Kia ora trampers,
I'm not a VUW student but I have lots of student friends really worried about the up-coming VUWSA elections. Here's something everyone should know about:
FOR ALL STUDENTS AT VICTORIA:
As you might know, next Wednesday are VUWSA elections, 12pm Mount Street Bar in the Student Union Building.
1) There is a group called the A-Team that aims to "take over" Vuwsa and get rid of club funding, do away with some positions ( i.e the Environmental Officer) and basically destroy the union from inside out. If that concerns you, come along next Wednesday lunchtime to Mount Street Bar to vote for other candidates. Go check out their website (can't find the link, but look out for it on campus). They are mostly young ACT and young National Party members. They claim they will give $25 union fees back to students as their big sell, but I just heard that is against some old piece of legislation.
2) There is a motion to form a new Representative Group on campus which will serve as an umbrella organisation for all of Global / Social Justice groups (Gecko, Just Action, Vic IDS, Education Action Group, Greens on Campus, Amnesty on Campus etc). A 2/3 majority vote is required to get it through. This will give these groups more of a right to be consulted for their views. Come along to the AGM on Wednesday if you want to have your say about this too.
Representative groups are used to express the views and needs of a wide variety of VUW communities, and the groups hold a special constitutional status that ensures that VUWSA is mindful of the diverse nature of the student population. These are the Rep groups already on campus: (I think an environmental / social justice rep group should be there as well)