Amidst the chaos of the race to get elected, Glass and the QUT Guild held the Presidential Debate and Q&A on October 16th.
As the first Presidential Debate in recent years, we wanted to bring the candidates together in a debate to allow QUT students to hear directly from the candidates themselves, ask the questions on their mind, and better inform themselves on who they are voting for next week.
Tensions were running high as we were waiting for the candidates and students to arrive, as we truly did not know what to expect.
The day prior to the event, Revive candidate Karsten Duvel informed us he would not be able to attend due to prior commitments.
As the first-comers trickled in, Reform candidate Louis Nguyen informed us he would not be in-attendance.
We checked with the election authorities (the Returning Officer) whether the debate could go ahead and we were given the all clear.
And so, with only Elevate candidate Emme Muggleton in attendance, the Presidential “Debate” and Q&A went ahead.
All three presidential candidates were invited to attend. This debate was not mandatory for the purposes of the election. The candidates that were not in attendance are still eligible for your vote.
The same rules were applied; Emme had two minutes to answer each question and was given a 30-second warning before the end of the two minutes.
Glass prepared five questions before the debate (which were sent to the candidates prior to the event) and then the floor was opened up to the audience to ask questions via an anonymous Jotform. These audience-submitted questions were then moderated by Glass. We also included some questions students asked over the last week via our Instagram.
So, what are the key takeaways from this impromptu q&A with emme?
1: Emme is a Labor Party member
Despite saying the ticket has no political agenda, Emme said she is a Labor Party member but has not attended an event in almost a year.
“Our ticket is not backed by the Labor Party. I think there are three party members on [the Elevate] ticket.”
She said there is a mix of political ideals on the Elevate ticket.
2: “2023 wasn’t the best year.”
Emme was the Education Officer for 2023 and, when asked what initiatives she brought to the Guild that time, she said there wasn’t a lot that was achieved by the 2023 Student Representative Council team.
When asked again what initiatives she did that year, Emme dodged the question as she couldn’t remember any.
“I know there was a couple of things that we were working on and we were pushing through, but I can’t remember them off the top of my head.”
3: The Three Promises
Over the course of the “debate”, Emme stuck to Elevate’s three election promises: cost of living support, abolishing the 0% late submission policy, and “bringing back” campus culture.
Regarding cost-of-living support, Emme said Elevate is promising hampers for students going on placement or moving out for the first time, continuing the Guild’s Free Breakfasts, and starting a second-hand textbook car-boot sale (market).
For campus culture, Emme said Elevate will bring back pre-COVID “vibes” through events.
“There were events every week, which is a big thing [Elevate wants] to do.”
4: Déjà vu: Abolishing the 0% late submission policy
Elevate has promised to abolish QUT automatic fail for late assessment submissions. This has been on the Guild’s agenda for years now to no avail.
Glass asked whether Elevate had an action plan to actually abolish the 0% policy; Emme skirted specifying an action plan and instead said the “plan” started with her team and their “connections with [QUT]” but did not elaborate further.
5: Israel-Palestine conflict. Thoughts?
To round out the “debate”, Glass finished with an anonymous student question about what Emme’s stance on the Israel-Palestine conflict is. Emme was “not really sure how to answer [the] question”.
“I don’t agree with war, and I don’t agree with genocide at all.”
A full recording of the event is available here.
Candidates are campaigning across both campuses until October 24th.
If you wanna read up on the candidates, head right here to check out their statements and what they’re promising.
Voting for the QUT Guild Student Election is open October 21-24 on the Guild website.
