Welcome back to the Glass coverage of the Guild Student Representative Council (SRC) Meetings of 2024. This is our coverage of the July meeting held on Thursday 3rd of October, S409, Gardens Point Campus.
We will be bringing students coverage of these meetings throughout the year, so you have insight into all the goings-on in your Student Representative Council (SRC).
These meetings include the motions that Guild Executives and other students put forward for the SRC to vote on, and which will directly impact your university experience.
All current students can attend SRC meetings. If you want to see change on campus, we encourage you to put forward a motion to the SRC.
COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
You can find the meeting minutes here once they are published.
You can also access the meeting agenda and documents associated with motions raised at the meeting in this folder.
AND WE’RE OFF!
The meeting was opened at 5:53pm by the Chair Michael Pendergast and began with an Acknowledgement of Country.
Michael began with a role call for the meeting with the following officers in attendance: President James Reid, Secretary Sebastian Page, Education Officer Isabella Foley, CIESJ Councillor Erin Milne, Science Councillor Daniel Soltermann, Queer Officer Lauren Cuthbert, Disability Officer Ethan Johnston, Engineering Councillor Georgie Dobbs, Clubs & Societies Officer Jake Olver, Treasurer Calissa Layden.
Present (online): Postgraduate Students Officer Malgorzata Fituch, International Officer Jovan Fersando, Engineering Councillor Jasper Vermeulen, Environment Officer Milani Rawlinson.
Apologies: Welfare Officer Paulina Luisce, Engagement Officer Erin Rayner
Absent: Science Councillor Courtney-Elyce Lewis, Business and Law councillor Hetal Patel, Business, Law councillor (Louis) Vu Phuong, Health Councillor Arya Chaudhari, Health Councillor Maya Rawlinson.
Arya Chaudhari, Health Councillor, had been censured after the last council meeting, held on September 5th after two missed meetings. As this was Arya’s third consecutive missed meeting, she has now been removed from the SRC.
Sebastian and Lauren confirmed the minutes of the last meeting.
FIRST UP, COLLECTIVE REPORTS
Disability Collective Report
The Disability Collective Report by delivered by the Collective Convenor Michael Pendergast, who reported a new record of 131 members! The Collective held their last meeting on September 19th with six people in attendance. They also held a movie night on the 19th with seven people in attendance. Michael said the Collective’s funding from the Guild for Semester Two only came through on Tuesday October 1st, which is the second year in a row that there have been significant delays in funding. Michael said that this is unacceptable, and urges the Guild to ensure staff are familiar with their own policies so that this does not happen again. The full report can be found here.
James Reid and Ethan Johnston moved to accept the report.
Queer Collective Report
The Queer Collective Report was delivered online by the Collective Convenor Peri Habermas who reported 325 members, and their most recent meeting, held on September 16th, with 15 attendees. They also held a board games night on the 24th with 17 people in attendance, and a movie night on the 30th with 11 people in attendance. The full report can be found here.
NEXT UP, MOTIONS
MOTION ONE – Motion to amend the QUT Guild Queer Collective’s Term of Reference
This motion was moved by Isaac Oliver, a student, and seconded by Charlotte Davies, a student. You can read the full motion here.
The motion calls for these changes to the QUT Guild Queer Collective’s Term of Reference.
9.2. All Office Bearers shall be elected from members of the Collective at the immediate meeting of the Collective following the first QUT Guild Council meeting of its term of office.
To be changed to;
9.2. All Office Bearers shall be elected from members of the Collective at the October or November Collective meeting.
And;
9.6. An executive position shall be filled by one person each year and cannot be shared with another member.
To be changed to;
9.6. An executive position shall be filled by one person each year and cannot be shared with another member, excepting Room Maintenance Officer which may be held by two students concurrently.
And to add;
9.12. A meeting in which elections will be held must have a minimum notice period of two weeks.
The motion was put to a vote and passed unanimously.
For: James Reid, Sebastian Page, Calissa Leyden, Isabella Foley, Ethan Johnston, Jovan Fersando, Milani Rawlinson, Jake Olver, Jasper Vermeulen, Malgorzata Fituch, Georgie Dobbs, Daniel Soltermann, Erin Milne, Elowyn Gampe, Lauren Cuthbert.
Against: None.
MOTION TWO – The Guild publicly requests open communication and cooperation with the University for their plans on possible SSAF policy change.
You can read the full motion here.
This motion was moved by James Reid, President. “The Australian Federal Government is in the process of passing a bill which will see a mandated minimum SSAF allocation to student-run organisations of 40%. As the allocation of SSAF is the responsibility of the University, the plan for the utilisation of this funding is critical to the Guild and requires an understanding of the University’s intentions when, and if, the bill is passed.”
This was seconded by Sebastian Page, Secretary.
Erin Milne, CIESJ Councillor and SAlt member, also spoke for the motion. “This is really just an example of the fact that actually the University really does not have the Guild’s sort of best interests at heart…so I think that it’s good actually that the Guild should have a public position on this [and] should continue to actually try and call out the University.”
Jake, Clubs and Societies Officer, also spoke on this motion, talking about the importance of holding QUT accountable, as many student clubs have a lot of upkeep costs.
James had his right of reply. “In my short tenure here, one of the most restricting aspects of conducting any Guild activities on QUT campus is the difficulty with the ongoing relationship with QUT services and staff and administration, particularly with developing a strategic plan for 2025. The Guild is a business at the end of the day, and we do need to have an idea of how we’re going to receive our funding and how much, and then how to allocate that for next year to deliver the best possible services for students.”
The motion was put to a vote and passed unanimously.
For: James Reid, Sebastian Page, Calissa Leyden, Isabella Foley, Ethan Johnston, Georgie Dobbs, Daniel Soltermann, Erin Milne, Elowyn Gampe, Lauren Cuthbert, Jake Olver, Jovan Fersando, Malgorzata Fituch, Jasper Vermeulen, Milani Rawlinson.
Against: None.
MOTION THREE – No bombs on Lebanon!
This motion calls for the Guild to stand in solidarity with the people of Lebanon and reaffirms its commitment to fighting for divestment from weapons companies, for the Guild to condemn the Labor government for its complicity in the war on Lebanon, and for the Guild to endorse Justice for Palestine’s All Out for Palestine rally on October 13th. You can read the full motion here.
This motion was moved by Yuanyi Tham, a student and SAlt member, who said “QUT, after the Special General Meeting that happened literally two months ago, has done absolutely nothing to indicate that they’re even willing to cut ties with the weapons companies that support this genocide.”
The motion was seconded by Elowyn Gampe, CIESJ Councillor and SAlt member. “The truth of what the Australian Labor Party genuinely represents isn’t for workers in Australia, but it’s clearly for whatever benefits the most powerful countries in the world that Labor wants to be aligned with, which is blatantly disgusting and undefendable,” Elowyn said.
Georgie Dobbs, Engineering Councillor, also spoke for the motion. “I think basically we should see the project that Israel is, I guess, pursuing right now is a project of regional domination. It’s not enough for them actually, that they have to, you know, slaughter and genocide 40,000 Palestinians… And it’s actually just appalling that both Australia and the US have said nothing about this. I actually think these are the political forces in the world that are the most pro-genocidal, the most disgusting, the most appalling, just as bad as Netanyahu, in fact, really.”
Milani Rawlinson, Environment Officer, also spoke for the motion. “The Lebanese people are the biggest Arab population in Australia and so this is greatly affecting the lives of Australians, and especially for the fact that they might not be allowed to seek asylum here and escape from a war that likely could end their lives is just disgraceful. I agree that the Guild should just continue in our stance of showing that we, as the student voice, stand with Palestine and Lebanon and Yemen and all the people who are getting hurt in this situation.”
James spoke against the motion, speaking about what power the Guild actually has in making a difference. “All we can do is stand by those who are suffering consequentially from this conflict, a conflict that has been going on for thousands of years. It’s the standing that endorsing a SAlt initiative does not strengthen the Guild’s position with ongoing negotiations with the University.”
Yuanyi used their right of reply to address what James said, with a point of information that Justice for Palestine is not a SAlt-run initiative, but a community campaign group run by members of the Arab community and other left-wing people. “I think it’s shameful actually, that you as the President of the QUT Guild, a Guild that has already positioned itself as pro-Palestine to refuse to endorse this rally.”
The motion was put to a vote and passed.
For: Sebastian Page, Calissa Leyden, Isabella Foley, Ethan Johnston, Georgie Dobbs, Daniel Soltermann, Erin Milne, Elowyn Gampe, Lauren Cuthbert, Jake Olver, Milani Rawlinson, Jovan Fersando, Malgorzata Fituch, Jasper Vermeulen.
Against: James Reid.
MOTION FOUR – No cops on campus!
This motion calls for the QUT Guild to Censure the Guild President, James Reid, for defending the union and university’s collaboration with Queensland Police Service during the QUT SGM. It also calls for the Guild SRC believes QPS should never be called onto any campus to police or shut down activist events, including protests, and that the Guild SRC believes the police are a violent institution, and are not a force that can provide safety for students on campus. You can read the full motion here.
This motion was moved by Isabella Foley, Education Officer and SAlt member, who called out James for his support of having police on campus during the SGM. “I think this position is appalling, it’s disgusting, and it concedes to the idea that the police are actually an institution in society that have our interests at heart and not a bigoted, reactionary, foul institution that is responsible for the oppression of many people in this country, but also the repression against activists.”
The motion was seconded by Georgie Dobbs. “I just basically think it’s totally appalling that a member of the Guild, and the president no less, would basically so blatantly gloat about how great and awesome it is to work with Queensland Police…it basically suggests the idea that the police are somehow friends to unionists, student activists and pro-Palestine activists and every single one of those is a filthy dirty lie. So really, shame on James for, you know, ever suggesting actually that the QPS could ever be a force that we could ever trust. I don’t think you need to look far back in history to actually realise that the police have never been a force for good.”
Erin also spoke on the motion. “The cops are actually not useful to society, and actually things would be much better off the cops didn’t exist.”
James spoke against the motion. “Facts are really important when making claims like this and this relates back to the first motion which I passed, that is I did not wish for the police to be [at the SGM]… It was an absolute requirement from the University administration, which is on country, and they have jurisdiction over that land now, to have the police there. Without that, there would have been no SGM.”
The motion was put to a vote and passed. Many members of SAlt continued to speak throughout voting, criticising those who voted against the motion. The Chair threatened that the next person to speak during voting would be named; Daniel Soltermann, Science Councillor and SAlt member, called out ‘Fuck scabs!’ after casting his vote, and was subsequently named by the Chair.
For: Isabella Foley, Ethan Johnston, Georgie Dobbs, Daniel Soltermann, Erin Milne, Elowyn Gampe, Lauren Cuthbert.
Against: James Reid, Sebastian Page, Calissa Leyden, Malgorzata Fituch, Jasper Vermeulen.
Abstain: Jovan Fersando, Milani Rawlinson, Jake Olver.
MOTION FIVE – Deaths in Custody under Labor
This motion calls for the Guild to condemn Labor’s negligence towards Indigenous people in prison and their accommodation to racism and tough on crime rhetoric. This is in response to recent events where a 16-year-old Indigenous child, Cleveland Dodd, who committed suicide last year in the youth ward of the Casuarina maximum security adult prison in Western Australia. You can read the full motion here.
This motion was moved by Daniel Soltermann, Science Councillor and SAlt member. “The Crime and Corruption Commission is like a fucking racist institution and has found no wrongdoing from officers, officers who actually sleep and watch movies on their shift instead of like making sure the people they torture don’t kill themselves. So, the Labor Party is strengthening the powers of the police and prisons, which again, disproportionately lock up Aboriginal people, and since the Royal Commission into black deaths in custody, Labor hasn’t like implemented any of the things that stop black people from dying in prison. So that’s like an absolute farce on Labor’s part, and it’s actually been getting worse over time. So, like, fucking how much more racist could you get?”
The motion was seconded by Erin Milne. “To make it clear, the Labor Party murders Indigenous people, and they have murdered Indigenous people for decades now…They’re fine with people like Cleveland Dodd dying, which is actually entirely on their hands. They’re fine with that because it doesn’t impact their bottom line…they get to continue to make money at the end of the day…So I think that if you continue to remain in the Labor Party, every time something like this happens, well, their blood is on your hands too, and you should be ashamed of yourself.”
Yuanyi Tham also spoke for the motion, and called out Sebastian Page, Guild Secretary and a member of the Labor party.
Lauren Cuthbert, Queer Officer, also spoke in favour of the motion and spoke on SRC being a part of political parties and not speaking on their stance. “You can say till the cows come home, I condemn this thing that Labor does…But ultimately, at the end of the day, you are putting your name to the things that they do.”
Members of SAlt continued to call out Sebastian, urging him to speak on the matter despite his decision not to. The Chair had to use the gavel in order to regain control of the room.
Erin had right of reply, which she used to further criticise Sebastian. “I guess that would be pretty hard to get up and actually to defend publicly where students might hear about it. So, I’m not surprised as Sebastian doesn’t have anything to say about it…You’re fine with being a member of a party that allows for things like this to happen because you just want a cushy job at the end of the day.”
The motion was put to a vote and passed.
For: Calissa Leyden, Isabella Foley, Ethan Johnston, Georgie Dobbs, Daniel Soltermann, Erin Milne, Elowyn Gampe, Lauren Cuthbert, Jake Olver, Jovan Fersando, Milani Rawlinson.
Against: None.
Abstain: James Reid, Sebastian Page, Malgorzata Fituch, Jasper Vermeulen.
During voting, SAlt members continued to speak over the Chair, berating people who voted against or abstained from the motion. The Chair used the gavel to regain order during voting when SAlt members wouldn’t stop talking, threatening to name the next person who spoke. Isabella, Georgie, Elowyn and Daniel were all named for calling members of the SRC racist for their voting.
CASUAL VACANCIES
Women’s Officer Candidate: Maria Ramos
Maria Ramos was unable to deliver their speech in person, so instead provided a video to be played for SRC. “Having grown up in a developing country, I have always been passionate about fighting inequality and ensuring that marginalised voices are heard. This has been particularly true when it comes to advocating for women. Throughout my university and professional career, I have consistently worked to break down stereotypes and create more opportunities for women, both within the classroom and beyond. At QUT, I am eager to continue this advocacy, empowering women and addressing the unique challenges they face in our community.”
Voting was done in room; the votes are as follows.
For: James Reid, Sebastian Page, Calissa Leyden, Ethan Johnston, Lauren Cuthbert, Malgorzata Fituch, Jovan Fersando, Jasper Vermeulen, Milani Rawlinson, Jake Olver.
Against: None.
Abstain: Isabella Foley, Georgie Dobbs, Daniel Soltermann, Erin Milne, Elowyn Gampe.
Maria Ramos was elected the new Women’s Officer.
QUESTION TIME
Erin had a question about accessing the recording of the SGM. Sebastian responded saying he would be in contact with the Guild Professional Staff about the recording.
Ethan had a question about the board minutes that were asked for in the last council meeting. James said that the Board is aware that the Guild wants the minutes, and that they will prioritise making the minutes public.
The meeting closed at 7:24. The next council meeting is scheduled for the 7th of November.
