On Tuesday, 26 August, the QUT Guild hosted a Special General Meeting (SGM) at Riverstage to enable students to discuss and vote on motions relating to the Guild’s position on the situation in Gaza.
Under the Guild Constitution, students have the right to trigger a Special General Meeting by petition. In this instance, the petition was initiated by the QUT Students for Palestine group and submitted to the Guild’s Student Representative Council (SRC) Secretary. The QUT Registrar confirmed that the petition met the required threshold of support (0.5% of the student population).
Motions discussed
Two motions were presented at the meeting:
- That QUT students censure the Australian Government for its complicity in the genocide in Gaza, demand an end to all weapons sales to Israel, and call for sanctions on Israel.
- That QUT students call on all Australian universities to end their partnerships with weapons companies connected to Israel.
Outcomes
A total of 257 students participated in the vote, with 252 in favour and 5 against. While most students present supported the motions, the meeting did not reach the required quorum. As a result, the motions cannot be adopted as the official position of the Guild.
The vote results have, however, been submitted to the National Union of Students (NUS) as part of a broader national student referendum on Palestine, led by the NUS and Students for Palestine Australia (SPA). This referendum forms part of wider student-led activism across the country, which included events such as the Nationwide March for Palestine (24 August).