Voting for the Student Guild Election closed at 4pm on Thursday the 22nd of September, and the numbers have already been tallied. The Guild has released the winners of the positions, and the full list can be viewed here.
Incumbent Illuminate president Dylan Botica, who was first became Guild President after swapping roles with his predecessor Theodora Rohl, retained his position at the helm of the Guild, and was followed by a landslide of other Illuminate candidates. Though when he accepted the role of President earlier this year it was not because of an election, the Curtin community has clearly been pleased by his leadership as he has now secured the role for a second term.
Of the 31 positions up for grabs in this election, 28 went to the incumbent Illuminate party, cementing student politics at Curtin as a firmly one-party system. All positions of note went to Illuminate candidates, with the 3 members of the Guild not involved with the party obtaining minor roles as Guild Councillors, members of the Ordinary Representation Board, or members of the National Union of Students. Even in each of these three groups, Illuminate still holds a strong majority of 5 to 1.
Illuminate’s 90.3% majority means that students can expect the incoming Guild to have little internal conflict, and minimal pushback on putting Illuminate’s policies into action. The three issues which re-elected Guild President Dylan Botica told Grok that he believed were most important in this election were reviving Curtin’s clubs, making Curtin campuses more environmentally friendly, and increasing the university’s focus on student welfare. With such a firm majority, it is likely that Illuminate will soon start making efforts to achieve these goals. You can read Grok’s full interview with Dylan Botica here.
The only other party represented in the Guild is Left Action, who’s candidate Danica Scott won two positions as a member of the Ordinary Representation Board and member of the National Union of Students. There may be one other party represented in this Guild, although elected Guild Councillor Tahni Rowe did not provide a candidate statement, so it is unclear which party, if any, she is representing. It will be interesting to see whether these candidates can make their voices heard against such an overwhelming Illuminate opposition.
Of the nominees who won positions in the Guild, Grok noted that over two thirds had prior involvement with the Guild outlined in their candidate statements. The other third either explicitly stated that this election was their first foray into student politics or did not provide comment on their involvement with the Guild prior to this election. Though there is much to be said for experience, this high rate of re-election means that the result of this election will likely not change the trajectory of the current Guild in a dramatic way.
Of all the positions up for election, all were filled except for First Nations Officer, which none of the parties presented a candidate for. No independents ran for the position either. This means that this Guild will likely struggle with a lack of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander representation. Vice President of Education winner, Illuminate’s Veronika Gobba, told Grok that she would prioritise investigating why no one stepped forward for the role and make efforts to make the Guild a more inviting environment for Curtin’s Indigenous students. “[I want to] hopefully find representatives who are able and willing to fill the roles of First Nations Officer and the subsequent members of the collective”, she said.
Grok congratulates all the incoming Guild and wishes them success in their roles.
