Day three of NatCon kicked off with a potent sense of dread. Whatever leads student media had tracked the previous day did little to reveal whether the conference would begin. Reports of negotiations between parties either lacked sufficient evidence or were shut down by the delegates themselves. Glass’s attempts to question QUT’s Unity representatives yielded similar results, with both stating, “We don’t talk to media.”
Come 10:12am, a miracle occurred. Accreditation had begun. Media, observers, and delegates were sifted into place by tired coordinators, and rumors surrounding a potential deal between factions swept the floor.
Over the next hour, the National Union of Students (NUS) General Secretary announced that someone had lost their phone, a delegate did a Tik Tok dance in the aisle, and finally, at 11:15am on day three, the conference reached quorum.
The floor applauded the news. The explosion of cheers could’ve tricked an observer into believing that stupol had actually achieved something. With no discernible advantage eked out in the deal between the major factions, conference was ready to start— two days late, funded entirely by student money.
Chapter One: Rules Changes & Amendments
NatCon began with a series of procedurals and amendments to the by-laws; seven nominees were chosen for BizCom; a motion to accept the Returning Officer’s report passed; speaking time was set to be one minute for each speaker, with a maximum of two speakers for, and two against any motion; and a movement to ban filming on the conference floor was passed with no discussion—after which, NSW Unity Convenor, Aidan O’Rourke, gleefully told student media “I’m not here to argue, if you’re caught with a phone, you will be removed.”
The motion to reinstate the executive position of Environment Officer was moved by Ashlyn Horton, who waved her speaking time. The motion carried unanimously.
Urgency Motions
Motion 11.26, Palestine is not yet free, was brought forward as an urgency motion and moved by Socialist Alternative (SAlt). The hall immediately descended into a screaming match, as respective SAlt and Labor affiliated delegates condemned each other. The accusations included: SAlt were supposedly insane, Unity were defenders of genocide, and the Student Left weren’t doing enough to condemn Labor. The motion carried, with only Unity against.
The conference continued with more procedurals that grouped motions en bloc—an attempt to mill through the motions en masse due to time constraints. Some motions from chapter two were brought forward as urgency motions, most notably 2.17, Ceasefire does not mean justice. The sole liberal delegate at the conference, Anthony Ma, spoke against 2.17, to deafening boos from the entire conference.
After lunch we continued with the urgency motions, specifically motion 11.35, The NUS endorses a National Day of Action for Gaza. A SAlt delegate asserted that all the other faction’s motions on Palestine are effectively grandstanding, and that SAlt is the only faction offering motions that will create real progress. A delegate in the audience heckled “more encampments that do nothing!”, the motion passed.
During this time the entire women’s chapter, which comprised 26 motions, was voted to be passed en bloc.
Chapter Two: Student Unionism
Motion 2.01, Student spaces should be in student hands, carried unanimously. The motions en bloc, 2.2, 2.3. 2.7, 2.8, 2.11, passed with little trouble. The next few motions that dealt with Student Services Amenities Fees (SSAF) funding were far more contentious. SAlt and the Labor-aligned factions fundamentally disagreed on how funds should be delivered to student unions. SAlt argued that SSAF is fundamentally flawed, as student unions currently remain dependent on universities for funding—their opinion was that the money should go straight to the unions—while the Labor-aligned factions asserted that SSAF wasn’t the issue. Their model aimed to keep SSAF, with a larger portion of the fees designated specifically to student unions. The three proposed SSAF motions failed due to this underlying disagreement.
The next motion of note was 2.25, NUS for an Australian Republic. A SAlt member argued that this was a distraction from the real enemy, as in Queensland, the Liberal and Labor governments have imprisoned aboriginal children as young as 10. Someone shouted “the liberal agrees with you!” and the place erupted into laughter. The Student Left then proposed a procedural to hear an additional speaker against the motion— Anthony Ma, the LNP-aligned delegate. Everyone but Unity voted yes. As he made his way down to speak, delegates hushed each other and an unusual silence fell on the conference floor. Before the first syllable could leave his mouth, the entire building erupted, screaming at him, culminating in chants of “SHAME!”
2.26, Acknowledging the Student Media Association (SMA), was an especially important motion; Mathilda Stewart and Josh Chuah spoke as mover and seconder respectively. The motion passed almost unanimously, with some minor observers opposing.
Dinner was a merciful reprieve, with a generous selection of gluten free desserts. Stupol showed their appreciation by trashing the dining hall, forcing an emergency procedural regarding table manner to pass once conference resumed.
Motion 2.27, Lost on Campus? Ask Socialist Alternative was one of the few motions not passed in this chapter, along with 2.38, AUKUS Partnership & Americentric Defence/Foreign Policy and 2.40, Celebrating DivCon. A procedural carried to bloc chapter four into two “mega-blocs”, one of which comprised 30 individual motions.
In what could’ve been perceived as some sort of cruel joke, an amendment to dissolve all of the pre-dinner blocs passed—rendering all arguing on which motions to bloc pointless.
Chapter Four: Education
Chapter four was moved forward in the proceedings, and the first two motions passed quietly. Then, the floor dwelled on two mega-blocs for the next half-hour, with no clear indication as to what was being voted for. The delegates affirmed this sentiment, as all eight speakers discussed something different. Someone unfortunately mentioned the numbers six and seven during their speaking time, and the whole conference started screaming “SIX SEVEN!” while doing the hand motion. The bloc passed unanimously.
The day finished with conference voting on 136 out of the 504 total motions.
Day four coverage to follow.
