Nominations for QUT Student Guild 2023 elections have been announced this evening, with 17 positions out of a possible 25 SRC spots being contested, along with 7 NUS Delegate positions.
The QUT Student Guild is the union representing all students at QUT.
The Guild had a total of 52 nominations this election. This is a startlingly small number when compared to UQ Union’s nearly 400 nominations in their elections running at the moment.
While still not quite up to scratch with our friends (foes?) down the river, this number of candidates indicates that student engagement in QUT Student Guild elections is growing, if only at an achingly slow snail’s pace.
It remains to be seen how many students will still be in the running for these positions after the mandatory election briefings, which were the downfall of some candidates last year who failed to attend and were disqualified from the race.
The composition of the next Executive Committee is largely already determined, with eight out of thirteen positions being filled by one ticket (Reform) by default.
The large number of uncontested positions in the Executive Committee is a disappointing result for the Guild, given these positions are paid and the most likely to be appealing to students. It’s also a disappointing result for QUT students who now have no chance to give most of the Executive Committee a mandate for what they want these candidates to achieve on their behalf.
Who is running?
We’ve got two major tickets this year: Reform and Left Action, along with a spattering of independents.
Reform is led by current Postgraduate Officer and Presidential candidate Aaron Bui, and is a mix of incumbents and QUT Progressives members, former Grow candidates, Collective alums, and some newcomers. Glass notes there is currently a Labor Right-aligned ticket called Reform also running in the UQU elections, but we have been unable to confirm whether there is any affiliation with the QUT’s Reform ticket.
The Left Action ticket is led by current Environment Officer Isabella Foley, who is vying for re-election for her position. The ticket is made up of a mix of regular SRC meeting attendees as Socialist Alternative members, along with some new faces. The Left Action ticket has been one of the Guild’s longest-continuously running electoral groups in recent years.
Most of the Executive positions being contested will be a fight between Reform and independents, while the Councillor and NUS Delegate positions are mostly a contest between Reform and Left Action.
The Media team is contested for the first time in recent years, with an incumbent ticket led by current Glass Editors Celeste Muller and Ben Steele (with three newcomers & Glass contributors) running against a single opposing candidate, current Clubs & Societies Officer (and former Grow candidate) Madison Shepherd.
Candidates for the Media team cannot run be affiliated with electoral tickets like Reform and Left Action in order to maintain editorial independence.
StuPol ticket Grow controlled the Guild in 2023, but has since disbanded with most Grow candidates not running for re-election, or running with Reform.
One Student Board position and the First Nations Officer position remain vacant due to a lack of nominations. These positions will be advertised on the Guild Noticeboard as casual vacancies in the next term.
Voting is open to all current QUT students and will occur electronically during Week 13. Polls will open here at 9:00 AM Monday 23 Oct 2023 and will close at 11:59 PM Thursday 26 Oct 2023.
Successful nominees will assume their respective roles from 1 December 2023.
More to come.
The following positions are up for election:
President
- Aaron Bui (Reform)
- Phearun Kuch (independent)
Secretary
- Jatinkumar Hirapara (independent)
- Juliet Veskova (Reform)
Postgraduate Students Officer
- Muhammad Umair Amir (independent)
- Malgorzata Fituch (Reform)
International Students Officer
- Joan Njoku (independent)
- Moin Rahman (Reform)
Media Editor
- Celeste Muller (media ticket – name unknown)
- Benjamin Steele (media ticket – name unknown)
- Jessica Morgan (media ticket – name unknown)
- Jacinta Rosetto (media ticket – name unknown)
- Tione Zylstra (media ticket – name unknown)
- Madison Shepherd (independent)
Business & Law Councillor
- Gia Callaghan Fisher (Reform)
- William Joseph (Reform)
- Jasper Bennett (independent)
CIESJ Councillor
- Ella O’Brien (Reform)
- Erin Milne (Left Action)
- Darcey Rowan (Left Action)
Engineering Councillor
- Jasper Vermeulen (Reform)
- Adeep Muitra (Reform)
- Georgie Dobbs (Left Action)
Environment Officer
- Milani Rawlinson (independent)
- Isabella Foley (Left Action)
Health Councillor
- Arya Chaudhari (Reform)
- Zachary Hyde (Reform)
- Naima Hashi (Left Action)
Science Councillor
- Courtney-Elyce Lewis (Reform)
- Owen Nicholls (Reform)
- Daniel Soltermann (Left Action)
- Aaron Atkinson (Left Action)
NUS Delegates
- Muhammad Umair Amir (independent)
- Aaron Bui (Reform)
- Archer Skinner – Education Officer (Reform)
- Deepika Sharma – Engagement Officer (Reform)
- Isabella Foley (Left Action)
- Erin Milne (Left Action)
- Georgie Dobbs (Left Action)
- Daniel Soltermann (Left Action)
- Elowyn Gampe (Left Action)
- Declan Kerr (Left Action)
- Kyle Muir-McMurtrie
The following students have been elected unopposed (by default, due to no other student nominating):
- Zephaniah Behan-Howell – Board of Directors (independent)
- Muskan Sharma – Clubs & Societies Officer (Reform)
- Ethan Johnstone – Disability Officer (Reform)
- Archer Skinner – Education Officer (Reform)
- Deepika Sharma – Engagement Officer (Reform)
- Eli Spencer – Queer Officer (Reform)
- Usama Shafiq – Treasurer (Reform)
- Tegan O’Connor – Welfare Officer (Reform)
- Lauren Cuthbert – Women’s Officer (Reform)
One student position on the Board of Directors and the First Nations Officer position will be advertised as a casual vacancy after the start of the new term on 1 December 2023.
Disclosure: Media team candidates Celeste Muller and Ben Steele are current Editors of Glass, but play no role in election coverage. All election coverage is produced by Editor-in-Chief, Ciaran Greig.
Corrections? Contact cgreig@qutguild.com
