Nelson’s last chance to secure VSU by this year went down the drain today. The Senate wants to see amendments to its current state and cross-flooring Superman, Barnaby Joyce, remains unsympathetic. But should both continue to block Nelson’s ideological pathway, an alternative vision is already in place: the referendum.
Let’s recap on Australia’s recent history of referenda. The last referendum in 1999 dealt with turning Australia’s Constitutional Monarchy into a Republic. Before that, the 1988 referendum put parliamentary elections and local government to question. Obviously, referenda (generally!) take their form when constitutional matters arise.
So how does VSU fit into the picture? It doesn’t, really. On the one hand, a referendum is simply the last resort that could render VSU a reality. But on the other, student campaigns have been driven by an overarching theme that VSU would silence dissent if implemented. Along similar lines, Nelson has particularly voiced his opinion against the allocation of funds to political activities.
The primary motivation seems clear: the former Liberal student politicians in the Cabinet want to settle old scores with the Trots, Marxists and Maoists of the Labour Club who used to control the student representative councils’ purse-strings and vote themselves trips to North Vietnam.
Cabinet could ban SRCs from spending compulsory fee money on external political activities or it could make membership of the SRC voluntary, but it’s insisting on going a lot further and disturbing all student union activity - sporting, cultural and welfare - along with the political.
As this conflict rests on the crucial impact of VSU on academic freedom and free speech – a critical point most reported about - a referendum doesn’t seem to be the bizarre twist in the story after all.
But the media has avoided the topic. The idea of a referendum is either too romantic at this point or academics and lawyers are taking considerably long in drafting their opinions.
