Students Protest Against the Cuts With “Day Of Rage”

By Rowey Worner Butcher

Students have once again rallied against the ongoing cuts at ANU. In a “Day of Rage”, over 100 students gathered at the Kambri Precinct on Tuesday 12 August, to protest against job cuts and proposed organisational changes at the ANU. 

Students marched to the Chancelry building, where a vote was taken among those present to blockade the entrance to the building to “disrupt business as usual”. 

The decision was made to hold a “teach-in” inside the building. Students remained inside the building until the evening, when another rally was held expressing their anger toward the cuts. 

The protest was organised by Save our Studies, Save our Staff (SOS) in conjunction with support from the School of Art and Design Collective (SOAD). It follows a series of similar protest actions against the raft of cuts proposed by the ANU as part of their “Renew ANU” scheme.

The Day of Rage follows the vote held at SOS’s July 30 protest, where it was agreed to “escalate protest action” if the ANU did not announce an end to the cuts by August 7. 

August 7 marked the close of public submissions to the ANU’s Organisational Change Proposal for the College of Arts and Social Sciences and the College of Science and Medicine. 

These proposals suggested the “disestablishment” of 140 jobs across both colleges, including through the Voluntary Separation Scheme (VSS). The plan also proposed the “realignment” of several positions. 

Students have demanded an end to the cuts, as well as the full funding of Australian universities by the government. 

Observer spoke to event organiser Pippa Newman, who stated “I think the main thing is ANU doesn’t receive enough money from the government in order to operate functionally to give a quality education.

“One of the student demands is for full public funding of education and we’ll keep pushing for that because that’s the only way we can actually stop [the cuts].” 

While students protested on campus, witness accounts were heard by ANUSA President Will Burfoot, and former ANU Council Member Dr Liz Allen in a Senate committee hearing. 

At the hearing, allegations of intimidation and bullying were made against the council, and specifically ANU Chancellor, Julie Bishop. 

In regard to these allegations, a spokesperson for the ANU said the institution is in the process of dealing with a “formal workplace grievance and will not jeopardise a fair hearing and impartial investigation for all parties named in the complaint.” 

In a release to the media, Newman promised that protests will continue if “they [university management] are going to ignore the mandate of staff and students.”

“We will not rest until the job cuts, the staff cuts, the cuts to our education, are stopped.” 

More to come. 

Graphics by Shé Chani

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