Salient

ELECTION BONANZA EXTRAVAGANZA!

By Laura McQuillan | 17 Sep, 2007

WHO WILL IT BE, VOTERS?

Campaigning for the VUWSA General Election is in full swing, with an unexpectedly large number of candidates standing.

Three candidates are standing for the position of President. Current President Geoff Hayward is seeking re-election for a second term, whilst current Education Vice President Joel Cosgrove is hoping to move into the bigger office. The third candidate is Lukas Schroeter.

All three make no secret of their strong political affiliations. Hayward is a member of Young Labour and former President of Vic Labour, Cosgrove is an outspoken member of the Workers’ Party, and Schroeter is spokesperson for pro-VSM group Student Choice and Treasurer of ACT on Campus, and is an A-Team member.

Cosgrove has also won praise for being the best looking election candidate – at least, on his campaigning poster.

Mike Bridge and Paul Brown are the two candidates for Election Vice President. Brown is currently Acting Welfare Vice President, whilst Bridge is President of ACT On Campus and an A-Team member.

Brown has been praised for using the acronym ‘ARSE’ on his poster, which Salient finds funny.

Anna Duggan and Melissa Barnard are the candidates for Welfare Vice President. Duggan is a member of the A-Team and recently swapped from Young Labour to the Young Nats. Barnard is VUWSA Clubs Officer.

Current Treasurer Alexander Neilson is seeking re-election to the same position, up against Josh O’Rourke from the A-Team. O’Rourke studies Economics so he knows a bit about money and such.

Cameron ‘A-Team’ Cotter and Mark Newton are the two Environmental Officer candidates. Some have commented that Cotter’s photo is quite good because he’s holding plants and wearing a goofy hat. Newton has a BSc in Environmental Science and is the Gecko-endorsed candidate.

Bradley Jacques is the A-Team candidate for International Officer, but is not an international student. William Wu is an international student originally from China who says that international students lack a voice at Victoria.

There are three candidates standing for the Queer position – including current Queer Rights Officer Rachael Wright, along with an unknown called Mark Wright and A-Team candidate Sam Archer, who UniQ believes joined the group solely to run for election.

There are three Women’s Rights Officer candidates: Sigma Omega Pi executive member Nicky Legarth, A-Team candidate Aimee Sanders and former Acting Women’s Rights Officer Georgina Dickson.

There are 14 candidates for the five General Exec positions, which will later comprise Clubs, Activities, Campaigns and two Education Officers.

The A-Team has put up five candidates: Mike Heine, Chris Foulkes, Paul Smith, Joe McClure and Daniel Parkinson.

Current VUWSA exec members Bernard-Bernard Vice Galaxy, Melissa Barnard and Stefan Tyler are running for re-election.

Other candidates are Beta Omega Chi President Chris Smith, Fiona McDonald, Katie de Roo, Robert Latimer, former-apathetic student Seamus Brady, and Sonny Thomas.

Five candidates are standing for University Council rep, including former Women’s Rights Officer Kerry O’Connor, Debsoc President Chris Bishop, A-Team candidate Jordan Williams, who rejoined VUWSA to stand in the election, Sonny Thomas and Zeb Harland.

Salient is unsure if ‘Zeb’ is Harland’s real name, or if he’s following in the footsteps of Bernard-Bernard Vice “The Best Name Wins The Election” Galaxy.

There are also three candidates for what is possibly the two most boring positions available this election. The VBC Programming Co-Director Matthew Davis, Salient collector Milan Magan and Jordan King, who thinks the Publications Committee can help Salient win an ASPA, are the three candidates.

Turn to the middle of this weeks Salient for the election supplement.

Voting opens on Friday.