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Suspend Menzies Lawn and ‘Campus South Walk’ Works

University Administration has allocated around two million dollars to be spent on the creation of the ‘Campus Walk South’. The project seeks to create “high quality” spaces next to the Faculty of Medicine.
The project seems to be driven by a desire to make the Faculty of Medicine appear more prestigious, with an uncanny resemblance to the million dollar ‘boob job’ done on Law Building. Both projects are a by-product of Monash’s recent obsession with the outward and the superficial.

Similarly $20 million dollars has been set aside to relandscape the Menzies lawn, even though the lawns are perfectly functional and pleasant as they currently are.

Let’s come together and let the University Administration know that providing good working conditions and fair wages for staff, decreasing class sizes and offering a breadth of units and courses is what is critical to retaining and growing Monash’s reputation as a quality educator, not unnecessary building renovations and million dollar lawns.

I am not suggesting that we should halt carrying out capital works altogether, rather that non-essential capital works should be delayed or cancelled given the difficult financial circumstances that Monash University is currently experiencing. The Vice Chancellor has indicated that he cannot rule out job cuts in response to the Federal funding cuts to the university sector. With increasing student numbers and increasing class sizes, the University needs to be hiring, not cutting staff. The Vice Chancellor should prioritise the retention and hiring staff over the relandscaping of the Menzies Lawn or the construction of the ‘Campus Walk South’.

It is predominantly student fees that are being used to fund these capital works and as students constitute the majority of the University population, we will be most greatly affected by the works, in this sense, student approval ought to be sought before any further money is spent or work undertaken on either of these projects.

In the scenario that student wishes are not respected and work on the projects permitted to continue, we should assert our right to not have our money wasted and to be able to enjoy a quality education. In this manner, I propose students taking non-violent direct action, if necessary, to prevent the works from going ahead without approval being given through a referendum.

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