In the lead-up to the OUSA Exec elections for 2025, there was a full calendar of candidate forums last week. Each weekday at lunch, candidates for the different positions took to the stage for the chance to prove their dedication to the positions. The running trend of poor student engagement once again saw a crowd of lunchers caught unawares, fellow Exec, and a smattering of Radio One and Critic staff. For those who missed it, here’s a summary of events.
The Uncontested
Four of the ten positions are running uncontested: President, International Students’ Rep, Welfare and Equity Rep, and Finance and Strategy Officer.
President
Following in the shoes of current President Keegan Wells, whose uncontested campaign last year spurred dictator jokes, current Political Rep Liam White is the sole candidate for 2025 President. Seen last week sporting a suit, it seems the political diehard is confident in his upcoming race against Mr Vote of No Confidence.
Finance & Strategy Officer
Daniel was a recent addition to the Exec, joining the Exec through an August by-election after the Finance and Strategy position was ghosted. He edged out his competition Joel Tebbs by a narrow five votes, who’s now gunning for Postgrad Rep, the most contested position this election. At last week’s Exec meeting, there was a chorus of agreement among the rest of the Exec that he fit into the role well. “He’s hit the ground running,” said Liam.
International Rep
Ibuki has also received praise for his work as this year’s International Rep. Taking to the stage at his solo forum last Thursday, Buki maintained his typical serious, well-spoken, and friendly demeanour. Most recently, Buki’s plate of Exec duties has been very full, both spearheading a lecture recordings policy campaign alongside Academic Rep Stella and Welfare and Equity Rep Tara, and organising the recent Cultural Expo.
Welfare & Equity Rep
Amy Whyman, the sole candidate for Welfare and Equity Rep, would bring fresh blood to the position currently occupied by Tara Shepherd. On Tuesday last week, a nervous yet warm and personable Amy answered questions on the biggest issues facing students and how she planned to advocate for them. As a former subwarden of two years at Caroline Freeman College, Amy has experience looking after students. A priority for her would be ensuring awareness among students of the campus support resources available for them, such as OUSA Student Support.
The Contested
Academic Rep
Current Academic Rep Stella Lynch is the Exec member rerunning for her position against another candidate, Tesoro Levy. Given Stella’s notorious dedication to the role that saw her taking work calls from a hospital bed earlier this semester, you wouldn’t envy Tesoro’s position. “She knows her role backwards, forwards, and everything in between,” commented a fellow Exec member to Critic.
If re-elected, Stella plans to continue advocating for students' academic needs through a lecture recordings policy and a push for paid placements. “Students are not free labour,” she said at the forum last Tuesday. Tesoro echoed many of Stella’s points, emphasising the difficulty of cost of living on students and suggesting a change to StudyLink’s student allowance criteria to alleviate financial stress. This would mean full-time students would have more time: “Being a student is hard enough, and the added stress of having to work to afford food and rent on top of that makes it even more difficult.”
Political Rep
There are three candidates running for Political Rep, a position that’ll be left empty by could-be President Liam. Candidates include Will Biss (colloquially known as “Bush Bill” in the Tramping Club), Jett Groshinski, and Christopher Hawkins.
Given there’ll be local government elections next year, many of the questions posed to the candidates at last Monday’s forum centred around this. It wasn’t a strong start for Will, who couldn’t name a single Dunedin City Council (DCC) councillor – nor a Member of Parliament. Prime Minister Chris Luxon would have been an accepted answer.
Will’s inability to answer questions continued throughout the forum, copying Jett’s answers on multiple occasions. Will did, however, bring one idea to the table: exploiting students’ love of free food by hosting regular sausage sizzles (“free Democracy Snags ™”) to bribe engagement with local government – which he himself appears to be disengaged from.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, Jett’s almost too qualified for the role. This man appears to live and breathe politics. Not only has he been active as fuck in Young Labour and Greens parties, the young buck himself ran for Dunedin Mayor in 2022. His plans for student engagement with next year’s local government elections included inviting councillors to campus for forums similar to the one he was speaking at for Exec.
Chris comes with a stacked CV, sporting a decent portfolio of political engagement. Chris’ motivations lean more green than his competitors. You may recognise him from the Link, where he set up camp on numerous occasions to advocate for free bus fares – an initiative targeting both the cost of living crisis and climate issues. Two birds with one stone, baby. Political rep is a position that comes with a heck of a lot of submission writing, something Chris is well-versed in having organised submission parties and attended DCC meetings to speak to them.
Postgrad Rep
Postgrad Rep is the most hotly contested of the 2025 Exec positions with four candidates: Joel Tebbs (AKA Critic Bachelor), “Bush Bill” Will, Josh Stewart, and Daniel Stride.
Daniel’s involvement in this year’s Exec elections isn’t his first rodeo – nor has it come without raised eyebrows. The postgrad student was part of the 2011 Exec as the Finance and Strategy Officer. However, a quick Google of Daniel’s name will show articles from 2011 when he resigned from the position amidst allegations of indecent assault made against him following a flat party where he touched the breast of a female acquaintance.
Diversion was offered to Daniel under the police diversion scheme and he told Critic at the time that being under the influence of alcohol was an explanation but not justification for his actions and was taking the necessary steps to address his drinking. Since then, he’s run unsuccessfully for the Exec both in 2012 and 2020. As for his intentions for Postgrad Rep, Daniel spoke passionately to Critic Te Ārohi about building a sense of community among Postgrads, “because it is often a very lonely experience.”
At the forum last Thursday, the four Postgrad candidates spoke to their respective campaigns. In a switch from his earlier campaign for the FSO by-election, Joel reckoned his experience on the Tramping Club and Canoe Club execs would give him the edge. In honour of Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori, Josh spoke purely in te reo Māori – an admirable effort, students agreed, while frustrating for those who didn’t understand the language.
Next in the line-up was Bush Bill who, despite running for two Exec positions, acted more as a Josh Fan than actual candidate: “Vote for Josh, not me.” Rather, he spoke of plans to introduce “trial by combat” for PhD defences and earlier in the day had voiced plans on Radio One to sell off UniFlats (which OUSA doesn’t own) and reinvest the money for Postgrads, get OUSA to fund the Ukrainian army, and encourage students to combat the cost of living crisis by “eating less food”.
Clubs and Socs
With current Clubs and Socs Rep Emma Jackson moving on from the role after this year, three contenders have stepped up to run for the role: Deborah Huang, Jasper O’Kane and Daniel Stride. Duties of the role by and large include supporting existing clubs to do their thing and helping new clubs to write airtight constitutions.
Deborah’s experience in the Otago Debating Society was clear at the forum last Monday, the fourth-year Law student being quick with her responses and well-spoken. Fellow Law student Jasper’s main experience with clubs was through Law Revue (not quite a club).
While Deborah focused on a want to streamline resources for clubs – something current Rep Emma has done in leaps and bounds with initiatives like a regular clubs newsletter – Jasper said a personal priority would be a physical presence among clubs. It’s worth noting that the Clubs and Socs Rep is automatically part of every single club (of which there are currently 164).
Daniel planned to bring his experience as a long-time participant in the Tea Enjoyment and Appreciation Society and Postgrad Association to the role, where he was the administrator from 2019 to 2023, “to fully represent and support this unique community.”
Residential Rep
There are two candidates for Residential Rep, a role that’s sat unoccupied since August this year after the previous occupier resigned for personal reasons. Candidates for next year include Eslyn Beck and Callum Hadlow, who appeared to more or less be on the same page at last Monday’s forum on residential issues facing students. Namely: the mouldy, cold, and expensive flats of North Dunedin, and how best to support students dwelling in them. “I’ve had my fair share of flatting horror stories,” Callum writes in his candidate blurb. Eslyn, on the other hand, submitted a lyrical yet somewhat unrelated poem for theirs. Residential Colleges, although included in the portfolio, didn’t receive much of a mention.
And that’s all for today, folks. Voting will be open from Monday, September 30th at 9am; closing Thursday, October 3rd at 4pm. May democracy be ever in your favour.