Welcome back to Glass’s coverage of the QUT Student Representative Council (SRC) meetings! This is our coverage of the meeting held on Thursday the 21st of May in Kelvin Grove’s E-block, room 258.
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 6:11pm by [temporary] Chair Samuel Hulls. Roll call confirmed the attendance of the following officers.
President – Caleb McGiffin (Online)
Secretary – Samuel Hulls
Treasurer – Matthew Bloder
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 (Online)
Disability Officer – Felix Park Weir (Online)
Science Faculty Councillor – Connor Lowe
Science Faculty Councillor – Rajit Bhargava (Online)
CIESJ Councillor – Elowyn Gampe
Education Officer – Georgie Dobbs
Women’s Officer – Keely McConnell (Online)
Postgrad Officer – Vaibhavi “V” Bisht (Online)
Engineering Faculty Councillor – Inara Russ (Online)
CIESJ Councillor – Lucas Gordon
The following officers were absent with apologies: Business & Law Faculty Councillors Emmett Morrison and Elisabeth Kaptain, and Queer Officer Lauren Johnstone.
Health Faculty Councillors Ethan Johnstone and Catilin Brennan were absent without apologies. Engineering Faculty Councillor Chan Nguyen was absent, and as they were absent the last two meetings, Chair Samuel Hulls censured them. They were automatically removed from council.
The position of Chair was the only casual vacancy to be filled. Fang Li vouched for the role, speaking to their experience helping students. Student Observer, Izzy, questioned Li’s lack of experience. When taken to a vote, Fang Li was successfully voted as Chair, which will take effect next SRC meeting. Socialist Alternative (SAlt) representatives voted against.
MOTIONS WITH NOTICE
There were no motions without notice this council meeting. The room subsequently adjourned for ten minutes, allowing attendees to read and discuss the six proposed motions.
MOTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE
Removal of term limits from the Guild regulations
The evening’s first motion was moved by Education Officer Georgie Dobbs.
Dobbs spoke to the current regulations being undemocratic, with otherwise popular candidates being barred from re-election if they’ve already served three years on council.
“I just think it stands to reason that if a student has been elected multiple times, then clearly there is something within their platform, within their policies that students resonate with and that they want to continue to vote for again and again.”
The motion was seconded by Secretary Samuel Hulls, who vouched for the potential experience that the Guild would stand to benefit from, by those who have served three years.
Welfare Officer Isaac Oliver spoke against the motion.
“I believe that if we were to remove this term limit, that we will allow the people who currently have power to keep that power, and there will be no fair and diversified democratic representation in our Guild,” said Oliver.
CIESJ Faculty Councillor Elowyn Gampe responded to Isaac, speaking for the motion.
“Students should have a right to say, and actually, we’ve got arbitrary limits that were placed by the right to reduce the amount of left-wing actions that we could do as a student union, which would support students.”
President Caleb McGiffin spoke for the motion, stating that “a lot of students who come to QUT who, if ever, would get involved with the SRC, do so during their undergraduate years, and then miss out on the opportunity to do so as a postgraduate student.”
Education Officer Georgie Dobbs exercised their right of reply, stating that despite wanting for council next year, current regulations made them ineligible.
Dobbs continued by saying “I just think the main argument that was laid before that council was that even if hundreds or thousands of students vote for you, that you cannot hold a position. I think it’s undemocratic to say that even if you win a popular vote, you could not hold a position again. It’s a pretty condescending argument that says that students are stupid and can’t vote for their own interests.”
The motion almost passed unanimously, with only Welfare Officer Issac Oliver voting against.
The QUT Guild supports the NTEU Fair Workloads Campaign
The next motion was moved by President Caleb McGiffin.
“It’s no secret, especially in this cohort here, that the university is driven by profits, that in recent years the university has driven progressively more to the side of a business model and less to the side of an academic institution. And that’s why it’s so important that we take this opportunity to stand with the National Tertiary Education Union.”
Secretary Samuel Hulls seconded the motion, reading two emails from Guild Advocacy as supporting evidence. Hulls recounted the first email, sent by Senior Advocacy Officer Shane Snow, stating that “the faculties do not have the staff to process academic misconduct cases in a timely fashion.”
The second email, sent by Academic Advocacy Officer Anna Rose Wilson, asserted that “the usual time for receiving an outcome, or further communication was 20 business days, and this has gone up to at least 30. This can have a significant impact on international students who must pay their fees up front every semester.”
When taken to a vote, the motion passed unanimously.
The Guild condemns the ALP Budget as a Budget for the Warmongering and the Rich
The next motion was moved by CIESJ Officer Elowyn Gampe and seconded by Environment Officer Yuanyi Tham.
Gampe stated that “the vast majority of critiques against this budget should be for what’s not included in it. What we have not seen in this budget is a taxing of gas corporations, creation of inheritance or wealth taxes.”
Environment Officer Yuanyi Tham seconded the motion, saying that “It doesn’t include the 25% gas exports tax which was supported by 58% of Australians, which would generate over $17 billion a year. Australians want that money to be put into welfare services, into healthcare, into disability care, into education.”
Speaking against the motion, Secretary Samuel Hulls asserted that there were a myriad benefits that this budget will bring to young Australians, stating that “[Labor] have started their second term taking aim at the two biggest problems in this country: the housing crisis and intergenerational equality.”
Student observer Izzy Foley countered Hull’s point, stating that Labor’s budget comes nowhere close to being sufficient and that the issue will not be solved until housing stops being treated like a commodity.
Indigenous Officer Mimi Lewis spoke for the motion, stating that President Caleb McGiffin had “wholly misrepresented what the average Australian is.” Lewis went on to say that terms like “the average Australian” fail to capture which demographics are worst affected by the housing crisis.
Lewis also spoke on the profound impact of the budget’s cuts to the NDIS, stating:
“Every single person in Australia is at the risk of being disabled. These cuts include aged care… Every single person in this room will benefit from, at some point in their life, or knows people who will benefit from that system.”
President Caleb McGiffin spoke against the motion, saying that the capital class is actively railing against the changes made towards negative gearing and capital gains taxes.
CIESJ Officer Elowyn Gampe responded against McGiffin, stating that “it’s kind of preposterous to claim that this is radical. Of course, Rupert Murdoch isn’t going to like when Labor does something, because he doesn’t like when Labor does anything.”
Going to a vote, the motion passed, with only these members voting against: President Caleb McGiffin, Secretary Samuel Hulls, Engagement Officer Miles Hirst, Clubs and Societies Officer Geoffrey Latz, and CIESJ Faculty Officer Lucas Gordon.
Stand With the Freedom Flotilla
The next motion was moved by student observer Sharon, covering the recent capture of activists on the Global Sumud Flotilla, and the University’s continued ties with Israeli weapons manufacturers.
“As we all know, the Global Sumud Flotilla was intercepted on the 1st of May, and 17 Australians were detained. And then again, it was intercepted the second time last month, this Monday, and 11 Australians were detained that time. Both times, the Australian government, the Labor government, has said absolutely nothing to guarantee the safety of these people who are just trying to deliver aid, medical aid, and things like baby formula and sanitary products to the people of Palestine who are starving and have no other way to gain this aid,” stated Sharon.
Observer Malaak Seleem seconded the motion.
“I’m also a STEM student who has seen how STEM students get funnelled into the military industrial complex and how the military industrial complex at QUT manipulates students into believing that that is the only viable future for them. It is very important that we stand against the Australian government while they stay silent in the illegal kidnapping of the brave comrades upon the Sumud Flotilla.”
Science Faculty Councillor Connor Lowe spoke for the motion as well.
In the interim, Chair Samuel Hulls noted that the motion “Australia’s royal commission is a show trial” had been withdrawn.
President Caleb McGiffin also spoke for the motion, stating that he felt “sick to his stomach watching what was essentially torture on the videos circulating online.”
Observer Izzy Foley, also spoke for the motion, stating that “the entire state of Israel must be sanctioned by the government.”
The motion passed unanimously.
Cancel the Olympics to save Victoria Park (Barrambin)
Due to the previously mentioned withdrawal of a motion, this was the last motion of the evening. It was moved by Environment Officer Yuanyi Tham, with Science Faculty Councillor Connor Lowe seconding the motion.
“The Olympics are made for the rich and will massively screw over working-class people. I mean, looking at it historically, the Olympics have been a net negative which leaves ghost towns and slums for people to live in… There’s just going to be this petty sort of nationalism throughout the whole thing. And basically, just a patriotism that glosses over actual issues,” said Lowe.
When taken to a vote, the motion passed unanimously.
Closing
There were no questions, which led to Chair Samuel Hulls closing the meeting at 7:46pm.
The next meeting will be held on the 23rd of July on the Gardens Point campus.
That concludes Glass Magazine’s coverage of the 2026 May SRC meeting.
See you next time Glassies xoxo
