Student Action UQ in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia | Political organisation

Student Action UQ

Locality: Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

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25.01.2022 Although the UQ Administration has announced that 44 new Humanities courses will be offered for the first time in 2021, higher education and particularly the arts are still under attack. UQ is cutting 30 percent of all courses and 15 percent of medicine courses as part of a ‘streamlining process’. The federal government still plans to DOUBLE Humanities university fees. ... Law and commerce programs are still going to be raised in cost by 28 percent. Access to HELP-HECS loans is no longer a given, as the government is pushing to deny students funding if they fail half of their first year subjects. Now we will be forced to pay our fees upfront under this new system. The HECs repayment threshold was lowered last year, forcing students to repay back their loan when earning a wage that is less than the average median wage. There is a lot to fight for and we want to organise and continue that fight. See you on Friday at 1pm at the Grassy Knoll to rally against fee increases and course cuts.

23.01.2022 Student Action will be contesting the UQ Union elections this year with an unabashedly left-wing, activist programme. We think the student union should stand up for students, and fight both the Liberal and Labor parties when they sow racism, destroy the environment and attack our education. The Covid-19 crisis has led to the biggest economic crisis ever in the history of capitalism. The exploitation of international students as cash cows has left universities facing huge pro...Continue reading

23.01.2022 Today is the last day of voting for the UQ Union student elections. Vote [1] Student Action to get left wing activists elected. We believe that the UQ Union should educate and organise students on social justice questions. Including: Fighting fee hikes, and uni funding cuts... Fighting racism Resisting the climate crisis Supporting women's and LGBT rights End the exploitation of international students Support struggles abroad If you think that these are important issues and want to see activists elected, vote [1] Student Action!

20.01.2022 Shame on the police for shutting down a Sydney protest against fee hikes!

19.01.2022 More photos from Rally Against Fee Hikes! thanks to the NTEU staff for joining the student protest!

18.01.2022 Massive cuts announced at Griffith Uni! Griffith Uni wants to slash jobs and courses at the Queensland College of Arts. Despite enrolments rising in... some programs in the last year, Griffith Uni wants to cut 44% of teaching staff in Fine Art and Photography, and 16.7% in Design - this is besides all the casuals who have already lost work! They also plan to cut courses from: Jewellery & Small Objects Printmaking Advertising Photography Documentary Photography Creative and Interactive Media Griffith Uni is crying poor and saying these are difficult times - meanwhile Vice Chancellor Carolyn Evans is in the news declaring that Griffith is "embarking on a major capital program" in the next decade! Including a planned new $1bn campus at Roma Street, and a new $80 million centre at the Gold Coast! With or without new construction, Griffith Uni should not be taking incomes from staff and reducing education quality for students. Education should accessible to all, and staff deserve to be paid well for the valuable work they do in these multi-billion dollar institutions! There should not be any cuts, and our unis need to be funded properly like the public goods they are, instead of being corporatised and privatised. QUT Education Action Group stands with Griffith staff and students and says no cuts! So we encourage everyone to get out to the rally this Friday at 12pm! Meet at the grassy lawn behind the Conservatorium in Southbank! More details here: https://www.nteu.org.au/griffith/ Sign the petition to show your support here: https://www.change.org/p/chancellor-henry-smerdon-griffith- Sources: Griffith Uni Proposal for Workplace Change Roadmap to Sustainability https://www.griffith.edu.au//Proposal-for-Workplace-Change Griffith Annual Report 2019 https://www.griffith.edu.au//Griffith-Annual-Report-2019.p https://theurbandeveloper.com//griffith-details-1bn-campus

18.01.2022 Thanks everyone who came out to our fundraiser last night and made it a huge success! Congrats to the winners of the various prizes that were donated to us. Campaigning starts next week, and we're gonna hit the ground running, ready to fight!

15.01.2022 We’re out telling Students about the climate protest coming up! Stand up to the politicians and CEOs who want to continue pushing fossil fuels while the planet burns! https://fb.me/e/1HhD93Wgi

14.01.2022 Transphobic law dean Patrick Parkinson has been hired by none other than the Ramsay Centre for Western Civilisation at UQ. Parkinson, chair of right-wing religious think tank Freedom for Faith, has come under fire in the past for disgusting transphobia, particularly against trans children. It's no surprise, then, that he and the Ramsay centre, headed by such bigots as Tony Abbott would find common ground in their conservatism. https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au//departing-uq-law-dean-bo

13.01.2022 UQ Union should stand up for women's and LGBT rights! A few years ago UQ tried to scrap gender studies completely, but an activist campaign got it saved as a minor. We want to fight to get it back as a major again, as the history and study of gender relations still remains important. Last year abortion was made legal in Queensland, however it largely still remains inaccessible. As the bill currently exists doctors are allowed to refuse abortions on a conscious basis, which m...eans women in regional areas can find it hard to even see a doctor who will do it. As well the costs still make it inaccessible for many women. The religious discrimination bill is another attack on women and LGBT+ people. Allowing institutes to legally discriminate against them on the basis of religion. We need to fight against this attack that could see LGBT+ teachers legally fired on that basis. We're also for replacing UQ's elite, and often sexist, colleges with affordable student housing. We should oppose the culture in the collages that sees women as objects to be abused, and instead provide struggling students housing. If you support fighting for these things, vote [1] Student Action! Today's your last chance to vote, voting closes at 4:30!

13.01.2022 Join the UQ action for the Global Climate Strike. Starting at 1pm in the Great Court, near Merlo’s!

12.01.2022 Yet another outrageous attack on students has been announced by the Liberal government. Under this new proposal, students who fail half of their first eight sub...jects will no longer qualify for a government-supported place (HECS-HELP loan) for the rest of their degree. This is an outright attack on students. The transition from secondary studies to university is a stressful time. Many students struggle with mental health and may have to deal with work, travelling to university, dealing with the costs and difficulties with living away from home, and many have trouble negotiating university classes and the crushing burden of assessment. Regardless, students' right to an education should not be contingent on their academic performance. If the government truly cared about students that are struggling in their studies and amassing unpayable debts they wouldn't be slashing university funding and increasing the costs of degrees by as much as 113%. These attacks reveal the government's vicious cost-cutting agenda, disapproval for anything that doesn't make the Australian economy immediate profits, and overall hatred for students and ordinary people. Published by Anneke Demanuele, 624978

07.01.2022 Come down to Rally Against Fee Hikes! At the grassy knoll to protest fee hikes!

05.01.2022 Thanks to all students who came to Rally Against Fee Hikes! to oppose student fees. We'll continue to fight the federal government when it attacks students!

04.01.2022 BREAKING: Federal Education Minister, Dan Tehan, announces that students will lose their access to the HELP/HECS Scheme if they don't perform in their studies. ...This mornings announcement means that if a student fails to progress sufficiently in their degree, they will lose access to the HECS scheme, having to pay upfront fees to continue to study or leave their degree. NUS rejects the assertion from Minister Tehan that this package is taking action to protect students and taxpayers. An overwhelming majority of domestic students rely entirely on the HECS system to study. Limited access to study, financial instability, education quality, disability, and the ongoing crisis of mental health in the student body are just some of the impediments to student success. These are issues that are often unreported and receive inadequate support from tertiary institutions or The Government. Students will have the future of their study taken away from them unless they prove to the university or the government, institutions that systematically fail to support young people, that they are struggling. the Job-Ready Graduate Package is promoting a pay for play higher education sector that will put extreme pressure on students to succeed at universities. It is an agenda to incentivize success through fear of punishment, which will only harm the wellbeing and success of our students. See our full statement here: https://twitter.com/NUS_President/status/1293688768642211840 Angry about this? Students will be coming together (online and in person where able) to fight against the continued attacks on education on August 28th. Event found here: https://facebook.com/events/s/no-fee-hikes-student-fightback/709465449817701/?ti=ia

02.01.2022 Rally Against Course Cuts! Stop Fee Hikes!

02.01.2022 My name is Ella and I’m running for secretary of UQU with Student Action. I reckon the student union should use its extensive resources for good, and fight for things that matter. This year has seen the resurgence of Black Lives Matter, the biggest anti-racist movement in decades. It spread across the world like wildfire, with working class people in every country coming out in solidarity demonstrations, and against racism and police brutality in their own countries. In Bris...bane, we witnessed a historical demonstration of 40,000 coming out against racism, and further rallies against Black deaths in custody. We’ve also seen a vibrant movement for refugee rights, for freeing the refugees shamefully locked up at Kangaroo Point and in other detention centres. The student union should play a role in fighting for a world free of racism and oppression. It should educate students about issues of social justice, promote and endorse demonstrations that oppose the racism of the major parties. Student action supports Black Lives Matter, defunding the police and instituting refugee scholarships at UQ, so that refugees can access an education too. Students are not immune from issues like racism in their universities, and so their student union should be a part of that fight!