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National Day of Action
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Wednesday 31st March, 1 PM

That's right comrades and cobbers, the National Day of Action, organised by the peak student union, National Union of Students, is taking place this Wednesday.

This NDA is a nation-wide protest against the regressive changes being forced upon universities across Australia. Among the changes include an increase in HECS fees by 25%, and an increase in the number of full-fee paying positions (which means money, not merit determins who goes to uni). It is important that the ALP Club be visible at the NDA to express the opinion that the only way that these regressive changes to university will be defeated and repealed is through the election of a Federal Labor Government. The Labor Party has committed (at its National Conference) to rolling back the HECS increases, abolishing full-fee paying places, and confirming support for universal public tertiary education for all Australians.

At Melbourne Uni there will be an initial demonstration on the Concrete Lawns (out the front of Union House), where all the members of the ALP Club will gather. There will be speeches by members of the Education Action Group (a collective made up of the various progressive and left groups on campus, including the ALP Club) and by anyone else who wishes to speak. From the Melb Uni Campus, we will then be marching down Swanston St. to get to the Victorian State Library by 2PM.

The State Library is where university students from around Melbourne and Victoria will congregate to express our opposition to the damaging regressions being imposed on universities. We will hear from education activists from around the state, including speakers from NUS. Once the speeches are finished, the gathered students will go on another march. Unfortunately I don't know precisely where, but it may be Melbourne Uni Private, Parliament House or Federation Square (don't quote me on this though).

I look forward to seeing all of you there.

Welcome back!

The Big News for this week:

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ALP Club General Meeting

Tuesday March 30th, 1PM

Babel Building, Room G 04 (near economics, Map Ref F 13)

The General Meeting will consider several issues, including the upcoming National Day of Action (a rally in opposition to the regressive Education Reforms spearheaded by Federal Education Minister Brendan Nelson), the Melbourne University Elections which were called on Friday afternoon (these elections will be to appoint a constitutional committee for the creation of a new Melbourne Uni Student Union).

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National Day of Action -- Fight the Fees!

Wednesday 31st of March, 1-2 PM

We will be congregating on the Concrete Lawns near Union House at 1PM. Then we will be marching down to the State Library on Swanston Street at 2PM.

The NDA is an action taken by students from universities across Victoria and Australia. It is to express our dissatisfaction with the education reforms being forced upon us by Brendan Nelson, which will increase fees by 25% and increase the number of full fee paying students to 30%. This is part of the Howard Government's neo-conservative agenda to privatise and deregulate our education system. It shifts the cost of higher education, the bedrock of a modern economy, to the student, rather than the upon the public, who are the primary beneficiaries of tertiary education. The increased financial costs of higher education will result in those from lower socio-economic backgrounds being unable to attend university and TAFE, condemning them to the viscious cycle of poverty and second-class citizen status.

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This week the Bullsheet was released and mailed out to ALP Club members. If you don't get it, or didn't get the last one (sent about a fortnight ago), please let us know (email Melb_ALP_club@hotmail.com).

To get involved in writing or otherwise contributing for the Bullsheet, email me (aw@vurt.net). I'm always looking for more articles.

Because of the huge cost of regular (ie, fortnightly) mailouts, it is likely that we will revert to a campus-only distribution of the Bullsheet. For extraordinary events and news, there will be mailouts as usual.

This means that we will need your help in getting the Bullsheet out to students on campus. Every second Monday (Monday April 5th is the next day) we will need some assistance in distributing the Bullsheet. Let me know at the above email address if you are able to help.

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Welcome to the second edition of the Melbourne Uni ALP Club's weekly rundown of events on campus.

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St Patrick's Day BBQ!
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The ALP Club will be hosting a St. Patrick's Day BBQ this Wednesday, from 1pm onwards in the Old Geology Courtyard. The Courtyard can be found in the Map of Uni at ref 18G.

Food, Soft Drink and Beer will be supplied by the club with vegetarians catered for. To cover our costs, we ask that club members attending please make a gold coin donation.

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Election Preparations
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As many club members will be aware, the University will be running an election next month for a new body to be briefed with the task of setting up a constitution for a new Student Union at Melbourne Uni. The ALP Club intends on contesting this election, and are helping organise a forum for later this week to begin preparations amongst various left-wing and left-leaning groups on campus.

All members of the club are invited to come along and help start preparing for what will be one of most important elections on campus in a long time.

With 20 positions to be elected to the working group, there will be the opportunity for several members of the ALP Club to take up a position. I encourage anyone and everyone who is interested to come along on Thursday or stay in touch with the Club to keep track of what's going on. The ALP Club will conduct preselections in the coming weeks as we put our ticket together, and this presents a great opportunity to get some of the clubs newer members involved.

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Education Campaign
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Just a reminder that the National Union of Students has called a National Day of Action against the Howard Government's continuing attacks on students. A rally is likely to be called for Wednesday March 31st, focusing on the fight against the implementation of last years changes to Higher Ed on a campus-by-campus level. As you may be aware, the Melbourne University Council will be meeting next month to consider proposals to raise HECS by 25% and implement more Full Fee paying places at Melbourne Uni, making this a vital issue for the ALP Club heading into an Election environment. The only way to stop these fee increases from being introduced is to see the election of Latham Government by the end of 2004, but this will only occur if we keep up the fight against Howard and Nelson on campus and on the streets throughout this year.

The details of March 31st will be sorted out by NUS in the coming weeks, and the ALP Club will as always be an active participant in the promotion of the rally and the events on the day itself. Stay tuned for an update on how you can get involved!

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Other Upcoming events
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The ALP Club is currently organising more events for this semester:

- Catherine Davis, the women's officer of the Federal Branch of the Australian Education Union, will be coming out to talk to the club about the issues facing women on campus and in the workplace, as well as how the public education campaign can help get rid of the Howard Government in 2004.

- Lindsay Tanner, the Federal Member for Melbourne and the Shadow Minister for Communications and Community Relationships, will be the club's guest later this semester speaking about the challenges facing the ALP in this election year.

- The ALP Club is also organising a fully catered Tour of Parliament House hosted by state Labor MPs for late April.

- The Federal President of the ALP, Carmen Lawrence, will be the club's guest in the first week of May when the Melbourne Uni ALP Club presents the return of the Annual Chifley Memorial Lecture Series.

Stay tuned for the full details of each event!

Welcome to the Melbourne University ALP Club blogspot. Check regularly for updates and news.