As the year goes on I become more and more disillusioned with the system of student representation we have here at Victoria.
If you’ve been reading these editorials you’ll know I harp on a lot about that democracy bullshit.
Democracy needs people to care about it. It needs people to be involved. The latest by-election is a perfect example of how disengaged students are with the association, or perhaps how abstractly the executive operates from the students.
Fewer than 600 out of the 20,000 or so students who are members of VUWSA bothered to vote. We don’t know exactly how many people voted because the Returning Officer hasn’t given us that information, but that is a different story best read on page 9.
On Thursday afternoon MJO and I took a stroll around the Union Building and Quad and talked to roughly 50 students. The resounding response when asked if they knew there had been a by-election was “Huh?”
About a quarter of the students we talked to knew there had been an election but were unclear about what it is about and/or if they had voted. Many cited lack of awareness, saying there has been no effort by the candidates or the current executive to raise awareness.
Maybe it is time to rethink how students are represented at this university. All the transparency, openness and accountability doesn’t matter if people don’t give a flying fuck in the first place.
Maybe one thing to do is break the monopoly on representation and allow people to create and join associations which actually cater to their needs and beliefs. Associations where they not only get their money’s worth but they are actually represented and engaged with by associations they’re proud to be members of.
When an association fucks up, you find your needs change or you become embarrassed by the actions of its leaders, you can disassociate yourself from it. Conversely, if you like a certain association then you can join it.
We have a government which is ideologically opposed to compulsory student unionism, supported by a party which has already had a voluntary student membership bill in the ballot. It seems like a wise idea to start talking about ways to strengthen representation now than waiting till it’s too late.