“Change your ANUSA”, a joint Labor ticket, has announced its intention to run in the 2024 ANUSA elections, making it the first announcement of the ANUSA election season. 

The ticket features multiple ANUSA incumbents, including Treasurer Will Burfoot (he/him) for President and the Undergraduate Member on Council, General Representative Sam Gorrie (he/him) for General Secretary, General Representative Hayden O’Brien (he/him) for Treasurer and General Representative Kiera Rosenberg (she/her) for Welfare Officer.

In addition, Treasurer for the International Students Department Vaishnavi Gangarapu (she/her) is running for Vice President and President of Wright Hall Rosie Paton (she/her) is running for Education Officer. 

For the executive positions, this leaves the candidate for Clubs Officer unannounced. More candidates will be announced in the following weeks. 

The ticket makes three key campaign promises to students. These include, “Providing the services that you need”, “Advocating for your welfare”, and “Your rights at uni”. 

For the first promise, the ticket explains, “We at Change fundamentally believe that your SSAF needs to be used in a way that benefits students.” They maintain, “Change, with a deep understanding of the Union’s finances, will be working hard to expand and develop the services the union provides you. 

As the current Treasurer, Burfoot introduced the Financial Policy Framework at the fourth Student Representative Council (SRC) meeting earlier this year. The Policy, among other objectives, aims to strengthen ANUSA’s financial transparency and accountability. In particular, the Policy sets out approval requirements for various procurement levels, such that expenditures above $100,000 require that the SRC consider competitor quotes to ensure that the procurement is the best value option available. The Framework was passed and commended by members of the SRC. 

Secondly, the ticket promises that, “Change believes mental health services at ANU need to be improved”. They elaborate, “ We also believe that now, as the sole student union on campus, we need to be a centre for community at ANU – a welcoming, inclusive space for all students.” 

Lastly, the ticket states that, “Student rights are an absolute priority of this ticket, and need to be what a union fights for on its campus”, promising that, “Academic rights, residential rights, your rights at work and protest rights are something Change will always defend and support.” 

The ticket refrains from commenting on the ANU Gaza Solidarity Encampment, despite mentioning the need to defend protest rights on campus. During the election of an Education Officer casual vacancy, Gorrie claimed that, “engaging with the encampment has not helped Palestinian activism on this campus”. 

Residential rights remain a salient issue with the ANU student body, with tariff rises and recent findings of the BIPOC Racism Report detailing the prevalence of racism and discrimination in residential halls. The ticket makes no mention of such issues at this stage.  

However, in this effort, at the fifth SRC meeting Gorrie moved a motion, calling the Union to endorse “Senior Resident’s response to the new 24-hour Staffing Model in Residences.” This motion was successfully passed, making the Union endorse demands such as, “hall specific training” for Community Support Officers, abolishing “lock-out fees” and “transparent and accountable feedback mechanisms to review the 24 hour model.”

The candidates were also not present at the Education and Welfare Action Groups protest against rising tariffs on campus.  

As many of the ticket’s promises remain ambiguous at this stage, it remains to be seen how these familiar ANUSA faces will “Change” ANUSA, and whether the campaign promises will be transformed into targeted policies. 

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