Words by Azaria Howell (she/her) and Janhavi Gosavi (she/her)
This year’s Victoria University of Wellington Students’ Association (VUWSA) by-elections came with a controversial referendum regarding the students’ association giving a 12-month notice to leave the New Zealand Union of Students’ Associations (NZUSA). To put it bluntly, it was a trainwreck that we couldn’t look away from.
Here’s some backstory: Membership to NZUSA costs VUWSA $45,500 per year. VUWSA President Ralph Zambrano told Salient, “The reason why we've decided to put forward a 12 month notice period is because we don't feel that NZUSA is performing as effectively as it has in the past when it comes to advocating for students’ issues, especially in a university level.” Zambrano said this before voting had even started, implying VUWSA would put forward the motion regardless of the outcome.
Zambrano also told Salient that the structure of NZUSA was “outdated.” VUWSA is essentially using the 12-month notice as leverage over NZUSA, to urge them to reform the union.
Now here’s where it gets spicy.
Several student politicians, both past and present, have publicly criticised VUWSA for the move.
Michael Turnbull, 2021 VUWSA President, stated on a public Instagram story, “with VUWSA gone, the national student voice will be significantly damaged.” Turnbull added that if VUWSA were to leave NZUSA, “VUWSA [would be] setting itself up to walk away from national unity.”
Turnbull was especially critical of VUWSA’s consultation of students and representative groups on the matter. “Instead of open acknowledgement that more could have been done to engage with students, we saw defensiveness and an inability to take responsibility for their actions. It got so bad, that even VUW Confessions popped off on it.”
The day after the results were announced, Turnbull posted further criticism of VUWSA in an open letter to the organisation. In this, Turnbull, alongside other student politicians, claimed that VUWSA had breached five different articles in their constitution in the ways they had run the referendum.
Former NZUSA President Isabella Lenihan-Ikin agreed with Turnbull, and publicly told VUW students to vote against the motion. Lenihan-Ikin stated that NZUSA membership costs only $2.60 per student, adding that they have pushed for a nationwide student voice on a variety of issues. According to Lenihan-Ikin, NZUSA “won free fees for first year students, additional $1000 course related costs in 2020, Covid-19 hardship funds, additional mental health funding, zero interest on student loans, and increases to student allowance in 2017.”
Lenihan-Ikin also added that the matter did not receive proper discussion, saying “I note that VUWSA have frequently called out the university for blind-siding them in certain decisions. VUWSA have blind-sided the students in this situation.”
Many of these NZUSA-endorsed campaigns, however, have taken place in the past and are not ongoing. As of 21 March, 2022, NZUSA has not released a single press release, despite electing a new executive in Nov 2021.
VicLabour publicly condemned VUWSA’s potential move to leave NZUSA on social media, saying, “union-busting is never a good move.” They urged VUWSA to not leave “regardless of the referendum result.”
VUWSA said that they had consulted student representation groups on campus before the referendum.
However, Tauira Pasifika’s national president Jaistone Finau said that VUWSA’s consultation on the matter didn’t show Tauira Pasifika’s full view. Finau said that VUWSA had consulted with him in his capacity in Tauira Pasifika, but says, “what they failed to mention in the Instagram story is that at that moment, I stated outright I would campaign against it.”
“I get sick and tired of the way that mainstream associations have used Māori and Pacific associations to further causes without providing proper detail,” Finau added.
Despite VUWSA claiming that the money that currently goes towards union fees for NZUSA would be diverted to student representative groups such as Tauira Pasifika, Finau claimed this was said “without [VUWSA] providing a plan.”
Current NZUSA President Andrew Lessels said “NZUSA funds Te Mana Ākonga, Tauira Pasifika and the National Disabled Students’ Association through a variety of partnership agreements.” The union also funds the salary for the National Coordinator for Thursdays In Black. If VUWSA were to leave, NZUSA would face significant budget cuts. Despite this, Lessels told Salient that NZUSA is committed to funding these groups at the current rate.
Zambrano agreed that there had not been proper consultation during the VUWSA IGM, which was live-streamed on Facebook: “We could have done better and we should have done better. I front for this and I apologise for this wholeheartedly, this is not the VUWSA I know and love. Two social media posts is not enough.”
The motion for VUWSA to provide notice to leave NZUSA narrowly passed, with 36.1% of voters supporting, 34.62% opposing, and the rest abstaining. Assuming the student population is 22,000, the 985 votes cast represent 4.4% of the student population at VUW. A VUWSA referendum needs to have at least 5% of students represented for results to be binding.
If NZUSA takes steps to reform the union, VUWSA will likely withdraw their notice to leave.