Sydney University Labor Club

Sydney University Labor Club Banner

Sydney University Labor Club is the oldest[1] and one of the most influential Australian university political societies. Many of the club's alumni have gone on to prominent political careers. The club has traditionally been associated with a more radical and left-wing political agenda than the Australian Labor Party.

History

In early 1925 a Labor group began orienting around University of Sydney Union debate nights, however the club was officially formed with a visit to Sydney University by a son of Ramsay Macdonald in the April of that year,[1] when the club usurped an official Union dinner to host the visiting party first. The inaugural president was H.V. Evatt, however this first incarnation proved short-lived, ceasing to function after a split between Jack Lang and Peter Loughlin in the NSW ALP in 1927. In 1931 the club was reformed and affiliated to the Labor Party sending one delegate to its state conference, but again there were problems with the figure of Lang and disaffiliation followed in 1934, the club renaming itself the "Socialist Club". The 1939 constitution of the club was written by future governor-general John Kerr.[2]

In 1949 students wary of communist influence split to form an alternative ALP club which endures to this day as a bastion of the Labor Right. The club has been involved in both activist struggles and more institutional means of achieving change. Club members were prominent in the Freedom Rides, anti-Vietnam War protests and the establishment of the political economy department throughout the 60's and 70's. From 1965 club members organised over 100 branches of High School Students Against the War in Vietnam in Sydney high schools.[3]

The strength of the club in the new millennium was evidenced by every president of the Students' Representative Council from 2001 to 2013 having been a member of the Labor Left faction associated with the club. The Club continues to participate in activism, particularly around educational quality and National Union of Students campaigns. The club campaigns to elect Labor candidates, but not without reservation. In 2014 the club joined with the wider Young Labor Left in refusing to campaign for candidates who would not openly oppose the offshore processing and mandatory detention of refugees.[4] From 2013 the Club was rocked by internal strife over political direction.[5][6]

Notable alumni

Club founder H.V. Evatt

External links

References

  1. 1 2 "A History of the Sydney University Labor Club 1925-1945" (PDF).
  2. ↑ Barcan, A. (2002). Radical Students: The Old Left at Sydney University. Melbourne University Press. ISBN 9780522850178. Retrieved 2015-08-13.
  3. ↑ "Or Forever Hold Your Peace (1970) clip 2 on ASO - Australia's audio and visual heritage online". aso.gov.au. Retrieved 2015-08-13.
  4. ↑ "Manus Island Riot Report Details Deadly Violence".
  5. ↑ "A political paradigm shifts as NLS splits – Honi Soit". honisoit.com. Retrieved 2015-08-13.
  6. ↑ "Sydney Labor Students: dead? – Honi Soit". honisoit.com. Retrieved 2015-08-13.
  7. ↑ "Hansard".
  8. ↑ "Camperdown to Canberra".
  9. ↑ "Hansard".
  10. ↑ "Labor Medico Was A Strong Civil Libertarian".
  11. ↑ Andrew Crook (2010-10-01). "Crikey List: which MPs were involved in student politics?". Crikey. Retrieved 2015-08-13.
  12. ↑ Jenny Hocking (2008). Gough Whitlam. The Miegunyah Press. pp. 225–. ISBN 978-0-522-85511-1.
  13. ↑ "Biography - Joseph Ormond Aloysius Bourke - Australian Dictionary of Biography". adb.anu.edu.au. Retrieved 2015-08-13.
  14. ↑ "Hansard".
  15. ↑ "Hansard".
  16. ↑ "Land of the Greens Hall Greenland".
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