Serve! For ANUSA, the grassroots independent (grindies) aligned ticket, has announced Chiamaka Oba as the ticket’s candidate for Treasurer. Oba is currently the ANUSA Bla(c)k, Indigenous, People of Colour (BIPOC) Department Treasurer. This leaves the Clubs Officer candidate yet to be announced. 

In accordance with the 2024 Governance Review, it is recommended the Treasurer focus on, “high-level financial oversight, policy-making and strategic-decision making, while professional staff members handle detailed financial management.” 

This means for Oba and her counterparts, it will be their policies, and not their financial management aspirations, that will be central to their campaigns for Treasurer. 

In a press release, the ticket states, “Chia understands the financial pressures associated with the cost of living crisis, and will be dedicating her time to using ANUSA funds to best support students.” 

“This includes organising wage theft campaigns, promoting ANUSA’s long-term financial sustainability through investing the Union’s reserves, garnering sponsorships with brands that will improve welfare at the ANU, and ensuring the best implementation of the Governance Review recommendations on Departments.”

The cost of living crisis remains a salient concern among students, with the ANUSA budget dedicating $95,000 for Brian Kenyon Student Space (BKSS) consumables, and $181,000 for student grants and purchases. Serve! has already announced its intention to start a food bank, with the ticket planning on showing the University the “feasibility of the project and use the success of that pilot to bid for more SSAF and University funding for the foodbank.” 

However, the Foodback remains an ambitious promise, and whether ANU will allocate more SSAF to the Union on top of the three-year-funding model remains uncertain. 

Under the ANUSA Financial Policy Framework, the Union is required to make, “ethically conscious choices when choosing investments, including social and environmental considerations.” The Policy, passed by current Treasurer Will Burfoot earlier this year, is largely ambiguous in detailing what “ethically conscious choices” are. It only requires the Treasurer to provide, “An ethical investment statement, assessing the social and environmental impact of the decision.”  

This means the investments framework is up to interpretation for the incoming ANUSA executive, and where Oba and Serve! plan to invest the ANUSA reserves are yet to be announced.  

During Oba’s time as Treasurer,  the BIPOC Department raised around $3,000 for the Palestine Australia Relief Action (PARA) and the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in a fundraiser earlier this year. The Department has also allocated funds for frequent autonomous events such as Chai n’ Chats, and spent approximately $100 across multiple events on Bush Week.  

Serve! maintains Oba, “has experience both managing funds and collaborating with Department members to create and manage ANUSA’s budgets in a manner that generates the best value for students.” 

However, while the budget for autonomous departments is roughly $15,000, the ANUSA budget is $3,000,000 and caters to a larger body of students. How Oba will address recently contentious issues among students, such as funding for clubs, BKSS consumables, and ANUSA staff salaries and wages remains to be seen.