SA uni students to join huge pro-Palestine motion
Thousands of students across Australia are expected to gather for mass meetings, where they will vote in a national student referendum on Palestine.
South Australian university students are joining thousands nationally at mass meetings on campuses to debate and vote on whether the federal government and universities should implement sanctions on Israel.
The national student referendum on Palestine comes after nearly two years of protests, sit-ins, and encampments, and seeks to hold both the government and universities accountable by demanding concrete action.
The National Union of Students and Students for Palestine will poll students on whether to pass a motion of censure on their government and their universities.
University of Adelaide, Uni SA and Flinders students will record their vote on August 27 in Scott Theatre on University of Adelaide’s North Terrace campus.
Queer officer for the National Union of Students Brianna Symonds-Manne said the referendum was an “opportunity for the student body to show their support of Palestine and their opposition to the complicity of our government in genocide”.
“Students should be able to have a say over what our government does and if they are supporting the massacre of civilians in Gaza in our name,” Symonds-Manne said.
“If Albanese or Penny Wong had any humanity they would sanction Israel and stop trading arms.”
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Adelaide Students for Palestine’s Raphael Duffy said “all three major universities have extensive ties and partnerships with weapons companies”, while NUS welfare officer Luce Fawcett said the referendum was an “opportunity for students to come together… and decide where we stand on a matter of global importance”.
“Across the country, students are proving that their voice matters and we can make a positive change by working together,” Fawcett said.
“By voting, we show that we are taking our place in the conversation on justice, human rights, and the future we want to see.
“Universities are places of learning and debate, and this is a reminder that student voices matter in shaping the world beyond our campuses.”
National Union of Students education officer James McVicar said the referendum provided a chance for students across the country to vote on ending universities’ links to companies involved in the supply of weapons to Israel.
He anticipates more than 5000 people to sign up to vote over the coming week.
“It shows that students are feeling anger, and outrage, and horror (about) the images coming out of Gaza,” McVicar says.
“Students and the general population are frustrated that the government and their universities have not listened to the overwhelming popular support for an end to the war.
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“Not just a tokenistic recognition of a Palestinian state further down the track.”
Two votes have already taken place at Victoria University and Griffith University, with students voting overwhelmingly in favour of calling on the federal government to impose sanctions on Israel.
The majority of the votes will take place over the next week.
The vote comes just days after a report revealed Melbourne University breached Victoria’s Privacy and Data Protection Act when it used its wi-fi network to monitor students and staff holding a pro-Palestine protest in 2024.
Rachel Dixon, the state’s deputy commissioner, described the incident as a “significant breach of trust”.
A separate inquiry in July found that the university’s conduct had contributed to an atmosphere of self-censorship, discouraging students and staff from speaking openly about pro-Palestinian movements on campus.
McVicar hopes the vote will pressure universities to respond to student sentiment and take meaningful action.
“The point of the referendum is to put them under pressure to respond,” he said.
“We have a mass display of student democracy and an expression of the student voice directed straight at them and straight at the Australian government.”
The referendum comes amidst a raft of events, including a nationwide march for Palestine on Sunday.
– With AAP
