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THE ROOTS OF activism run deep in Newcastle, with the university and its students a key part of a long history of Novocastrians willing to stand up for what they believe in.
The city itself has a decorated reputation for action, developed from its blue-collar union background and events such as the infamous 1979 Star Hotel riot.
The Vietnam war proved a pivotal moment in the incitement of student activism of the ’60s and ’70s, with Newcastle being no exception.
The war, coupled with the university’s shift from its Tighes Hill campus and the subsequent battle for autonomy, meant the formative years of the University of Newcastle were packed with student activism.
During these years it was not uncommon for the streets of Newcastle to come alive with students espousing their rights to protest on the annual Autonomy Day.
Starting at the crack of dawn, students would commandeer fl oats and don homemade banners and signs as they paraded around the Newcastle CBD.
While Autonomy Day also had a long association with pranks and rowdy celebrations, the parades also served other important causes.
The celebrations formed a key part in the development of the university’s own persona, with students determined to have their voices and opinions heard.
Dick Brugman studied for two periods at the university, a one-year stint in 1964, and a second in 1979 to complete what he describes as “basically a drama degree”.
Throughout his time at Newcastle, Mr Brugman was a key participant in a multitude of protests and rallies, with his artwork often used on shirts and banners.
He describes himself as “one of Gough’s kids”, in reference to the Labor leader abolishing university tuition fees in the 1970s.
He said it was a time when there was “lots to be political about”, with on-campus protests a commonplace event.
“Students are getting the hang of life, they’re getting their own voice,” Mr Brugman says.
“Students have traditionally been a vocal voice in society.”
This voice manifested itself in a variety of ways, with Mr Brugman having a leading hand in the construction of effigies of various political leaders that would be burnt in protest around the campus.
Despite the seemingly rowdy demonstrations, he says students have a crucial role to play in the community.
“Students speak as the conscience of the society,” he says.
The students’ determination to be heard outside the university was again on display in the 1980s when the Hawke government sought to bring an end to free higher education.
Led by the students’ association, Newcastle students took to the city’s streets in 1988 en masse to protest against the introduction of the Higher Education Contribution Scheme (HECS) the following year.
For Chris Tola, who served on numerous university student committees in the 1980s, the battle against HECS typified the importance of student activism.
“It’s really important, because without critiquing things you’re just accepting the status quo and there’ll never be any progression,” he says.
“That’s what uni is for – to teach you to critically analyse what’s going on.”
Mr Tola also emphasised the importance of university as a breeding ground for the political leaders of the future.
“A lot of our current politicians can attribute their knowledge of politics to their days involved in student activism.”
For Jonathan Moylan, there was always a connection between student politics and the real world.
The environmental activist held a range of roles with Newcastle University Students Association in the mid- 2000s, including welfare offi cer and the undergraduate student representative on the academic senate.
“I was always interested in the connection between what was happening at university and the real world; it’s not just about putting ideas into your head,” says Mr Moylan, who studied a Bachelor of Arts degree between 2007 and 2011.
He has played a prominent role in several high-profile environmental campaigns since graduating, including the Maules Creek blockade.
He narrowly escaped jail time for issuing a fake media release that triggered a $314 million slump in the value of Whitehaven Coal shares in January 2013.
“Even when I was studying I was aware that I was living in a town that had the world’s largest coal export port and at the same time communities like Wybong were getting wiped off the map,” he says. “Newcastle uni has always had a strong liberal arts culture that encourages people to think about their place in the world.”
This was threatened in the mid-2000s when student groups were shaken to their core with the introduction of voluntary student unionism (VSU).
VSU was the most signifi cant change to higher education since the introduction of HECS in the late 1980s.
Until then, students had paid a compulsory service fee to their union, which, in turn, provided a range of welfare, entertainment and advocacy services on campus.
Most students accepted the fee was part of campus life.
The government abolished the fee in late 2005 and the impact was immediate, with Newcastle University Students Association’s income going from $2.5 million in 2006 to $300,000 in 2007. Many other student unions disappeared completely.
However, many students still endeavoured to have their voices heard after the introduction of VSU.
Eduardo Carvajal, the International Student Convener at NUSA, says unions still have an essential role to play at universities.
“We are part of the student voice,” he says. “It’s very, very important, if we want the system to operate as a balanced body.”
In particular, he mentions the growing number of international students and the importance of their voice being heard equally.
“It’s a diverse society and everyone has to be properly represented.”
Current president of NUSA Clare Swan says representing the international student body is just one part of the contemporary role of student unions, with mature-age students also beneficiaries of union involvement.
Despite the rowdy burning of effigies appearing to be a thing of the past, Ms Swan called 2014 a year of “revitalised student protest,” with government action to deregulate university fees proving a “real rallying point for students”.
This was evidenced in a number of protests against fee regulation held in the Newcastle CBD in 2014, with the first having more than 300 participants and subsequent protests maintaining numbers in the hundreds.
Newcastle also had representation at fee protests in Sydney, with NUSA sending a delegation to join the statewide protests.
Ms Swan echoes the sentiments shared by her student forebears when asked about activism and its role in the student experience.
She agrees that activism forms a key part of the quintessential student lifestyle.
“Getting involved in student politics adds an extra layer to the university experience,” she says.
VOLUNTARY STUDENT Unionism was the most significant change to higher education since the introduction of the Higher Education Contribution Scheme in the late 1980s.
For decades, students had paid a compulsory service fee to their union which, in turn, provided a range of welfare, entertainment and advocacy services on campus.
Despite the occasional mumbling about not having a choice, most students accepted the fee was part of campus life.
But the student unions had been on notice since the election of the Howard government in 1996 that they were in for a fi ght over their campus monopolies.
By late 2004, student unions around Australia were rallying to gain wider support to retain their rights.
“Students have traditionally been one of the most politically engaged sectors of society. I and many others believe this legislation was designed to silence student groups that were opposed to the government,” says Jarra Hicks, one of the leaders of the Newcastle University
Students Association’s campaign against voluntary student unionism. Complacency among students who weren’t active in politics was another challenge.
“It was difficult to mobilise students to defend their rights when they didn’t really understand what their rights were,” says Ms Hicks.
The government ultimately got its way and abolished the fee in late 2005.
Rightly or wrongly, students now had a choice about whether or not they wanted to join a student union.
As a result some student unions disappeared and those that remained lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue.
The Newcastle University Students Association now had to negotiate with the university for funding to provide an approved list of services on campus.
The new system that replaced the old funding model is the Student Services and Amenities Fee (SSAF). It aims to provide a balanced, practical approach to funding campus services and amenities of a non-academic nature, such as sporting and recreational activities, employment and career advice, childcare, financial advice and food services.
Following student consultation and feedback, funds raised from SSAF are directed into programs and initiatives that look after the health and welfare of students, provide advice and support, and deliver recreational services.