed from Kim to Kenya Matsebula, and she speaks to the motion.

“We have 12 years before irreversible damage is done,” she says. “The two parties that are likely to get into government are likely to do nothing about this.” She says it is “imperative” that ANUSA tries to “influence the consciousness of the student body” to convince them that climate change a serious issue.

20.13

We’re now on to Motion 8.1. The preamble for the motion discusses the effects of climate change and governments’ lack of action on the issue. The motion provides the following:

– ANUSA declares a Climate Emergency.

– ANUSA condemns both major parties for their inaction and negligence towards climate

change

– ANUSA commends all groups and activists who have been fighting for the planet. Such

as the recent School Strikes, and the Stop Adani Canberra campaign group.

– ANUSA will publish a press release declaring a Climate Emergency

– ANUSA reps will attend, promote and where appropriate speak, at all future actions,

protests and meetings tackling the climate emergency.

– ANUSA will commit funds, resources and time towards such progressive actions.

20.10

We’re back! Both candidates have been elected as Probity Officers, but as there need to be 3-5 Officers, nominations will re-open for SRC 5.

As an aside, it was amusing being joined outside by all the current SRC members planning to run for election.

20.02

The vote for this is “in camera”, so out into the cold we go again.

20.02

Current Gen Rep Brandon is running, as is 2018 Probity Officer Bec. Note that current representatives can run, as long as they are not running in the upcoming election.

Tanika asks Bec what should be done differently to last year. Bec notes that all of last year’s Probity Officers were new to the role, with only one having been on ANUSA before. Brandon says he “overall found that Probity was really helpful” last year, and that he’d like to “follow under Bec’s guidance”.

We ask about the candidates’ plans for transparency, and note the issue meeting the deadline for the Probity Report. Bec would announce violations to Observer and Woroni. Brandon says “there are some things that are better referred to the Dean of Students”, and he would seek to clarify this distinction.

We also ask whether the candidates have read past reports, and what they think are the key issues to be gleaned from these. Both Brandon and Bec say that every election is different, and the Team needs to deal with issues as they come up. Bec emphasises the importance of supporting fellow Probity Officers.

19.54

We now move to Probity Officer elections. Probity Officers essentially run ANUSA’s election – they help enforce the rules around campaigning, and ensure candidates are complying with the financial reporting requirements.

19.53

General Representative Isabella Keith presents a report on her Residential Advocacy Project. She says she has consulted with a number of Departments, and also met with the Division of Student Life. She plans to release an online survey over the winter break, and present a preliminary report to SRC 5.

Isabella is also working with fellow Gen Rep Brandon Tan to create a Facebook page for General Representatives.

19.50

Aisha Setipa delivers the Ethnocultural Officer’s report. The report notes the success of Eth-Yes Week, particularly the ‘You Can’t Say That…’ campaign, which was picked up by the ABC. Aisha does, however, flag, that a significant amount of stress and obstacles dealt with over the week could have been dealt with “if we had had a better experience with our venues”, particularly calling out Functions on Campus and Badger & Co for treating the events as low priority. She says that she plans to meet with them to discuss the issues.

19.49

No Environment Officer’s report was submitted before the agenda was published. Environment Officer Nick Blood is ill, so instead Collective Co-Convenor Mary Clare Woodforde speaks. The Department has spent money on “snacks and stuff”, and has been working the Kambri fee issue.

19.46

Disabilities Officer Madhumitha Janagarja presents her report. In it, she flags that she has worked significantly over the last fortnight, on both administrative and pastoral matters, and thanks her Executive and Deputies for their support. Madhumitha also flags her work on an Accessible Events guide, an Education Access Plan project, and a number of collaborations outside the Department.

19.45

No International Students’ Officer report was submitted before the agenda was published, but a report was made available on the event’s Facebook page. The report flags the Department’s event for University Mental Health Day, an ISD Career Workshop, and collaboration with the Ethnocultural Department for Eth-Yes Week.

International Students’ Officer Hazel Ang is not present to speak to her report, but it passes in her absence.

19.43

No Queer* Officer report was submitted before the agenda was published. Queer* Officer Sam Neave did, however, share a report on the event’s Facebook page. The report focuses on plans for Pride Week and Queer* Ball, to be held in Week 3 of next semester; in addition to collaborations the department has had with the Women’s Department and with ANU Sport.

In response to questions about the controversy about the Queer* Department’s Eurovision event due to Eurovision being held in Israel. Sam says that ultimately the Department “tried to remove the politics from the event” by having students submit past Eurovision songs and watching those, rather than watching the Grand Final itself. Sam is pressed by a number of students on the matter, and promises to take the issue on notice and issue an official response from the Department.

19.39

Women’s Officer Priyanka Tomar speaks to her report. It discusses the Department’s ongoing EmBody Power Campaign, which has so far “focused on unpacking the mainstream body positivity movement and looking towards more intersectional alternatives”. Priyanka is also looking at initiatives and policies around online harassment.

Priyanka clarifies a mistake in her report. The NOWSA conference will be held during ANU’s Bush Week. She says this may present an issue in terms of sending an ANU contingent.

She also congratulates and thanks those involved in organising events for the EmBody Power Campaign. Priyanka also plugs an event co-hosted with the Queer* Department – a talk about dysphoria to be held tomorrow.

19.36

Indigenous Officer Sarah Loynes presents her report. The Department co-hosted a number of events in Eth-Yes! Week. The Department has also elected to accredit with the Union of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Students (UATSIS). NAIDOC Week planning is well underway, although Sarah notes that it has not proven practical to only have NAIDOC Concert performers who sing in their language.

In response to a question about Reconciliation Week, Sarah says that ANUSA’s Indigenous Department is responsible for NAIDOC Week, whereas Reconciliation Week is the responsibility of PARSA. However, PARSA currently does not have an Indigenous Officer, and it has not been able to get its planned advisory committee up and running. As PARSA did not want to organise events without guidance from Indigenous students, no events have been organised. Sarah encourages people to attend the other events occurring this week, including the University’s lecture on Friday.

Sarah says ANU’s consultation with Indigenous student representatives about getting Indigenous students onto a number of committees “has been quite poor”. She says that “even though the onus of Reconciliation should not be on Indigenous peoples…you do need an Indigenous voice in those conversations”.

19.31

We’re back!

19.30

We go to a 5 minute break.

19.27

Social Officer Matthew Mottola presents his report. He’s chosen the Bush Week coordinators: Claire Holland, Jacob Howland, and Eb Chomkul. His report also says that the “RSPCA doesn’t want anything to do with dogs day out”. Sad.

Speaking to his report, Matthew says that at this stage it looks like there will be a Dogs Day out event as part of Less Stressival, but that it will likely be BYO dog.

He also says he’s “not sure if [the Convention Centre’s refusal to host Clubs Ball] is due to the Law Ball situation”. Not sure at this stage what happened at Law Ball – feel free to use our Tip-Off form if you know, dear reader.

Matthew also talks about the latest meeting of the Kambri Reference Group, which was between him writing his report and this SRC. He says there was discussion of the “events fund”, and that there are plans to hold markets.

19.22

Dashveen Jose delivers the Treasurer’s report. The annual audit of ANUSA has been completed and there were no issues. The new ANUSA bank account is just about set up – ANUSA is moving from Commonwealth Bank to Bank Australia. Also, Dashveen says he has contacted the Financial Review Committee members who were elected last year. Apparently, one transferred to UC and the other has not been responsive. The Committee is supposed to report back at the AGM, and last SRC, a motion was passed to have the Committee investigate the issue of ANUSA’s delayed mid-year SSAF. Dashveen says he is talking to the ANUSA lawyer about the issue.

19.22

General Secretary Lachy Day delivers his report. He says that the reason the governance review has been delayed is that both consultants have apparently been “incredibly ill”, and that the plan is now to have the draft constitutional changes ready by 1 December. ANUSA’s Annual General Meeting is next week (as is Observer’s – please come!), and also there’s going to be a fun time next Semester where a CRC and an SRC meeting must be held within a 3-day period.

Speaking to his report, Lachy says that he “has put [himself] into an interesting position” with his interpretation about abstentions not being allowed. He says it is generally good practice to abstain when one has a conflict of interest, and so this may present an issue especially as we move towards ANUSA elections.

We ask a couple of questions about Lachy’s upcoming motion to delegate his powers. Lachy confirms that he is running for ANUSA for 2020, though does not confirm this is as part of a ticket. He also says that it would be the responsibility of other Exec members to chase up Probity to ensure the team’s report is submitted in time for the appropriate General Meeting.

19.17

Tanika Sibal presents her Education Officer’s report. The report notably opens with “I sincerely hope this meeting is not as unsafe as the previous one”. It also recaps the “Get enrolled. Get informed. Get voting.” campaign, and mentions that Tanika is working with Gen Rep Yasmin Poole to create a committee for low-SES students. The cancelled First Year Camp ended up costing ANUSA about 00.

Speaking to her report, Tanika summarised the Education Committee meeting which occurred just before this SRC. The Committee voted to set aside 50 to subsidise 6 people to attend the NUS Education Conference.

Tanika says that she backs the Refugee Action Committee graphic that ANUSA shared, which had attracted criticism. A student asks whether ANUSA will explicitly campaign against the Liberal party, and Tanika says she will if EdCom wants to.

19.13

We move now to the Vice President’s report from Campbell Clapp. This mentions that the draft exam timetable for Semester 2 is out. Campbell also mentions the events organised by the Wellbeing Committee for ANU’s Mental Health Day. The BKSS is looking into “alternative breakfast styles/set ups”.

Speaking to his report, Campbell thanks Ben Gill for his work in Respectful Relationships. He is now “taking some very well-earned time off”. Campbell also says that the new smoking area he mentioned in his report has not, in fact, been competed.

19.09

Speaking to her report, Eden notes that there is relatively low attendance at today’s meeting, and attributes that to it being Week 11. She encourages everyone to seek support if they need it at this stressful time of Semester.

Eden says she has now received a response from ANU saying they “apologised for the confusion” about whether meetings were confidential. She is pressed further on this by a student who asks whether ANUSA reps had to sign anything, or whether they had assumed the meetings were confidential. Eden says she is “still following up on what happened”.

There will be a Pizza with Brian event in Bush Week.

19.07

President Eden Lim delivers her report. This notes that the toilets are now working in the ANUSA offices, which is good to hear. The committee investigating transport options after the loss of the Number 3 bus has had its first meeting. Eden also says she has contacted the University asking for clarification on whether the Kambri meetings were ever confidential. Chief Operating Officer Chris Grange has said they were not, whereas Eden says, “representations were consistently made to ANUSA student representatives that we were bound by confidentiality.”

19.07

General Secretary Lachy Day thanks everyone for having left, saying, “I realised it was probably quite cold out there” (it was).

He gives a summary of the discussion that we missed. Some representatives flagged that SRC3 “was not a safe environment”, and there was conduct “bordering on harassment and heckling”.  Lachy notes that many reps are not present at tonight’s meeting due to the events at the last.

The SRC suggested that information about the procedures of the meeting, and about why the Chair is taking certain actions, would assist is helping people believe in the system. Lachy will be providing a condensed document of the standing orders in order to facilitate this.

18.55

We’re back! Getting the livestream back up now.

18.50

Update: the “in camera” discussion is still going, so no more info at this stage.

18.36

We now go to the discussion on  “Safety at SRCs”. At the last SRC, two people were made to leave after being named three times by General Secretary Lachy Day (largely for swearing). A number of reps have raised concerns through their reports about people’s conduct at the meeting.

However, a procedural motion passes to make this discussion “in camera” – that is, only for SRC members. This means we’re having to leave, and turn off the livestream. There are some murmurs of disapproval from non-SRC members behind us.

18.28

A procedural motion is passed to go to the Clubs Council Chair’s report first. This was written by Secretary Jason Pover, who was Acting Chair. The report says the Council has spent about AUD50 0000 of its AUD150 000 budget (apologies, our liveblogging software doesn’t like dollar signs). It also discusses the Clubs Council’s actions on the Kambri booking fee issue.  The Council is particularly looking at getting a larger discounts for clubs using spaces like the Cultural Centre. The report also features such fun lines as “I’d also like to give special thanks to SAlt, and like to remind them we worked together productively when they drag my bourgee ass off to the gulag”, and “I have made use of this time [as Acting Chair] to effectively sabotage as many aspects of the CC as possible”. The report passes without issue.

18.18

Here we are at the fourth ANUSA SRC meeting for the year. On the agenda is a discussion of conduct at meetings, in light of the issues at SRC 3, Probity Officer elections, and a motion to declare a climate emergency.