Day of Action Against the Cuts sees Dramatic Police Repression

Ellie Stephenson reports on today’s protests.

Today’s National Day of Action against the Higher Education Bill attracted an onslaught of police to the University of Sydney as students and staff gathered to resist the Government’s cuts to higher education. The day began at 11am with a speak out hosted by the Women’s Collective, which focussed on the impacts of the Bill on female students. At 12:30pm academics from the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) held a teach in, which was joined by a number of contingents to the protest. The protest escalated after it moved to Victoria Park and began to march along City Road: police horses and riot police hemmed protestors in as they attempted to re-enter the park. 

The National Day of Action was called by the Women’s Collective, who are running the #feministsagainstthecuts campaign. The campaign takes aim at the Higher Education Bill at large and especially the decision to remove HECS loans for students who fail more than half their first year units. Speakers gathered outside the Admin Building holding signs reading ‘Stop failing survivors’, ‘I’m a survivor, not a dropout’ and ‘I’m worth more than my absent fail’. 

Women’s Officer Ellie Wilson told the gathering that “these cuts are a specifically gendered issue… it’s going to be subjects that are disproportionately studied by women that are going to be cut… many people who experience sexual and domestic violence will be cut off from their education.” 

SRC Sexual Harassment Officer Kimmy Dibben discussed the implications of the cuts for working class students. “I’ve failed many subjects trying to balance working, studying, managing my mental health issues and I’ve often failed classes because… I’ve failed to receive the support that I needed.” 

Education Officer and former Women’s Officer Jazz Breen explained the many problematic implications of the Bill. She argued that it is “not surprising that the first courses on the chopping blocks at universities are those that are female-dominated”, noting that this would hurt female academics. On the topic of the HECS changes, she added “people don’t fail because they’re lazy or don’t care; they fail because of systematic or institutional failures”.

Former Women’s Officer Katie Thorburn spoke about her own experience of sexual assault, discussing the repeated failures of the University to offer her support: “Instead of going ‘how can we help?’, instead of going ‘maybe we should give you a second chance’, they placed me on further academic progression and kicked me out.” She criticised the university bureaucracy for having “no actual compassion”. 

WoCo member Lia Perkins, reflecting on the systemic nature of violence against women, recalled an incident at a recent education protest where a protestor was interrogated about having previously reported a sexual assault to the police.

Harpreet, a member of Macquarie University Women’s Collective, shared a personal story about experiencing family violence. “As someone who knows what it’s like to struggle with finance and is very much living paycheck-to-paycheck… it is shameful that this system, this government, these universities… are telling us that we have to pay extra”. 

The action finished with chants of “No cuts, No fees, No corporate universities”. 

The NTEU’s teach in brought a large audience to the Law Lawns to hear academics consider issues including the right to protest and the casualisation of academic work. Toby Fitch, from the English Department, shared several poems about being a casual worker. He discussed the need to work several jobs and the feeling of being a “shock absorber” within tertiary education. His last poem was a collage poem of real words and phrases sent to staff this year by Vice Chancellor Michael Spence. 

Kurt Iveson discussed the geography of protest and public space. He argued that the location of a protest “is fundamental to the action” and critiqued the NSW Police’s “insistence that there is no place for protest”. 

The NTEU action occurred with a background of chants from various contingents: “Cutback; fight back!” and “Michael Spence is the 1%”. A contingent of medical science students gathered in front of Anderson Stuart and emphasised the central role of student activism in previous struggles over education policy. 

Once a critical mass of several hundred students had gathered on Eastern Avenue, they began moving towards Victoria Park, eventually breaking into a run. They briefly occupied City Road before being moved back into Victoria Park by police, who began issuing fines and move on orders. Organisers estimate up to 30 fines have been issued and a GoFundMe has been set up to deal with the costs. 

Today’s protest sent a strong message to the Government and University management that staff and students oppose the Higher Education Bill and austerity within the tertiary sector, and that they are willing to risk police repression to express their anger.