Candidates for the ANUSA elections have submitted the first two rounds of financial statements detailing their campaign spending. The statements show that Reform ANUSA is receiving funding from the Liberal Club, Refresh ANUSA’s uncontested candidates have contributed hundreds of dollars to campaigning, and independent Brandon Tan seemingly purchased a mop.
Tickets and independent candidates are required to submit financial statements each day before they can begin campaigning, according to ANUSA’s Electoral Regulations. These statements detail spending, financial contributions, and non-financial contributions. There is a limit to how much tickets and candidates can spend across their whole campaign. For independents, this is $150. Tickets can spend $50 per person for the first ten people, and $25 per person above this number.
The statements reveal that Reform ANUSA’s campaign is being funded by a $200 contribution from the ANU Liberal Club. Ashish Nagesh, ticket convenor and NUS Delegate candidate, is the current Secretary of the ANU Liberal Club. Nagesh has also contributed $200 out of his own pocket. Last year’s ‘Stand Apart’ ticket, also convened by Nagesh, received its entire budget from a Liberal Club donation. Again similar to Stand Apart, Reform is being assisted by former Liberal Club President Ramon Bouckaert. He designed both tickets’ website and provided the server to host them. Reform paid $100 for photograph and $60 for “video production”.
Refresh ANUSA is spending big, with candidates contributing funds even if they are running uncontested. These uncontested candidates appear to still count for the purposes of calculating Refresh’s cap. The ticket has taken the standard route of having candidates contribute based on the position they are running for. Most College Rep and Gen Rep candidates have contributed $20. Executive candidates have contributed around $80 each, and President-elect Eden Lim has contributed more than $200 of her own money. So far, the ticket has spent about $800 of the $1100 that candidates have contributed.
Ignite for ANUSA has so far spent $569.80, close to its spending cap of $625. The ticket’s statement says this is from “candidate contributions”, but does not detail what proportion each candidate paid. Ignite convenor and Education Officer candidate Niall Cummins told Observer that “almost all” candidates had made a contribution, but that the distribution was “done equitably, taking into account personal financial status.” Most of this money was spent on the ticket’s T-shirts.
Independent Gen Rep candidate Brandon Tan has spent around $50 of his own money. His banner is made from an “X-Files “I Want to Believe” movie poster he was given as a gift two years ago. His statement also says he purchased a $5 mop, though Brandon later revealed to Observer that this was an error and he had, in fact, purchased a broom. “I removed the stick [of the broom] and used it as a prop for my poster,” he said.
CAP Rep candidates Lauren Kightly and Kai Clark, running together as their own ticket, have so far only spent money on printed shirts. The rest of their contributions have been non-financial, including “1 hour of design work, low quality” which they valued at $20.
Left Action has spent just over half of its maximum of $150. This money has solely gone towards printing flyers. The entire $84.68 amount was contributed by one candidate: Wren Somerville.
Popular non-financial contributions include sticky tape, glue, the services of someone with graphic design skills, and the use of university printing credit. Notably absent, however, are dogs. These must be declared, and their value estimated by taking the cost of the dog, dividing that into a cost per hour based on expected lifespan, and then multiplying that by the time the dog spent on campus. Last year, multiple dogs were brought to campus in an attempt to get students’ attention. Ignite and Refresh both told Observer they wanted dogs on campus, but thus far are having difficulties securing a pup.
Voting for the ANUSA election is open until Thursday 4pm. All undergraduates can vote online at voteanusa.com .
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