University of Queensland Union

University of Queensland Union

Full name	University of Queensland Union
Native name	UQ Union
Founded	1911
Members	50,000 (2018)
Affiliation	University of Queensland
Key people	Jeremy Lwin (President), Samuel Ngugi (Treasurer), Kelsie McArthur (Secretary)
Office location	Level 4, Union Building (Building 21A), University of Queensland 4072
Country	Australia
Website	www.uqu.com.au

The University of Queensland Union (UQ Union) is a student organisation established to provide service, support and representation to the students of The University of Queensland. It remains the largest student representative body in Australia and the Southern Hemisphere. The Union oversees approximately $25 million in revenue each financial year.

Student services

The UQU operates most of the campus' student eateries, cafes, bookshops in addition to the university bar and cinema. These facilities and services are concentrated at the Union Complex at the St Lucia campus.

The UQU organises the university's orientation week ("O-Week") activities, regular barbecues and free bands, as well as a range of larger events, such as Oktoberfest and, as of 2009, the annual Toga Party. Recently the UQU introduced a club funding scheme that supports over 200 clubs and societies, including faculty, ethnic, and a variety of social groups; sporting groups, however, fall under the domain of UQ Sport. The UQU also provides a free legal service to university students. In addition, it also organises the weekly Wednesday markets at the St Lucia campus.

One of the other roles of the UQU is to see that minority groups on campus are adequately supported. To this extent, it provides a Queer Space at St Lucia campus and Women's Spaces at St Lucia campus and Gatton campuses. The Ipswich Campus Queer Room has since been closed down, as a result of frequent vandalism by the occupants. UQU also has queer, women's, environment, disabilities and Indigenous collectives to represent their respective interests.

Student representation

UQU coordinates student representation to the University through its Student Representation, supporting students to take positions on faculty and University committees, and the Academic Board. UQU recently successfully negotiated for the University to contribute 1 million dollars to the Union annually for student services. UQU also negotiated for the "formula marking" scheme (under which markers can deduct marks in multiple choice exams if a marker believes the student guessed answers) to be abolished .

Postgraduate students

In 2011, UQ postgraduate students formed a postgraduate representative body within the UQU, called the UQ Association of Postgraduate Students (APS). This new body has been in regular contact with CAPA and sent a representative to the 2011 CAPA annual conference in Sydney.

Clubs and societies

The UQU oversees over 200 student run Clubs and Societies,^[1] with a combined membership across these clubs of approximately 36,000 students. Clubs fall under one of four broad categories based on where they derive their membership base. These categories include: Faculty/School; International Students; Colleges; and General Interest.

Clubs play a vital role on campus, with the majority of social events at UQ being run by these student groups.

Student newspaper and other publications

Semper Floreat (Latin: "May it always flourish") is the student newspaper of the University of Queensland. It has been published continuously by the University of Queensland Union (UQU) since 1932, when it began as a fortnightly newsletter of only a few pages, produced by one editor. It was previously published as Queensland University Magazine and Galmahra.^[2] The Student Union also published a Songbook for Commemoration celebrations, featuring songs celebrating the Faculties and Professors of the time. The Songbook went by a number of names, including Whack-Ho.^[3] By the 1960s songs were omitted from the publication, replaced by articles and cartoons reflecting student culture of the time.

The current chief editor in 2018 is Rowan Evans.

Executives

For much of the Union's history voting was done for individual positions not group tickets, in some years, such as 2003, this resulted in the President being from a Labor Left ticket and the Secretary and Treasurer from a Liberal ticket.

Vice Presidents

Politics

In recent years, the UQU ended its accreditation with the National Union of Students, making it the only student association in the Group of Eight universities to have done so.

1991-1992, the Union was run under the umbrella of the Liberal (or Young Liberal) party.

1994-2007, the Union was almost exclusively under the control of parties aligned with the Labor party, usually the left leaning wing. Liberal students regained full control for a single year in 1996 and won a majority of the split executive in 2003.

2008-2013, the Union was run by a party under the banner "Fresh" (Liberal National Party of Qld).

2014-2017, the Union was run by Reform (a coalition of Labor's left and right factions), during which significant opposition came from Lift (independents) and Thrive (LNP).^[4]

On 14 September, 2017, after intense divisions between Labor's Left and Right factions, the Reform ticket announced their disbanding.^[5] The Labor Right faction formed a separate, independent coalition supported by a faction of Young Liberals, as well as some Greens and Independent students, to contest the elections under a new ticket named Focus. The Labor Left faction attempted to continue as 'Reform', however, they failed to lodge their nominations correctly. Owing to some administrative errors, Reform's Union Council ticket did not appear above the line.

After the errors made during the nomination process, the Reform ticket announced on Facebook that they intended to withdraw from the contesting the 2017 Student Union Elections. In the same post, they endorsed the Socialist Alternative ticket 'Student Action'.^[6] The 'Reform' ticket remained on the ballot papers for the Union Executive and the Union Newspaper, but the ticket did not run a ground campaign during the elections. The newly formed 'Focus' ticket was elected in a landslide.^[7]

In 2018, the Labor Left faction re-formed as 'Momentum'^[8]

Union Council Composition

In 2018, the UQ Union Council is made up of 15 student representatives from 3 different student factions.

2012 Student election controversy

An anti-FRESH poster by D4UQU, calling a boycott of this election

In 2012, there was controversy surrounding the conduct of the annual student elections. The incumbents made rule changes that resulted in other teams submitting their nominations in an incorrect manner. This specifically related to last minute changes to union election rules removing the protection for previously used party names, which resulted in campaign material for opposition parties becoming unusable. This resulted in all other opposition parties (including "Pulse" and "I just want my voucher") having their names invalidated. These Allegations were denied by the current President.^[9]

Minutes and a recording from the 101st UQU Council meeting show that new regulations were brought in on 10 August.^[10][11] The recording shows that an objection was raised by Councillor Flynn Rush on procedural fairness and constitutional grounds, though this was circumvented through amending the factual basis for the objection. The incumbents did not give the requisite 5 'clear days' notice as per the UQU constitution.^[12][13] The regulation changes went ahead regardless. They were not available until elections and nominations opened.^[14]

The 2012 union president stated that members of the Pulse party "can complain all they want" but had 12 months notice on the introduction of new regulations on the use of registered ticket names, and that the 'last-minute' changes to the regulations were to different provisions (namely the timing of the electoral process to reduce it from 4 weeks to 3 as well as adding an entirely new process/form for nominations).

In response to the situation, an activist group titled 'DEMOCRACY 4 UQU' was started by a number of Fresh opposition groups concerned about how the measures introduced affected the student elections. Their goal was to correct what they perceive to be an unbalanced and unfair election process.

UQ deputy Vice Chancellor (academic) Professor Mick McManus, said in response to the situation that UQ was concerned that this issue had a significant impact on students and would be considered in full and addressed appropriately, and that the university would work to resolve the issues.^[15] On 22 August, the University announced that the current union administration would be required to provide access to the constitution and changes to it, financial reports, and notices and minutes of meetings held under the current union on its website.^[16] Graeme Orr, Professor of Law at the University of Queensland, has pointed out in a radio interview that the power of the electoral tribunal convened to assess whether the elections were held properly was limited only to whether or not the electoral rules were violated, not whether they are valid or were created in accordance to union policy.^[17]

On 24 August, the University declared that in line with their funding agreement with the University Of Queensland Student Union, they would carry out an audit into the management of finances.^[18] The results of this audit are available online.^[19]

On 29 August, hundreds of students gathered at UQ's great court to protest against Fresh and call for democracy.^[20]

On 3 December, the annual general meeting of the UQU was cancelled after those calling it neglected to inform students and most members of their own executive, resulting in too few people present for the meeting to be openend. However, the outgoing Vice-President spoke briefly about the conduct of Fresh, slamming their circumvention of the wishes of the student body by locking out the opposition that was likely to win any open, fairly managed elections, Fresh's misuse and embezzlement of funds, and their use of the union as a vehicle for particular members of the LNP's youth wing.^[21]

Notable alumni

The UQU has produced a number of notable alumni including Governors-General of Australia, CEOs, Chief Justices of Australia and State Premiers.

• Sir Thomas Groom, UQU President 1928, Lord Mayor of Brisbane
• Sir Harry Gibbs GCMG, AC, KBE, QC, UQU President 1936, Chief Justice of the High Court
• Sir Walter Campbell AC QC, UQU President 1942, Governor, Supreme Court Judge, Chancellor of the University of Queensland
• Barry Murphy, UQU President 1963, CEO of Caltex
• Anna Bligh, UQU Women's Officer 1981, Premier of Queensland
• Paul Lucas (politician), UQU Treasurer 1983, Deputy Premier and Attorney General of Queensland.
• Robert Wensley, UQU President, Deputy Chancellor of the University of Queensland.
• Fleur Kingham, UQU President 1983, UQU Secretary 1982, Queensland District Court Judge.
• Jillann Farmer, UQU President 1986, Medical Director of the United Nations
• Murray Watt, UQU President 1994, QLD Labor Senator
• Julie-Ann Campbell, UQU President 2007, QLD Labor Party State Secretary

See also

• University of Queensland Business Association
• University of Queensland Debating Society
• Union College
• University of Queensland Intercollege Council
• UQU Schonell Theatre
• National Association of Australian University Colleges

References

External links

• UQ Union