Jasmyne Tweed – Illuminate (current Guild Secretary)
Jasmyne Tweed. Photo: Curtin Guild.
Why do you think you’ll be good for this role?
So, I think I’ll be a good fit for the role of Guild president, because I’ve had experience in the Guild. I’m currently the Guild secretary. I’ve been the business and law faculty rep, and I’ve been chair of representation board. And through that I’ve had the opportunity to be a part of some of the guild’s big campaigns, including the enrol to vote campaign that we did last year for the federal election and this year for the referendum. The parking campaign, the bring back second tuition free week campaign. And I’ve also been involved on campus on the kind of like the other side of things through clubs, through club committees and just been a member of clubs. So, I’ve kind of got both perspectives of what it’s like to be involved in the guild from campaigns and also the kind of outside perspective through club and events and things like that.
What are the main issues you’re campaigning for?
So, kind of the executive or more broadly that we’re campaigning for is to fix Curtin counselling, at the moment wait times at Curtin counselling are over six weeks and Curtin students deserve a lot better than that. And that kind of feeds into a more broader campaign where university students should be owed a duty of care by the university. And that kind of feeds into the treatment of students and student housing the welfare students on placement, the welfare of students during the cost-of-living crisis that we’re experiencing right now, it’s not good enough. And at the moment in Australia, universities don’t owe their students a duty of care, which is really embarrassing considering other neighbouring nations like New Zealand owe their students one.
What made you want to get into student politics?
It kind of just happened by accident. I had a friend that was involved in the Guild and I kind of just got like a tap on the shoulder type of thing. So, I had always been passionate about improving the student experience just from like being involved in clubs and things like that, but getting involved in the guild, it kind of just happened. And sometimes the politics side of it isn’t always the best side of it, but my main focus being involved in the Guild is about improving the student experience for Curtin students. And students more broadly in WA.
What do you think of the opposition?
I think that it’s good that the opposition is still left wing and progressive and that’s great to see for current students, but they are part of a national organisation. So, it’ll be a tough fight for Illuminate, which is just a small group of Curtin students that are running just here at Curtin. So, our focus there is just making sure that Illuminate understands [sic] that we are for Curtin students and we’re running for Curtin students to improve the experience here. And that’s kind of our main focus is just making sure that we’re communicating to students who we are and what we stand for and that we’re 100% progressive.
What can you promise students?
What I can promise students is that no matter the barriers that come in place, sometimes from being in the guild, whether it’s from the state government or federal government, is trying to make wins for students. What I can promise is that an illuminate guild will never back down from a fight for what’s best for students and students in WA more broadly, and that an illuminate guild will always be 100% progressive, independent and Curtin student focused. I guess that’s the one thing I can promise for candidates.
What’s your own confession at Curtin or what’s a Curtin life hack you’ve found?
My Curtin life hack that I found, I remember I got this from my first year like first day tour, and that is if you go to like Main Café, or some of the Guild outlets like half an hour before it closes, they’ll give you like 50% off discount. That’s a good one.
Danica Scott – Left Action (current Ordinary Reps Board member)
Danica Scott. Photo: Curtin Guild.
Why do you think you’ll be good for this role?
The main thing for Left Action is basically we think that the Guild should be an activist body like it has been in the past. We basically think the Guild has the capability to run campaigns on social justice issues like education.
What are the main issues you’re campaigning for?
We are activists that have been involved in campaigns for trans rights, for abortion rights this year, climate, anti-racist – all those kinds of stuff. So I think the Guild should be taking part in those campaigns and it should be trying to involve as many students as possible in political campaigns. Also things like education, the university is basically run like a business. The Vice-Chancellor and the executives get paid in the high six-digit figures … so we want to fight for staff pay, staff conditions, education quality, free education, that sort of stuff.
What made you want to get into student politics?
I think where student politics is at at the moment is it’s a shadow of its former glory in many ways. Student unions around the country and the National Union of Students in the not too distant past have been involved in really significant campaigns for education and the marriage equality campaign. That was because the student unions – including Curtin Student Guild – had an orientation to activism … so that is possible and that’s kind of what I want to push it to again.
What do you think of the opposition?
Basically I think student unions can have these orientations and can have a role to play in broader politics and that’s just not the orientation it’s had for the past few years, and it’s not the orientation Illuminate have of wanting to organise these sorts of campaigns … I think student unions can be very political bodies and I think that’s kind of what I want to push here. I want to make it more of a political body like it has been in the past.
What can you promise students?
So, with Left Action we are all experienced activists. As I said, we’ve all been involved this year against the transphobe Posie Parker – we were the ones organising protests against her that shut down attempts to start an anti-trans campaign in Australia. We’re involved in fighting for abortion rights – we organised protests this year and last year that actually put significant pressure on the state government to change its really, really outdated abortion laws. So with Left Action that’s what you’re getting. You’re getting experienced activists who don’t just talk it. We do it day in and day out.
What’s your own confession at Curtin or what’s a Curtin life hack you’ve found?
Something not a lot of people know about that I use all the time are the free Curtin buses. They go around to Waterford, they go all around town so check those out if you haven’t used them.