Welcome back to Glass’s coverage of the QUT Guild’s Student Representative Council (SRC) meetings! This is our coverage of the meeting held on Thursday the 23rd of April in P-501 on Gardens Point Campus.
All current students are welcome to attend SRC meetings. If you want to see change on campus, we encourage you to put forward a motion to the SRC.
COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
You can find a link to the minutes from the meeting on this page once published, and you can read our live coverage on threads.
AND WE’RE OFF!
The meeting was opened at 6:08PM by Chair Michael Penderghast.
Roll call confirmed the attendance of the following officers:
President – Caleb McGiffin
Secretary – Samuel Hulls
Treasurer – Matthew Bloder (Online)
Welfare Officer – Isaac Oliver
Engagement Officer – Miles Hirst (Online)
Clubs and Societies Officer – Geoffrey Latz
Environment Officer – Yuanyi Tham
International Officer – Rajinder Singh
First Nations Officer – Mimi Lewis
Queer Officer – Lauren “Ren” Johnstone
Disability Officer – Felix Park Weir
Health Faculty Councillor – Ethan Johnstone
Science Faculty Councillor – Connor Lowe
Science Faculty Councillor – Rajit Bhargava
CIESJ Councillor – Elowyn Gampe
Education Officer – Georgie Dobbs
Women’s Officer – Keely McConnell
Postgrad Officer – Vaibhavi “V” Bisht
The following officers were absent with apologies:
Health Faculty Councillor – Caitlin Brennan
Science Faculty Councillor – Rajit Bhargava
The SRC heard the candidates for the roles of Business and Law Faculty Councillor and Engineering Faculty Councillor.
Inara Rus, the sole applicant for the role, presented their case for Engineering Faculty Councillor.
“We’re constantly told how valued and how important our degree is. But with every email, lecture, seminar I see, all I know is that the value is actually just upheld by a ruling class who sees it as nothing more than a means to war and lining of their pockets.
Many attendees chanted “shame” while Inara spoke about their perceived failures of QUT.
“Institutions like QUT who encourage the drive to death and destruction deserve to be criticised by students. And as a union, we should provide a platform and the tools necessary for students to speak up when they see injustice and mobilise against it.”
There were two candidates for Business and Law Faculty Councillor Eileen Sarah Daniel and Emmett Morrison. Eileen was not present to speak, and nothing was prepared for the council to read in their absence.
Emmet presented their case for councillor.
“I firmly believe that our council and our union of the central mechanisms to provide that strong voice for our students, in order to provide them with meaningful progressive change and to defend them from exploitation and inequality. I would be honoured to have the opportunity to serve my fellow business, law, and first year students, helping to provide them with a voice that advocates the meaningful change they want to see and the progressive stances they want to see their representative body take. I hope I can have your support in this.”
Voting was completed by a show of hands. Inara Rus was elected unanimously for Engineering Faculty Councillor. Emmett Morrison was elected for Business and Law Faculty Councillor with one abstention.
MOTIONS WITH NOTICE
There were no motions with notice for this council meeting.
The Chair censured Engineering Faculty Councillor Chan Ngugen for being absent from two council meetings. If Chan does not attend the May SRC meeting, they will be removed from their position.
Before moving to the motions with no notice, the room adjourned for ten minutes to allow attendees to read and discuss the motion.
Education Officer Georgie Dobbs moved to suspend the standing orders, a procedure taken to temporarily set aside an agenda to deal with urgent matters. Voting to do so was completed by a show of hands, and the motion passed.
Georgie moved to elect Keely as Chair. In accordance, Michael Pendergast temporarily removed themselves and elected President Caleb McGiffin to Chair the rest of the meeting and any debate surrounding the motion.
Georgie, as mover, spoke for the motion.
“I think that council is an extremely important political space, and I think that what needs to be done for debate to be facilitated, that’s the responsibility of the chair. That’s a responsibility that needs to be taken extremely seriously and there should be very little limitations placed on basically councillors and office bearers in order to facilitate democratic discussion and debate”
Georgie was named last meeting by the Chair for interrupting and speaking out of turn. The Chair has previously cited the importance of this rule for accessibility purposes, particularly where one member of the SRC requires the use of Auslan interpreters and has labelled it “ableist” to not follow this rule.
Chair Michael Pendergast spoke against the motion.
He cites multiple regulations surrounding any disagreements with the chair, interrupting other speakers, and the right for the Chair to censure and name attendees.
“The fact that there has been no dissent moved in any of my rulings means that that is not a motion on my ability to chair these meetings or my interpretations of the regulations. This is purely a motion on whether or not SRC meetings should be accessible. And notably, this is a motion stating that SRC meetings should not be accessible.”
“I think it’s a slap in the face to all disabled students. I’ve been a part of the Guild for four years now and the fact that here now in my final year, the biggest obstruction to that is within this very room. It’s insulting and I think anyone who votes for this motion or abstains from this motion…you are essentially saying that disabled people are not welcome within this space.”
“If your advocacy, your activism does not include disabled people you cannot call yourself progressive. You cannot call yourself socialist.”
Student observer Erin Milne spoke for the motion: “I think part of being Chair and part of being able to facilitate debate also means that your behaviour as chair is very important. The behaviour that was exhibited at the previous council meetings was not acceptable. I don’t think it’s acceptable to yell at office bearers while they’re speaking in a meeting. The way that the last council meeting went down suggests that we actually do need someone else to run the meetings.”
Health Faculty Councillor Ethan Johnstone spoke against the motion, stating that they are not surprised by the ableism being exhibited by members of the Guild.
“There is a reason that this is the first time in my time at this union we’ve had this many disabled students on this SRC or participating in our meetings. It’s because we have tried our fucking best to carve out a space at this table, to carve out an ability to participate in our student union in higher education, which is already not accessible to disabled students.”
Environment Officer Yuanyi Tham spoke for the motion.
“The past council meetings have shown actually quite a divergence from usual Chair-ing. Just saying ‘shame’ in response to something that is disgusting is not ableist. It’s a very normal reaction.”
“Georgie just made one private comment to Caleb and she was immediately named. What happened shows that Michael should not be chairing this meeting today because he has shown unprecedented hostility towards how debates and discussions are handled in general at this Council.”
Queer Officer Lauren Johnstone spoke against the motion, reiterating what really occurred at last month’s meeting.
“Michael started the meeting and at the very, very start of the meeting, Michael said the words to the entire room, and you all heard them: if you speak out of turn, you will be named. If you interrupt another person, you will be named. If you do not speak into a microphone, you will be named. So, what happened is somebody spoke out of turn, not into a microphone, and they got named, as they were warned.”
“You don’t get to say that behaviour isn’t ableist if you are not a disabled person. You do not get to have that opinion unless you are a disabled person.”
“All Michael has done is make this room accessible for the people that use it. You don’t get to say that you are not being ableist when the very actions that you are exhibiting are preventing somebody from accessing this room.”
President Caleb McGiffin spoke for the motion.
“I do not believe that our current chair has the capacity to be impartial due to interpersonal relationships with members of the SRC.”
“I refuse to be called an ableist. I refuse to have this SRC tricked into thinking they’re voting on whether or not this Guild is ableist. I think Keely’s a fantastic candidate because I know that she shares those values of accessibility.”
Welfare Officer Isaac Oliver spoke against the motion.
“Yes, there is an argument to be made that meetings may have been a bit more restrictive or limiting this year but those restrictions and limitations have been because the structure of our SRC has changed and that change has been to support new and incoming disabled students, and that required a more direct and explicit interpretation of regulations.”
“To deny Michael the chance to provide that space and to make that space accessible is blatantly a deliberate attempt to make this space inaccessible by an organisation of ableists.”
Caleb McGiffin, who is chairing the debate, ends discussion and allows a right of reply from mover Georgie Dobbs. Health Councillor Ethan Johnstone makes a point of information to clarify that the motion is to remove Michael as Chair, elect Keeley for the remainder of this meeting, and elect a new Chair at next month’s meeting from a casual vacancy.
Despite Caleb ending discussion, an observer and member of Socialist Alternative wished to speak to the motion and labelled it a point of information.
“We’re socialists. The idea that what we are for is curbing the rights and curbing the things that people deserve is disgusting. The idea that Georgie saying a phrase out of turn is ableist is ridiculous. It’s not ableist to have a political disagreement with someone who has a disability.”
Georgie exercised her right of reply.
“I think I was actually pretty viciously attacked multiple times over the last couple council meetings. I spoke out simply one time in the last council meeting, and my actions were then basically treated as the worst possible crime. I think it was incredibly unfair the way I was treated.”
“I disagree that anything that I did was actually ableist. I think is pretty politically reprehensible to conflate the things I did with human rights abuses and criminal offenses.”
“What I stand for as a socialist is I want to create a Guild, a space where political debate and disagreement is actually a democratic right that is upheld.”
Treasurer Matthew Bloder, attending the meeting online, made a point of information: “By naming someone, Michael was simply acting on a rule established at the beginning of the last meeting. If this is being posed as a reason to remove him, it is redundant.”
The motion moved to a vote. It passed with 11 for, 4 against, and 4 abstentions. Michael Pendergast was therefore removed as chair.
The now former chair Michael Pendergast, Disability Officer Felix Park Weir, and Welfare Officer Isaac Oliver left the meeting.
Caleb resigned the role of Chair to Women’s Officer Keely McConnell. Before moving to the motions without notice, Keely announced that they will not allow speaking out of turn or interrupting others, telling everyone to raise their hands if they wish to speak.
The room debated over whether the meeting’s motions without notice should’ve been motions with notice because they are motions that were not read during last month’s meeting due to quorum being pulled. They concluded that because some of the content has changed within the last month, the motions can be read as without notice.
MOTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE
QUT Guild condemns arrest of pro-Palestine activists in Queensland
The first motion without notice was moved by Georgie Dobbs and seconded by Caleb McGiffin.
Georgie Dobbs spoke to the Liberal Party’s hate speech reforms which barred 2 pro-Palestine slogans, and the 25 activists that have since been arrested.
“The crux of this motion though is we want to again reaffirm that these laws are a disgusting attack on the democratic rights of people in Queensland. We want to reaffirm that it’s actually good and right and for people to stand up for the people of Palestine, and that these slogans are actually not anti-Semitic.”
Caleb seconded the motion, calling the fact that 20 activists were recently arrested “bizarre.”
Newly elected Engineering Councillor Inara Rus spoke for the motion, also calling the arrests “absurd”.
Observer Connor Knight, who was recently arrested for displaying a pro-Palestine phrase, spoke for the motion: “I’m looking at two years in jail if I’m convicted. It’s going to take some serious lawyering to get us out of it.
“Something that has to happen if we’re going to defend democratic rights and also build mass movements is a serious challenge to the current leadership of the union movement.”
Following this, Health Faculty Councillor Ethan Johnstone and Queer Officer Lauren Johnstone left the meeting. Caleb moved for a roll call to assess whether the meeting still had quorum.
The motion passed unanimously.
The QUT Guild condemns the Australian Labor Party Government for Imperialist Warmongering
Environment Officer Yuanyi Tham moved the motion, claiming it’s important to have a political debate with members of the SRC that are also members of the Australian Labour Party (‘ALP’).
“We have seen the Australian government give total support to America and Israel in carrying out this war on Iran.
“I think it’s really important to say that if you actually cared about the Iranian people, you would totally oppose this war.”
Secretary Samuel Hull moved to make an amendment to the motion.
The proposed changes included:
- Striking the preamble
- Striking the words the ‘Australian Labour Party Government for’ in the title;
- Striking point three,
- Change motion point one from the “QUT Guild poses the war in Iran and calls for a full withdrawal of US, Israeli and Australian military forces, as well as the provision of international aid to help rebuild hospital homes and infrastructure” to read “the QUT Guild opposes the war on Iran and calls for a full withdrawal of US and Israeli military forces
- Add a motion point reading that the QUT Guild supports the provision of international aid to help rebuild hospitals, homes, and infrastructure.
Samuel explained that “I think it’s dishonest to claim the Australian Labour Party is this complicit.”
President Caleb seconded the proposed amendment, stating they have a gripe with referring to the ALP as ruling in favour of the elite at the expense of the working class.
“That’s like saying the Liberal Party is ruling for the workers at the expense of billionaires.”
“It’s a complete distortion of the facts. It ignores the history of Australia’s political history, which has a rich history of union struggle against oppression from the rich, oppression from billionaires, oppression from landowners, from business owners and from corporations through the union movement backed in by the Labour Party.”
Mimi Lewis spoke against the amendment: “The Labour Party’s actions were politically charged actions that they made on purpose to support this war. I don’t think you can remove that from this motion.”
Student observer Connor Knight spoke against the amendment, speaking to how the Labour Party has “attacked” the working class.
“We need to reject this idea of defensive imperialism. They pretty clearly have supported this war. They still do.”
Samuel Hull exercised his right of reply: “It’s defending against attacks on civilians, which Iran is plainly doing. This isn’t a good government. They’re directed to attacks on Australian soil. The Iranian government has in the past directed attacks on Australian soil.”
Samuel concluded by stating “It’s not been confirmed but the Iranian government did likely direct these attacks,” a point which many attendees laughed at.
A vote to change the motion with Samuel’s amendments passed with 7 for and 6 against.
The meeting then moved the amended motion.
Education Officer Georgie Dobbs spoke against the new motion.
“I think this is a pretty reprehensible but not unsurprising trick straight from the Labour Party handbook that basically says that every time a motion that SALT puts to the floor that condemns the Labour Party for their atrocities that the commit abroad and domestically, you want to water down the motion and actually remove any condemnation of the party that you so desperately cling to.”
Samuel exercised his right of reply to say, “I just think it’s dishonest to say that Labour is playing a role in this and is doing imperial war mongering as the motion would suggest,”
Student observer Izzy spoke against the motion.
“I think it’s pretty bad that all mention of the Labour Party has been removed from this motion.”
“The reason to point blame at the Labour Party is because they’re the ones in government right now and they do have a political orientation where they actually do want to cuddle up to the Trump administration and basically provide some sort of cover for what they are actually doing, which is imperialist war mongering.”
Samuel exercised his right of reply.
“I’m sorry if my wording was unclear, but I did not in any way justify the attacks on Iran. I think they’re reprehensible. I just was saying the Iranian government is attacking its own people. It is an authoritarian regime which is committing human rights abuses. I do not think that is a justification to bomb a country or invade a country in any way. I’m sorry if my wording was unclear, but that is my stance.”
Treasurer Mathew Bloder made a point of information from online stating that the point of the motion is to condemn the war in Iran, which is inclusive of Australia and the Australian Government, regardless of the Labour Party being stated directly in the motion or not.
The motion passed with four votes. All other attending officers abstained.
The QUT Guild condemns new law banning Middle East migrants and refugees
Science Councillor Connor Lowe moved the motion stating “the point of this motion is to take a firm stance with migrants and refugees and if that means condemning the Labour Party then that’s what we have to do.”
Observer Erin Milne spoke for the motion.
“I think if people want to come to Australia, they should be allowed to, and I don’t think the question should be, can they contribute enough? Or what if they don’t follow the restrictive rules we’ve given them? I think people should be allowed to flee war and terror. And I don’t think Australia should try to escape responsibility for the people that our government has helped to make homeless and have forced to face serious war and devastation. I don’t think we should be able to escape responsibility by then turning around and saying, you can’t come here either if you do choose to leave that country.”
Environment Officer Yuanyi Tham spoke for the motion.
“I’m curious as to why members of the Labour Party here in this room don’t want to speak on this motion because the Labour Party has had a massive hand in enforcing racism in Australian society.”
President Caleb McGiffin spoke for the motion, rejecting that members of the Labour Party in the room don’t condemn the actions of the party.
“I agree that blanket bans on migration are outrageous. Its discriminatory and it sets dangerous precedent during a time where we’re seeing One Nation on the rise using racist rhetoric to try and gain a foothold in Australian politics. While they’re doing that, then to put blanket bans on migration, it’s awful. We don’t support this.”
The motion passed unanimously.
The QUT Guild condemns the Australian Labour Party increasing military funding
Student observer Inara Rus moved the last motion about the ALP increasing the military budget whilst NDIS funding is being cut at the same time.
“This has been basically a one for one exchange in the budget. It’s explicitly saying that we can take money from the supporting of disabled people and people that desperately need help from social services, and what’s actually better is funding a war which is slaughtering tens of thousands.”
“ALP has been completely complicit in this, and it’s very clear that they actually just don’t prioritise anyone in Australia except the ruling class.”
Yuanyi Tham seconded the motion. They referred back to President Caleb McGiffin’s earlier comments about how the ALP is a party for the working class and stated that the party has decided that working class people are a “worthy sacrifice.”
First Nations Officer Mimi Lewis spoke for the motion, describing their own struggles as a disabled person when NDIS rescinded Lewis’ funding.
“None of these things are good for the financial climate of Australia and they think this is a justifiable expense. I think that’s disgusting, there are disabled people in this country who will die without this funding, and they are spending it to kill other people.”
“I know so many people who receive life-saving care and receive life-saving assistive technology through the NDIS that they aren’t getting when we’re spending money on what becomes scrap metal in the Middle East.”
Observer Connor Knight spoke for the motion, also speaking to the impact on vulnerable and disabled people in Australia.
President Caleb McGiffin spoke for the motion: “I was really disappointed to see the cuts of the NDIS. Part of the reason I joined the Labour Party is because they typically support the NDIS. I don’t support that at all, especially when its going towards military funding. I love the NDIS. I really wish our government would prioritise it instead of taking from it to fund war.”
The motion passed unanimously.
CLOSING
The SRC moved through question time sans questions, the collective’s reports were tabled as read, and Acting Chair Keely McConnell called the meeting to a close at 8:24PM.
That concludes Glass Magazine’s coverage of the February SRC meeting for 2026.
May’s meeting will be held on the 21st of May at Kelvin Grove Campus.
Until next time xo
