The REAL NLC...
My personal holidays are over and it's time to get back to work. But there's the unfinished business of the goings-on in the NLC which I said I would write about. Here goes...
The NLC Annual Conference is supposed to be a forum for international students all over Australia to meet, discuss and debate issues that affect international students all while making new friends and forming networks. Sadly, this conference disintegrated as soon as it started. The bane of any organisation is politics. More specifically: factional politics. Granted, politics will always exist in an organisation with structure. Politics in itself is not the venom. It is the people who play with the politics that determine how dangerous/damaging politics can be. It's like playing with fire. In the hands of a skilled user the fire can be an extremely useful tool. Once the fire takes control and the user loses it; that's when everyone gets burnt. Politics must never cloud the basic reason/objective/goal of the organisation.
Which brings me to the question that every student representative should ask himself/herself. Why should students be involved in student representation? While there may be many other supplementary reasons, the main one should be to advocate for, and be the voice of, other international students who are either not interested in or not capable enough to do what one is supposed to do in student representation. Student representation is not an easy task. It requires skill and passion which not everyone has. It is extremely unfortunate that many student representatives do not understand this simple and basic core that defines what the NLC is about.
Alright, I've done my share of preaching. Now to the main issue. The NLC is plagued by factional politics mainly initiated by a NSW-Queensland partnership. Why should they work together? These two states hold the most number of votes giving them the most power when it comes to voting on matters. But it's not only because of the number of votes that caused them to go astray. It's the desire of the leaders of both these states to obtain power. They make sure that no Constitutional change goes through that could damage their chances of obtaining that power. They make sure arrangements are made to ensure they are in a more advantageous position. Worst of all, ALL these delegates vote based on what their leader tells them. It's so much like the NUS. The leader says "vote this up" and all the voting cards go up. He says "vote this down" and all the votes go against. If the leader doesn't say anything, all the delegates look around in utter confusion searching for direction. Shameful! Can't these people think for themselves? Don't they understand the responsibilities that are attached to the votes that they hold? Surely not! If they did they wouldn't act like puppets. None of them voice out their opinion. None of them debate an issue. When the leader doesn't like something, all of them just vote as they are told without offering any amendment or suggestion. Is this what student representation has turned to? International students agreeing or disagreeing to issues based upon what their "leaders" think. How does their leader gain control of them so easily? It's as if they don't have a mind of their own or have sold their soul for something in return. Any logical and rationally thinking person would be able to see through the circus that these two states have turned the NLC into.
Victoria was another highlight of this conference. The once proud and mighty state that could stand up and debate issues was in complete shambles. Their leader was involved in other proceedings and as a result, all the delegates were like headless chickens running around. It was clear that they never caucused. They never discussed the issues outside of conference floor. Instead, they took up conference time by suspending standing orders to discuss their issues amongst themselves. What more; they asked for clarification on certain issues but when people went to explain, they were pushed aside. Talk about not knowing what you want! They even used one of their suspensions to take photos! You'd think that people came to a conference to push for and debate upon issues that would potentially affect them. Instead these people were more interested in having fun and enjoying themselves. Yes, it's good to have fun. But not at the expense of the serious issues we are dealing with! Victoria has always been a proud state. That is perfectly fine. This year however, their pride had no substance whatsoever and the only thing that maintained their pride was their success in obtaining 3 National Office Bearer positions (via a deal with the two states mentioned above).
SA, WA and Tasmania have always had a good relationship. This was once again evident in this conference as we worked together in both forming policies and debating issues. In fact, we were the states that made sure something was actually done in the conference! Some may argue that I am being bias. But if that were the case, take a look at the minutes and say that to me again. If we acted like NSW, Queensland or Victoria, nothing would have happened in this conference. PK and I put up a significant number of constitutional amendments. The ones PK put up were agreed on in principal by the National Executive. However, NSW and Queensland changed their minds and told him that most of his amendments would not go up. What could we do? They had the numbers. Regardless, it was necessary to debate the amendments and ask for amendments as well as comments and suggestions for improvement. This is because all that was discussed would be put in the minutes for future reference. It went alright in the beginning. There were debates and discussion (though mainly between SA and WA with the lazy Victorians just saying they need clarification ALL THE TIME). Then, the trouble started. NSW and Queensland moved that a bunch of PK's amendments be accepted en bloc. What would happen in this instance is that if the motion was accepted, all of them would be accepted and if it were defeated, all of them would be defeated. NSW and Queensland made it clear they did not want those amendments to go up. This was an extremely arrogant move since with their votes it would definitely be defeated. It was akin to saying "shut the f*ck up, we're voting this down". They didn't even bother to explain why they wanted to vote it down or give alternative recommendations. All they did was sit down with a smug look on their face waiting to cast their vote. We had no choice but to do the worst possible move that could be taken in conference. Pulling quorum. The limit for quorum was very low since NSW and Queensland held a lot of proxies (they shamelessly bent every rule in the book to increase their votes) and as such, only a few of us needed to walk out to pull quorum. Why did we have to do it? For the basic reasons as I have highlighted above. There was no other way to stop their blatantly arrogant and insulting motion. This is not what the NLC is about. People aren't supposed to just shut another person up if they disagree. They are supposed to debate. But this motion was aimed at silencing that very debate. The outrageous thing is that in the end, we were made to look like the culprits! We were seen as the bad guys in this situation! Talk about hypocrisy. They claimed we were being undemocratic for walking out. Is it being democratic to use your numbers to silence those who come from smaller voting constituents? Ridiculous! It is beyond my understanding how so many are still oblivious to the reasons why this move simply had to be done. In the end the motion was withdrawn but not after more arguments.
The whole organisation of the conference was plain wrong. It seemed that only a few people were carrying the weight of all the others. Our fearless leader (he doesnt' know fear. He doesn't know anything else either...) was clearly always looking at PK when he didn't know what to do. PK was doing all the running around plugging the gaps in the wall. Organised Groups (OG) were created to teach delegates and allow them to mix around and exchange ideas. It went rather well last year. This year it virtually didn't happen. There were only 2 and both of them were introductory sessions. Another thing is the absolute stupidity of delegates claiming that they do not understand a constitutional amendment and complaining they weren't told earlier about it. In actual fact, the amendments were sent more than 21 days in advance as per requirements. It is the basic duty of each delegate to respect the effort made in compiling those amendments by reading them and asking the mover/seconder if they do not understand. This did not happen. All they did was sit down and whinge that they did not understand. For crying out loud get off your @$$es and do something about it!
The elections were a farce as well. Delegates weren't even given the decency of being able to vote on who they felt was the best candidate for the position. Instead, they voted factionally. NSW-Queensland-Victoria clearly made a deal to share the NOB positions amongst themselves. Such a pity that the best candidates, the ones who have contributed the most, the ones who understand the real reason for the existance of the NLC were locked out from holding those positions. Then again, they hadn't decided on who to put up as candidates until the very last minute. By then it was too late. A lesson learnt nonetheless...
Grievance committee was a disgrace. This year they were put up against an extremely serious and sensitive case which required urgent attention. However, they dealt with it in an extremely inefficient, corrupt and insensitive manner. It is obvious that both sides need to give their side of the story. This committee didn't even want to look at pieces of evidence that were available! I cannot believe how most of them can sleep at night knowing fair well that their actions were a clear infringement of natural justice. The thought of the injustice dealt upon someone I know makes me want to just knock sense into the heads of those members who cannot be defined more correctly than just plain f*ckwits.
SA-WA-Tasmania may have been locked out of the organisation. However, we still control NLC: the faction. Ironic isn't it? The smallest states seem to be the ones that care about what goes on in the organisation and holds the major power to affect it. Our NUS votes hold the key to the NLC's funding. The new National Convenor realises that. He's tied by the balls. According to those who attended the transition he was walking with cautious steps. We may have been shut out of the organisation. But that has actually put us in an even better position than before. Now we are the ones calling the shots. No longer are we the ones that need to watch our steps to make sure we don't frustrate the other states. The tables have turned. What seemed like the end of the world was actually the turning point that allows us to learn something from a position we have never been placed into before. The fun has only just begun! It's time for people to understand the power and significance of the REAL NLC...
The NLC Annual Conference is supposed to be a forum for international students all over Australia to meet, discuss and debate issues that affect international students all while making new friends and forming networks. Sadly, this conference disintegrated as soon as it started. The bane of any organisation is politics. More specifically: factional politics. Granted, politics will always exist in an organisation with structure. Politics in itself is not the venom. It is the people who play with the politics that determine how dangerous/damaging politics can be. It's like playing with fire. In the hands of a skilled user the fire can be an extremely useful tool. Once the fire takes control and the user loses it; that's when everyone gets burnt. Politics must never cloud the basic reason/objective/goal of the organisation.
Which brings me to the question that every student representative should ask himself/herself. Why should students be involved in student representation? While there may be many other supplementary reasons, the main one should be to advocate for, and be the voice of, other international students who are either not interested in or not capable enough to do what one is supposed to do in student representation. Student representation is not an easy task. It requires skill and passion which not everyone has. It is extremely unfortunate that many student representatives do not understand this simple and basic core that defines what the NLC is about.
Alright, I've done my share of preaching. Now to the main issue. The NLC is plagued by factional politics mainly initiated by a NSW-Queensland partnership. Why should they work together? These two states hold the most number of votes giving them the most power when it comes to voting on matters. But it's not only because of the number of votes that caused them to go astray. It's the desire of the leaders of both these states to obtain power. They make sure that no Constitutional change goes through that could damage their chances of obtaining that power. They make sure arrangements are made to ensure they are in a more advantageous position. Worst of all, ALL these delegates vote based on what their leader tells them. It's so much like the NUS. The leader says "vote this up" and all the voting cards go up. He says "vote this down" and all the votes go against. If the leader doesn't say anything, all the delegates look around in utter confusion searching for direction. Shameful! Can't these people think for themselves? Don't they understand the responsibilities that are attached to the votes that they hold? Surely not! If they did they wouldn't act like puppets. None of them voice out their opinion. None of them debate an issue. When the leader doesn't like something, all of them just vote as they are told without offering any amendment or suggestion. Is this what student representation has turned to? International students agreeing or disagreeing to issues based upon what their "leaders" think. How does their leader gain control of them so easily? It's as if they don't have a mind of their own or have sold their soul for something in return. Any logical and rationally thinking person would be able to see through the circus that these two states have turned the NLC into.
Victoria was another highlight of this conference. The once proud and mighty state that could stand up and debate issues was in complete shambles. Their leader was involved in other proceedings and as a result, all the delegates were like headless chickens running around. It was clear that they never caucused. They never discussed the issues outside of conference floor. Instead, they took up conference time by suspending standing orders to discuss their issues amongst themselves. What more; they asked for clarification on certain issues but when people went to explain, they were pushed aside. Talk about not knowing what you want! They even used one of their suspensions to take photos! You'd think that people came to a conference to push for and debate upon issues that would potentially affect them. Instead these people were more interested in having fun and enjoying themselves. Yes, it's good to have fun. But not at the expense of the serious issues we are dealing with! Victoria has always been a proud state. That is perfectly fine. This year however, their pride had no substance whatsoever and the only thing that maintained their pride was their success in obtaining 3 National Office Bearer positions (via a deal with the two states mentioned above).
SA, WA and Tasmania have always had a good relationship. This was once again evident in this conference as we worked together in both forming policies and debating issues. In fact, we were the states that made sure something was actually done in the conference! Some may argue that I am being bias. But if that were the case, take a look at the minutes and say that to me again. If we acted like NSW, Queensland or Victoria, nothing would have happened in this conference. PK and I put up a significant number of constitutional amendments. The ones PK put up were agreed on in principal by the National Executive. However, NSW and Queensland changed their minds and told him that most of his amendments would not go up. What could we do? They had the numbers. Regardless, it was necessary to debate the amendments and ask for amendments as well as comments and suggestions for improvement. This is because all that was discussed would be put in the minutes for future reference. It went alright in the beginning. There were debates and discussion (though mainly between SA and WA with the lazy Victorians just saying they need clarification ALL THE TIME). Then, the trouble started. NSW and Queensland moved that a bunch of PK's amendments be accepted en bloc. What would happen in this instance is that if the motion was accepted, all of them would be accepted and if it were defeated, all of them would be defeated. NSW and Queensland made it clear they did not want those amendments to go up. This was an extremely arrogant move since with their votes it would definitely be defeated. It was akin to saying "shut the f*ck up, we're voting this down". They didn't even bother to explain why they wanted to vote it down or give alternative recommendations. All they did was sit down with a smug look on their face waiting to cast their vote. We had no choice but to do the worst possible move that could be taken in conference. Pulling quorum. The limit for quorum was very low since NSW and Queensland held a lot of proxies (they shamelessly bent every rule in the book to increase their votes) and as such, only a few of us needed to walk out to pull quorum. Why did we have to do it? For the basic reasons as I have highlighted above. There was no other way to stop their blatantly arrogant and insulting motion. This is not what the NLC is about. People aren't supposed to just shut another person up if they disagree. They are supposed to debate. But this motion was aimed at silencing that very debate. The outrageous thing is that in the end, we were made to look like the culprits! We were seen as the bad guys in this situation! Talk about hypocrisy. They claimed we were being undemocratic for walking out. Is it being democratic to use your numbers to silence those who come from smaller voting constituents? Ridiculous! It is beyond my understanding how so many are still oblivious to the reasons why this move simply had to be done. In the end the motion was withdrawn but not after more arguments.
The whole organisation of the conference was plain wrong. It seemed that only a few people were carrying the weight of all the others. Our fearless leader (he doesnt' know fear. He doesn't know anything else either...) was clearly always looking at PK when he didn't know what to do. PK was doing all the running around plugging the gaps in the wall. Organised Groups (OG) were created to teach delegates and allow them to mix around and exchange ideas. It went rather well last year. This year it virtually didn't happen. There were only 2 and both of them were introductory sessions. Another thing is the absolute stupidity of delegates claiming that they do not understand a constitutional amendment and complaining they weren't told earlier about it. In actual fact, the amendments were sent more than 21 days in advance as per requirements. It is the basic duty of each delegate to respect the effort made in compiling those amendments by reading them and asking the mover/seconder if they do not understand. This did not happen. All they did was sit down and whinge that they did not understand. For crying out loud get off your @$$es and do something about it!
The elections were a farce as well. Delegates weren't even given the decency of being able to vote on who they felt was the best candidate for the position. Instead, they voted factionally. NSW-Queensland-Victoria clearly made a deal to share the NOB positions amongst themselves. Such a pity that the best candidates, the ones who have contributed the most, the ones who understand the real reason for the existance of the NLC were locked out from holding those positions. Then again, they hadn't decided on who to put up as candidates until the very last minute. By then it was too late. A lesson learnt nonetheless...
Grievance committee was a disgrace. This year they were put up against an extremely serious and sensitive case which required urgent attention. However, they dealt with it in an extremely inefficient, corrupt and insensitive manner. It is obvious that both sides need to give their side of the story. This committee didn't even want to look at pieces of evidence that were available! I cannot believe how most of them can sleep at night knowing fair well that their actions were a clear infringement of natural justice. The thought of the injustice dealt upon someone I know makes me want to just knock sense into the heads of those members who cannot be defined more correctly than just plain f*ckwits.
SA-WA-Tasmania may have been locked out of the organisation. However, we still control NLC: the faction. Ironic isn't it? The smallest states seem to be the ones that care about what goes on in the organisation and holds the major power to affect it. Our NUS votes hold the key to the NLC's funding. The new National Convenor realises that. He's tied by the balls. According to those who attended the transition he was walking with cautious steps. We may have been shut out of the organisation. But that has actually put us in an even better position than before. Now we are the ones calling the shots. No longer are we the ones that need to watch our steps to make sure we don't frustrate the other states. The tables have turned. What seemed like the end of the world was actually the turning point that allows us to learn something from a position we have never been placed into before. The fun has only just begun! It's time for people to understand the power and significance of the REAL NLC...
posted by Lä§t_H¤Pê at
6:12 PM
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