Nominations for the two vacant positions at the New Zealand Union of Students’ Associations closed Tuesday last week, with three candidates for the Co- President position and only one for the National Women’s Rights Officer.
However, the three contestants for Co-President were soon reduced to two, Giarne Clarke (currently President of Christchurch College of Education Students’ Association) pulled out soon after candidates were announced, leaving the race up to Xavier Goldie (Education Vice-President at Auckland University Students’ Association) and Toni Spiro (President of Wellington Institute of Technology Students’ Association). As the sole candidate for NWRO, Natalie Absolom (Co-President of Otago Polytechnic Students’ Association), has only No Confidence to beat. The candidates face election by Teleconference
on 12 October, and must achieve a two-thirds majority (52 votes out of 78) in an electoral college of NZUSA’s student association members. The second Co-President position and NWRO were left vacant after an earlier inconclusive set of elections held at NZUSA’s September conference, which saw the resounding re-election of current Co-President Joey Randall. Clarke named her dedication to sorting out the amalgamation of both the Christchurch College of Education and the University of Canterbury and their two respective student associations as the reason for her withdrawal.
Current NZUSA Co-President, Conor Roberts, says it is “good to see a diverse range of candidates put their hand up for NZUSA. We have a very robust democracy here which ensures that the best person, in terms of their ability to represent students nationally, will get the job.”