The first ticket for this year’s ANUSA elections has launched their campaign with candidates for all executive positions aside from Treasurer, as well as the newly created positions Undergraduate Coursework Officer and Higher Degree by Research Officer. The “left-wing unionist” ticket, which is currently unnamed and describes itself as “independent of association with any political party,” has also issued a call-out for candidates for Treasurer, Postgraduate Coursework Officer, general and college representatives, and NUS delegates.

When announcing their ticket, current members have focused on “the importance of activism, engagement, and a strong, joint student union.” Students with a similar “passion for student activism and strong leftist values” have been encouraged to express interest in the remaining positions, with the current members emphasising the importance of a diverse group of candidates on the final ticket.

The ticket is comprised of three current members of the ANUSA executive – the Presidential candidate, Phoenix O’Neill (they/them) who was this year’s General Secretary; the Vice Presidential Candidate, Charlotte Carnes (she/they) who was this year’s Clubs Officer; and Education Officer candidate, Luke Harrison (they/them) who was this year’s Welfare Officer (following a casual vacancy). All three members ran on the Power in Community ticket at last year’s election.

The ticket has emphasised this background in ANUSA as a strength, saying this “provid[es] a strong basis of institutional knowledge which will allow them to immediately hit the ground running on December 1.” However, this experience may also be viewed as a weakness with the candidates being judged by the successes and failures of policy implementation and election promises from this year. The ticket also features candidates with experience as Department officers, general and college representatives, resident committee Presidents and SRs of residential halls, and ANU staff. The candidates stated their broader policy platform “will be built collectively by the ticket based on broad consultation with students.” 

Candidates Diana Tung (she/her) and Harrison Oates (he/him) will run for the new Higher Degree by Research Officer and Undergraduate Coursework Officer positions, respectively. Harrison Oates also ran for the Power In Community Ticket last year, and was elected as a College of Engineering, Computing and Cybernetics representative. Diana Tung is a PhD student at the College of Arts and Social Sciences and works at the ANU as a tutor and guest lecturer. The ticket claims that this experience as a teaching staff member at the ANU will provide a “breadth of experience [that] touches upon all corners of the University.” Diana will be the first postgraduate student to launch on an ANUSA campaign ticket since ANUSA became the sole student union at the ANU in 2023. The ticket claims that “all candidates on the Ticket understand the importance of strong postgraduate representation in 2024… [and] are committed to continuing the smooth transition to a single student union.”

Other candidates on the ticket include Skye Predavec (she/her) for Welfare Officer, Phoebe Denham for General Secretary and Seugbin Kang (he/they) for Clubs Officer. Phoebe Denham is the current ANUSA Women’s Officer and aims to improve “accessibility of ANUSA meetings and governance discussions [and] break down bureaucratic barriers to the union.” Skye Predavec (she/her) is currently an ANUSA General Representative and has played a significant role in coordinating the Daley Road bus campaign this year. Seungbin Kang is not a current ANUSA member but is President of the ANU Anime and Gaming Society and Secretary of the ANU Archaeology, Biological Anthropology, Anthropology, and Cultural Heritage Society (ABACUS). Seungbin aims to “expand ANUSA’s social calendar in order to ensure no student is left behind”. 

The Ticket is currently seeking more candidates to join their team, which can be done through filling out the ANUSA Expression of Interest form or by reaching out directly to any of the candidates. The full list of candidates on this ticket at this time can be found below.

Phoenix O’Neill for President and Undergraduate Member on ANU Council

Charlotte Carnes for Vice-President

Luke Harrison for Education Officer

Phoebe Denham for General Secretary

Seungbin Kang for Clubs Officer

Skye Predavec for Welfare Officer

Diana Tung for HDR Officer

Harrison Oates for Undergraduate Coursework Officer

Woroni will extensively cover this semester’s upcoming ANUSA election. Stay tuned for future content.