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You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/may/21/the-liberal-party-the-true-champions-of-student-activism-in-australia

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The Liberal party: the true champions of student activism in Australia The Liberal party: the true champions of student activism in Australia
(4 months later)
Tony Abbott, you’ve really outdone yourself this time. Students have a lot to thank you for – and we’re not just talking about the plants from the Australian Liberal Students Federation.Tony Abbott, you’ve really outdone yourself this time. Students have a lot to thank you for – and we’re not just talking about the plants from the Australian Liberal Students Federation.
The cuts you’ve announced to education, health and welfare have lit a fire under our campus, not seen since the St Michaels’ college arson of 2009. Our universities have sat passively for the last decade under a succession of stingy governments and panicked vice-chancellors, and student activists were fragmented and disillusioned. But now the left are united again: the reds and the Greens and everyone in between are getting on for the first time in ages.The cuts you’ve announced to education, health and welfare have lit a fire under our campus, not seen since the St Michaels’ college arson of 2009. Our universities have sat passively for the last decade under a succession of stingy governments and panicked vice-chancellors, and student activists were fragmented and disillusioned. But now the left are united again: the reds and the Greens and everyone in between are getting on for the first time in ages.
Bar a fourth resurrection by John “Lazarus” Howard, nobody else could have achieved such a thing. In just nine short months, you’ve done more than any other political party to mobilise a healthy culture of protest among students on campus. Tony, you’ve cemented the Liberal party as the true champions of student activism in Australia.Bar a fourth resurrection by John “Lazarus” Howard, nobody else could have achieved such a thing. In just nine short months, you’ve done more than any other political party to mobilise a healthy culture of protest among students on campus. Tony, you’ve cemented the Liberal party as the true champions of student activism in Australia.
We were devastated to hear you weren’t going to be visiting our mates at Deakin University. Were it not for you, they wouldn't be out of the classroom and on the streets. Funnily enough, the rising cost of education might have done that anyway. We were devastated to hear you weren’t going to be visiting our mates at Deakin University. Were it not for you, they wouldn't be out of the classroom and on the streets. Funnily enough, the rising cost of education might have done that anyway.
Outrage like this hasn't been seen since voluntary student unionism. Is it really true that there hasn’t been anything to be angry about since then? Nah – students have just gotten bloody lazy.Outrage like this hasn't been seen since voluntary student unionism. Is it really true that there hasn’t been anything to be angry about since then? Nah – students have just gotten bloody lazy.
Thanks to you, students who have never protested in their life are behaving in all sorts of strange ways. Yesterday we saw an ordinary student assisting the education action group to create a big "Fuck Tony Abbott" sign. His hair wasn’t long, he was wearing shoes – he looked like he could be a real Aussie Battler in a couple of years.Thanks to you, students who have never protested in their life are behaving in all sorts of strange ways. Yesterday we saw an ordinary student assisting the education action group to create a big "Fuck Tony Abbott" sign. His hair wasn’t long, he was wearing shoes – he looked like he could be a real Aussie Battler in a couple of years.
Today's emergency budget rally has dominated our Facebook news feeds for the past week, passionately promoted by students whose usual idea of radical democratic participation is submitting a 30-second video question to Q&A. It’s a far cry from the usual desperate pleas for attendance from those emotionally and physically ragged students who march up and down the street spruiking petitions and street press rags.Today's emergency budget rally has dominated our Facebook news feeds for the past week, passionately promoted by students whose usual idea of radical democratic participation is submitting a 30-second video question to Q&A. It’s a far cry from the usual desperate pleas for attendance from those emotionally and physically ragged students who march up and down the street spruiking petitions and street press rags.
Making sure we all share the burden has really been your greatest achievement. We’re a nation of lifters, not leaners or learners, after all. It’s not a perfect strategy though, Tony – when students are protesting, they’re not earning or learning.Making sure we all share the burden has really been your greatest achievement. We’re a nation of lifters, not leaners or learners, after all. It’s not a perfect strategy though, Tony – when students are protesting, they’re not earning or learning.
All this argy bargy must remind you of a simpler time, your own salad days as president of the Sydney university student representative council. Dissent in those days was muscular and visceral, though your unusual method of punching a wall still strikes us as a bit over the top. Jostlegate must have reignited memories of those heady days. You should visit the old alma mater sometime soon. All this argy bargy must remind you of a simpler time, your own salad days as president of the Sydney university student representative council. Dissent in those days was muscular and visceral, though your unusual method of punching a wall still strikes us as a bit over the top. Jostlegate must have reignited memories of those heady days. You should visit the old alma mater sometime soon.