After 25 years service with the University as a non-academic staff member, I decided to stand in 2005 for election to the sole general staff position on the governing body, Senate. Previously, there had typically been more than one general staff member on Senate. The one non-graduate staff position was typically occupied by a general staff member, while a general staff member had sometimes managed to obtain one of the three graduate staff positions, in competition with academic staff.
The Howard Government's alleged reforms of the higher education sector included dictating to universities the size and composition of their governing bodies. Failure to comply would result in lost funding. A similar, interfering, third-party approach was taken by the Government in relation to the Higher Education Workplace Reform Requirements of 2005 - union-busting tactics that will see the erosion of staff conditions over time. It is ironic that the Government should be interfering in this and other ways when it is now a minority contributor to the budgets of universities. The reduction in the number of potential general staff members on Senate spurred me on to stand.
General staff members of the 30th Senate, Jan Massey and Kay Whitfield, decided not to stand again. I am grateful to Kay in particular for the assistance she has given me in my transition to becoming a Senator. I campaigned with the support of the Federation of General Staff Unions at UQ, in particular my own union, the Australian Services Union. I had a worthy opponent in NTEU delegate, Alan Holzl, whom I have known for a number of years. I was honoured to receive 75% of the vote, in which 1,200 general staff participated.
Re-election to 32nd Senate (2010-2013)
I decided to stand for a second term on Senate. Here's my re-election statement. An electronic ballot was held for the first time. Only 545 valid votes were cast. Against three other worthy candidates, I achieved 326 votes (60%). Thanks to those people who supported me, particularly my colleagues in the University Staff Union who helped with my campaign.
Re-election to 33rd Senate (2014-2017)
I was not going to stand for a third term because of health issues I experienced in the first half of 2013. But after recovering in the second half of the year and being unable to convince a couple of people I saw as suitable successors to stand, I threw my hat in the ring one more time. There were 12 candidates for the October 2013 ballot (great to see such a healthy interest on the part of professional staff) and although I ran a reduced campaign compared to the 2009 election, I was successful.
Some weeks later I was contacted by the Chief Operating Officer who said that a State Government authority had questioned my eligibility to stand. The election rules (part of the UQ Act, made by the State Parliament) stipulate that a person cannot stand if their election results in them serving 12 years or more. The rules also provide however that a majority vote of Senate can pemit a person to stand again. (One recently retired member had served 24 years.) I was well aware of this rule and had emailed the COO in August 2013 asking if a motion was required to go to Senate that I be permitted to stand for election again. I was assured by return email from a University officer that internal legal advice was that I would not reach the 12 year mark until the end of 2017, so no motion was required.
Following the Government challenge, the University took external legal advice that concurred wtih the Government's interpretation. The University decided to adopt that advice. At the November 2013 Senate meeting, I excused myself from the room while the Chancellor put a motion that I be permitted to stand again and the members discussed it. It was carried unanimously. The election was re-run in early December, with one of the original 12 candidates withdrawing. I am pleased that I won again, by an even greater margin. Here are my 100 word re-election statements from October and December.
Thanks again go to colleagues, some of them members of the Together and United Voice unions, and some who were not. I was humbled by the messages of support I received during and after the ballot. They inspire me to do the best possible job of contributing to the governance of the University and looking out for professional staff along the way.
