Hi, I’m Jack Washington. I’m a socialist and a student activist here at Curtin University studying Professional Writing and Publishing. This year I’m running with Left Action - Free Palestine to be the Postgraduate Student Committee President.
Left Action - Free Palestine sees the Curtin Student Guild and the National Union of Students as activist bodies to fight for serious change both on campus and in the streets. Now more than ever we need our Student Guild to be a fighting force for change in society. For nearly two years, the Australian government has done nothing to stop Israel from waging a war of genocide on the people of Gaza. In that time, myself and other activists running with Left Action - Free Palestine have been organising students to protest against this atrocity. In the past few years, I have helped organise and lead significant pro-Palestine student actions on campus that have demanded that our university cut all ties to weapons companies that have enabled and facilitated Israel’s crimes against humanity.
Every year our universities become intertwined with the weapons industry. Curtin boasts close relationships with companies like BAE Systems, Babcock Engineering and Lockheed Martin - companies that are closely tied to Israel and Donald Trump’s America. The Australian government wants to make our universities ever-more connected to the military industrial complex. This is a disgrace - universities should be places of learning and education, not training grounds for the next generation of war criminals. The Curtin Student Guild needs to take a fighting stance against the militarisation of our universities.
While Curtin becomes more militarised, the standard of our education has worsened. Our tutors are underpaid, overworked and put on unstable, casual contracts by management. Left Action - Free Palestine thinks that staff conditions are directly related to our learning conditions. Staff should receive better pay on stable contracts, and the Student Guild should actively be working with staff’s union to challenge management’s appalling treatment of students.
The Curtin Student Guild needs an activist outlook. Our members have run campaigns for student welfare and social justice, and we think the Guild needs to be more actively committed to this project. Our campus is increasingly being run for profit and war, and we urgently need to fight back.
Vote [1] Left Action - Free Palestine
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