September 2025 SRC Wrap-Up

SATIRE

EMERGENCY ALERT SYSTEM: CONTAINMENT BREACHED

Noise@UNSW has issued the following warning for all personnel:

During routine maintenance, former SRC correspondent and current captive Alice Thompson overpowered one of her fellow coordinators, Marcus Pepperell, and managed to escape her cell, locking Pepperell inside and stealing the only set of keys Estate Management would let us have. During her daring escape, Thompson was able to seize control of the notes for the recent September meeting of the UNSW SRC, leaving, in their place, a bundle of hastily-scrawled pages that appear to contain her own coverage of the meeting. We have compiled these writings for your viewing displeasure. 

Thompson, who has been imprisoned in the basement of the Noise@UNSW offices since she was found to be stealing SRC notes from Gamamari in November 2024, remains at large. Please maintain caution and alert the Noise@UNSW team to any sightings. Do NOT approach the coordinator without the proper handling training.

COVERAGE

With election season looming on the horizon and promising a fresh deluge of debates and disagreements amidst the hopeful 2026 SRC candidates, it should come as no surprise that the meeting of our current office bearers earlier this week would be buzzing with all the electricity of an incoming thunderstorm. And, if the announcements of the upcoming tickets were the ideal kindling, then the over a dozen motions tabled for the evening – some of them certainly more controversial than others – were the best of fuels to the fire of a meeting that was almost as intense as it was entertaining. You can take your pick of my mixed metaphors, because whether they were caused by a lightning strike or the strike of a matchbox, the inter-partisan arguments, schoolyard name-calling, and unexpected conscience voting from what was previously one of the most unified factions of the current SRC showed that sparks were certainly flying on Monday night. Get comfy, kids – this is gonna be a long one.

The first motion of the evening, moved by Environment Officer Emma Terry (SAlt), and seconded by Education Officer Jamie Tyers (SAlt), called for the SRC to act in accordance with the UNSW student vote in the National Student Referendum on Palestine. This referendum saw 98% of the 2000 nationwide voters affirming the proposed motions, a result that Tyers emphasised was “overwhelming”, and which Terry attributed in large part to the work of the Socialist Alternative and Students for Palestine. The motions asked the SRC to censure the Australian government for its complicity in the genocide in Gaza, demand sanctions be placed on Israel, call on UNSW to cease all partnerships with weapons companies, and to publish the results of the Referendum on their social media pages to encourage students to attend the Nationwide March for Palestine on October 12th. Students with Disabilities Officer Conroy Blood (NSW Greens) attempted to amend the particular wording of the motion to condemn the Labor government specifically, but was denied, with President Diya Sengupta (365) declaring: “that carried, and also was a little bit of a waste of my time”.

Blood then came forward to move the second motion opposing Labor’s attacks on young people with autism under the newly introduced “thriving kids” program, which sought to take under-18s with autism off of the National Disability Insurance Scheme. Blood condemned the Labor government’s use of autistic children as a “political football” in ongoing debates on national debt, and their use of language used in the assessment of autistic children’s eligibility, stating: “this is not an evidence-based procedure”. Councillor Anais Williamson (SAlt) seconded the motion, speaking to the counterintuitive handouts being given to property developers and insisting: “this is a cut, it is not a diversion like the government is trying to spin it as.” Queer Officer Alyss Cachia (Independent) echoed this sentiment: “divest from half a submarine, and you can fund the majority of the NDIS”. Together Again (Unity/Labor Right) chose to unanimously abstain from the vote, though Councillor Luke Cox declined to speak to their decision, as he stated the motion spoke for itself. The motion carried without speakers in opposition.

In the absence of Councillor Alexandra Egan (Revive/Independent), Cox stepped forward to move the third motion, pushing for the Arc board to allocate $500 to fund a compulsory beach safety and swim program for all new students at UNSW’s Port Macquarie and Coffs Harbour campuses, to be delivered in O-week. This motion comes following the disappearance of a 20-year-old UNSW medical student in August earlier this year, who went swimming near the Port Macquarie campus, and never returned. Cox reinforced the importance of combating this silent risk to student welfare by highlighting the disparity between the Kensington and other city campuses, where this beach safety and swim program is already in place, and the rural campuses, which do not always have the same opportunities. Increasing equality and inclusivity between these campuses was the focus of this motion, and something Cox claims the SRC should be doing more of, instead of “backing failed Trotsky stuff, like the comrades on my right”. With 365 members Diya Sengupta and prospective 2026 SRC candidate Billy Moran speaking in favour, the motion passed.

The controversial motion four was moved by Emma Terry, calling for the SRC to endorse the Rising Tide People’s Blockade of the Newcastle Port and support the initiatives that Rising Tide takes to organise students from UNSW to attend the Blockade. Newcastle is the largest coal port in the world, exporting 15% of the world’s coal, coal which is responsible for 1% of total global CO2 emissions. The upcoming blockade will be the third annual protest of its kind organised by Rising Tide. Terry spoke to the organisation’s desire to see more student participation in and mobilisation to the event, echoing concerns for the worsening of the cost of living and national housing crises, as well as the displacement and death that Australians will face if global warming remains unchecked. Both Blood and Councillor Louisa Chen (SAlt) sought to second the motion; however, when Sengupta favoured Blood for the sake of providing a difference in perspective from a different faction, Terry responded: “Louisa has probably done more for this than Conroy has, but okay, you appear and you get it.” Blood voiced his support of Rising Tide as an example of non-violent direct action, which “isn’t just flag waving,” and stated he was working to mobilise students in Western Sydney. 

Cox wished to vote against the motion and reluctantly rose to speak as Sengupta offered, “Come on, have your moment.” He expressed sympathy for the people of Newcastle having to deal with SAlt members descending en masse on their foreshore and beaches – though, as an unfortunate Novocastrian myself, I feel it is my duty to assure you all that Newcastle is host to more than enough Socialists of its own, with one of the three total candidates endorsed by Socialist Alliance running for the Newcastle seat in the last NSW state election. Cox continued, saying he did not think Rising Tide has achieved much yet, and that his faction endorses many movements, a statement immediately met with heckling from SAlt members mocking Together Again “[endorsing] climate change!.” Cachia, speaking in favour, chose to “ignore whatever the fuck that was,” and stressed the importance of attending the upcoming foundations training for the blockade, not simply “rock[ing] up” to Rising Tide with “no clue” of how the non-violent direct action will be carried out. Having attended previous events, Cachia proclaimed: “Nothing warms the heart more than seeing a lovely old lady saying ‘Fuck the police, I’m happy to get arrested’.”

Instead of speaking for the motion, Chen used her speaking time to speak against Blood, saying: “It’s great to hear how you’re against flag waving, and it just shows how much you hate protests.” She further accused Blood of exhibiting “typical Greens behaviour” in always seeking to placate Labor’s bad climate policies, to which Blood answered: “You’re happy to let our MPs speak at your protests to get people to go along, though.” In her right of reply, Terry said it was “just silly” to call people marching over the Harbour Bridge “just flag waving,” but to conversely bolster Rising Tide for doing a good job. Blood replied that he “was on the Harbour Bridge, too,” to which Terry shot back, “Yes, but you didn’t organise it.” The motion carried, with Together Again members voting against.

In light of the upcoming SRC elections, Blood sought to democratise the elections by moving the fifth motion of the night, which would call on Arc to hold in-person, physical ballot elections, and to introduce requirements for candidates to declare partisan or organisational affiliations on the ballot and for tickets to declare any “horse-trading” deals with other tickets publicly. Blood also attempted to move an amendment that would implement bright-coloured lanyards to identify students who do not wish to be approached by campaigners, to which SAlt expressed collective opposition, with Terry calling out that Blood “barely did it anyway.” Cachia seconded the motion, supporting confidential voting and the protection of students from feeling intimidated when they vote, speaking to the success of similar democratisations at other universities. In a rare occurrence for this SRC, the motion faced bipartisan dissent from both SAlt and Labor factions, who were unsatisfied with Blood’s intention to rewrite the way elections run without proposing a thought-out alternative. Blood responded that it was not the SRC’s responsibility to plan a new proposal and that Arc, which members from both disparate sides of the SRC political spectrum called “stupid.” Councillor Daniel Gulic (Unity/Labor Right), declaring himself as a proud member of the Australian Labor Party, insisted that “someone’s political party membership is no one’s business” and that the change from online to in-person voting was a demonstration of “far-right rhetoric from the Greens party members.”

With a vote moved to add two more people to the speaking list, Tyers rejected the idea of Arc being allowed to make all the decisions on a proposal he otherwise agreed with, and called for Sengupta to come up with a proposal and bring it to the next meeting. Cox invited UTS SRC and NUS member Neeve (UTSSA) to speak on the experiences she has had on campus around election season, which demonstrate the falsity of the claims that in-person voting is less intimidating and more accessible. In his right of reply, Blood emphasised that this was an advocacy motion – this was not enough to persuade his fellow Office Bearers, though, as only Blood and Ethnocultural Officer Ethan Lin (Edge/Independent) voted in favour, with the rest of the SRC universally abstaining from the vote due to the motion’s lack of specificity.

A welcome break from the previous two motions, the sixth matter for discussion for this meeting saw unanimous support. Moved by Sengupta, it called on the SRC to endorse the UNSW Muslim Students Association (MSA)’s letter to management. The letter, framed as a humanitarian appeal to UNSW Chancellor David Gonski and UNSW Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Attila Brungs, voiced concern for how UNSW’s investments and research collaborations that “may connect the University, directly or indirectly, to entities implicated” in the devastation unfolding in Gaza and Palestine. It called on the University to establish an independent review of investments and research partnerships, and to reaffirm its commitment to student safety and freedom of expression. Souad, a representative of the MSA, in speaking to the motion, expressed that the letter was a passion project written in consultation with students, staff, the community, and lawyers. He asked the SRC to join a coalition of students in other campus groups in signing on to the letter to send to the university. Cox seconded the motion, but declined to speak, while Terry spoke in favour of the letter’s alignment with the campaigning done by Students for Palestine. 

Motions seven and eight each sought to show the SRC’s solidarity with protests happening across the globe. The first, moved by Councillor Avasa Bajracharya (SAlt), supported Nepal’s “Gen Z revolution”, with the nation’s youth recently overthrowing the Prime Minister, K.P. Sharma Oli, in an ongoing movement against the harsh poverty faced by ordinary people in Nepal. Bajracharya, herself from Nepal, acknowledged the volatility of these protests but reinforced that the reasons behind them were not shocking at all, and claimed that the success of this revolution proves Socialist Alternative’s stance on mass action affecting change. Cox seconded the motion with a statement on the power of student activism and the importance of supporting workers and young people all over the world. 

The second motion, moved by Councillor Anais Williamson and spoken to by her fellow SAlt member Seb, extended such support to similar protests occurring in Indonesia against the special privileges of parliamentarians, who gave themselves a significant pay rise, whilst workers’ wages were being held back. Seb highlighted the political significance of these mass waves of young people fighting against class inequality, supported across the bench, so to speak, by Gulic. Both motions passed. 

Shifting focus closer to home, motion nine responded to the recent March for Australia with a declaration that the far-right “have no ‘legitimate concerns’” and a call to action for the SRC to commit itself to organising left-wing students to mobilise against the right. In moving the motion, Tyers stressed that the explicit racism and anti-immigrant framing of the demonstrations were something to be deeply concerned about, given the March’s significant turn-outs, and condemned the mainstream media for trying to legitimise the concerns of the protestors. Terry, seconding, conceded her speaking time to fellow SAlt member Dash, who reinforced that the people attending the March are the “most hardened” sections of the Australian people who are doing and saying “despicable things.” General Secretary Akash Nagarajan (Unity/Labor Right) justified the abstentions of the Labor faction by stating that, while the protest was organised by the far-right, the majority of attendees were not, and “writing them all off” as members of the far-right would only push more people in that direction. 

Blood argued that the rally was widely advertised as one organised by self-proclaimed Nazis, but also expressed disappointment with the lack of attendance at recent anti-racism rallies from left-wing people due to sectarianism – a sentiment which was met with scoffs from SAlt members. Cachia cited Labor’s inaction on the housing crisis as the real issue, which was causing struggling people to look for someone to blame – in this case, migrants – and stressed that improving standards of living would lift people out of the far-right radicalising pipeline. In criticising the mainstream and the government for placating the far-right, and Cachia for giving “too much credit” to people who are “just racists”; SAlt’s Owen Marsden-Readford reignited the arguing we all know and loathe, and the SRC descended into a chaos that we honestly ought to have expected. The little that could be made out in the din of disagreement was a proclamation from Nagarajan that Indian people attended the rally as well, alongside an accusation of Marsden-Readford being “elitist”. When Marsden-Readford responded to Nagarajan, Blood stepped into the fray, earning himself a call-back condemnation to his complaints of sectarianism, with Marsden-Readford criticising the “childishness” which he claimed “defines Conroy’s politics.” With Sengupta calling for an end to the yelling, and the Labor faction abstaining, the motion carried.

This would not be the end of the argument, however, as the tenth motion of the evening, moved by Councillor Zack Hossain (SAlt), called on a declaration from the SRC that migrants and international students are not to blame for the housing crisis. Hossain said it was “not surprising that Labor is being fucking soft on the far-right,” and that Labor was brutalising immigrants through Australia’s detention system. Sengupta spoke “as the other brown person in the room” on the attendance of Indian people at the March for Australia, stating: “They are being treated like shit in Australia, and are ashamed to be migrants because of what white Australia tells them. So, they convince themselves they are the good kind of migrants, and that the others need to be stopped.” The motion carried. 

Chen continued this – now considerably more civil – conversation in moving motion eleven, calling on the SRC to oppose and condemn “the vile racism displayed by the neo-Nazis and the far right at their recent demonstrations like the March for Australia”, support collective solidarity and mass resistance, and endorse upcoming and future anti-racist and anti-fascist mobilisations and counter-demonstrations organised against the far-right. She criticised telling marginalised people to stay at home for their safety when far-right groups were “parading” in the streets as an insufficient strategy for confronting and fighting against the far-right. Cachia seconded the motion, insisting: “We can’t let Nazis dictate the narrative.” The motion carried unanimously.

In the wake of such intense motions and a series of even more intense debates on their implementations, the meeting’s twelfth and final motion seemingly promised to be a more peaceful conclusion to the evening’s proceedings. However, this would be far from the truth, as the initially innocuous proposal from Nagarajan to restrict high schoolers from accessing the UNSW Library was met with considerable debate and questions of community conscience. Nagarajan expressed his frustrations finding study spots during exam season when the Library is occupied by high school students who do not pay SSAF, and who, as such, should not be given priority access to the services and amenities these fees fund. Queer Officer Ren Woodward (Independent) sought to move an amendment to ensure that public access to the important resources libraries provide would not be impacted, and asked to restrict the motion’s application to only certain levels of the library. Seconding the motion, Blood emphasised the importance of paying students having access when they need it, but agreed that the library’s function as a public resource ought to be maintained. He further stated that, as much as the SRC speaks to international issues, “we need to work for students, too.”

While Cox also came forward to speak in support of the motion, echoing the sentiment that the SRC is supposed to work for UNSW students and that high schoolers should not be allowed to “take over” the campus, a number of oppositions soon came forward, too. Tyers responded that restricting access to places on campus was not the answer to the problem that the motion was trying to address, and that the SRC should instead focus on initiatives to expand study spaces for everyone on campus. Cachia denounced the “spirit” of the motion for seeking to make public resources exclusive, stating it was “elitist” towards people from public high schools who may not have sufficient library resources available to them. “In an odd moment of 365 having conscience voting”, Sengupta spoke in favour, showing her appreciation for one of the most well-thought-out motions she said she had seen in a while, and agreeing that splitting off some areas for public use and others for student use would be beneficial during exam season. In his right of reply, Nagarajan clarified that he was not trying to block high schoolers from entering the library outright, but rather limiting access during exam season to prioritise access for SSAF-paying UNSW students. The vote came down to a Presidential tie-breaker, with SAlt members voting against the motion, and Labor, 365 (with the exception of Counsellor Joseph Bellia), and the won-over Independents voting for. Ultimately, the motion carried, with Sengupta’s deciding vote.

Moving, at last, to Office Bearer reports, President Sengupta spoke to her efforts working with management on the Palestine Town Hall, some top-secret future clubs grants proposals, the recent referendum for Palestine, and her collaborations with the Women’s Collective on Gendered Violence prevention and the Sextember stall – which included a period pain simulator that saw great success, according to Women’s Officer Ellena Cheers-Flavell (365)’s proxy. Sengupta has also been assisting the Queer Officers in their ongoing disputes with Estate Management, who, as Cachia and Woodward explained, decided to cancel the planned move of the UNSW Queer Space. The Queer Collective have been fighting for a new space since at least 2007, and was offered a fantastic new space that met the requirements of the current Collective, only to have Estate Management walk back the offer after the Collective had voted in favour of the move. As the Officers poetically summarised: “EM fucked us.”

Sengupta described further collaborations with Blood on a new Equitable Learning Plan survey, which would allow students to provide feedback on negative experiences they may have had with course convenors not properly assisting in the application of reasonable provisions. Blood spoke to his continued efforts to host semi-regular events for the Students with Disabilities Collective, and the assistance he provided the new Disability, Inclusion and Advocacy Society in organising a film screening for Diversity Fest. 

Chen and Cox came forward to plug the upcoming Palestine Action Group rally marking the two-year anniversary of the escalation of the war in Gaza, and to congratulate those who worked on the Students Referendum for Palestine, respectively, with Cox reiterating that the SRC “get things done” when they work together, a sentiment echoed by Gulic.

Other Office Bearers took their reports as read: Nagarajan has uploaded available approved meeting minutes to the SRC website and worked on reaffiliating UNSW to the National Union of Students; Tyers, Terry and Tate were involved with organising the nationwide referendum for Palestine and are currently trying to organise a formal public meeting with UNSW management to discuss ties with weapons corporations; Lin has organised tentative plans for a collaboration event across both Kensington and Paddington campuses and continued to monitor and provide support to the MSA in their campaign for a new upper campus prayer space; and Cheers-Flavell prepared the Sextember stall and invited new UNSW club the Bloom Collective (a support group for students struggling with women’s reproductive health issues) to co-run, with plans to promote Connect2Prevent (a group that aims to rethink approaches to gendered violence prevention and advocates for restorative justice) materials at the stall, and has been regularly meeting with the student gendered violence reference group. 

Over on Paddington campus, the Independent officers, alongside their aforementioned collaborations with Lin, have been hard at work: Domestic Officer Edward Zhong, held a stand in collaboration with the International Student Hangout Society, promoting the QILT student experience survey during the event, and is planning more events for the upcoming term; International Officer Cora Yang assisted in completing the campus map for Paddington and with the setup and organisation of Paddington’s Community Day; and Representation Officer Danielle Moutopoulos continued the weekly Tuesday Free Toast and Toasties Stall through to the end of Term 2, spoke with the UNSW Culture department to share their Awards Ceremony, and has ongoing plans to create content and actively engage with the community via social media platforms to build a stronger online presence for greater turnout to Paddington events.

Two hours after starting, the September meeting of the UNSW SRC finally came to a close, with members of all parties coming together to take a ‘solidarity photo’ commemorating what meeting observer Tyers referred to as a “good” meeting. By which standards he was making such a judgment, I’ll never quite be sure, but as Cachia had to step in and remind her fellow Office Bearer’s to “look alive,” I am sure that they are getting paid to be there, and I am–

SATIRE

A note from Noise@UNSW:

It appears Thompson ran out of time, here. The only surprising factor is that it did not happen sooner. We are currently investigating how an escaped coordinator had time to write an almost 4000-word write-up while avoiding recapture by security. Thank you for your caution and cooperation whilst we resolve this issue.