March 17, 2005
No Fees No VSU No Howard
No Fees No VSU No Howard
Originally uploaded by .M..
The rain didn't help but hundreds of university students today marched on John Howard's offices in Sydney to signal their opposition to plans for Voluntary Student Unionism - VSU.
The Tactical Response Unit made a symbolic appearance but no pepper spray today.
March 16, 2005
Union chaos down under
Unions and collective organising are the flavour of the week down here in Sydney.
On one hand, I'm busy keeping my re-mixable film pilot, Sanctuary, alive in Sydney after a decision blocking our shoot was handed down by the MEAA last Wednesday. Lots of expressions of support coming in from around the world but whether it will be enough in time to save plans to shoot in Australia remains to be seen.
On the other hand, students around Australia are mobilising in protest of the Federal Government's long-awaited attack on student activism. A bill to ban Voluntary Student Unionism (or VSU) is being tabled in Parliament today - opponents pointing out what is being sold as a "free choice" option for students to save them money is actually a rather clever scheme to remove one of the last remaining bastions of popular dissent, the university student's association, in from view.