Anti-VSU Campaign - 1999

The Anti-VSU Campaign in 1999 is an excellent example of how students were able to successfully defeat a government proposal through collective direct action.

The announcement in late 1998 that the Federal Coalition Government intended to introduce VSU did not come as a huge surprise to anyone. However it was a challenge for student activists in Victoria, particularly because the Victorian Liberal Government had already introduced a form of VSU in 1994. Students in Victoria were aware of this, and so found it hard to grasp that it would get worse. In fact, many of the predictions of the activists in 1994 had been incorrect. Student unions had continued to offer 'services', despite Victorian VSU, because of the particular model - VSU in Victoria was aimed at stifling the politics of student unionism whilst maintaining provision of things like cafeterias with students footing the bill. So, it was challenging to convey to students that they should fight these new attacks and defend student unionism as a political principle.

We won the campaign against VSU in 1999 on several fronts. It was ultimately a combination of collective, hard work, and the right political arguments. We decided early in the year (January) that we wanted a big campaign - we organised rallies on and off campus, we had a National Day of Action that was focussed on defending student unions. We produced hundreds of stickers advertising the National Day of Action and spent two whole days 9-5 plastering the entire campus with it. Importantly, we brought the arguments around Student Unionism into everything that we were campaigning around. I gave a speech at one of the rallies about how VSU affected womyn. This was important, because we didn't want to compromise womyn's rights in the campaign just because we wanted Brian Harradine to vote against VSU (he does not believe in a womyn's right to choose abortion), and it assisted in the reproductive freedom campaign. Another big campaign that year was the Campus Conditions campaign, where we were fighting for better conditions, such as smaller teacher-student ratios, cheaper resources like books, better quality teaching, and ultimately for free education - we linked this campaign to the need for a student union, and students were able to connect with this.

But we didn't just do publicity and stickers - we had campus actions, and we had direct action in the form of mass rallies converging on the Liberal Party headquarters in the City. We did lecture bashing everyday, and we contacted all the trade unions on campus to support us in the fight. Some of their members came to our rallies. As it turns out, because students became politically active and didn't just accept that their student unions were finished we were successful. Because we were able to connect the anti-VSU campaign to other attacks and issues students were able to see all the connections, and came out solidly supporting their right to a student organisation. It was through the big, physical show of student and community support for student unions that we defeated the attack then. It is possible!!