Australian National University Student Association
Encyclopedia
ANU Students' Association (ANUSA) is the student association of the Australian National University
. Its purpose is to represent students to both the University and the Government.
. The fraud was discovered when a student sitting in a cafe saw a voter attempt to stuff a wad of ballots into the ballot box. When the Returning Officer opened the ballot box, five wads of ballots were found, all of which gave their first preference to Jenkins.
The scandal was dubbed "Wadgate" by the student newspaper Woroni
and was subsequently reported on the front page of the Canberra Times (05/02/97) and elsewhere. It was also raised at least three times in the Australian Senate
by Sen. Eric Abetz (Senate Hansard: 30/10/96, pp.4747-4750; 05/02/97, pp.125-127; and 23/06/97, pp.4929-31).
As it happens, the winning presidential candidate, Matt Tinning, from the "Counter Attack" ticket, secured enough votes that he would have won even if the fraudulent votes had not been excluded.
Australian National University
The Australian National University is a teaching and research university located in the Australian capital, Canberra.As of 2009, the ANU employs 3,945 administrative staff who teach approximately 10,000 undergraduates, and 7,500 postgraduate students...
. Its purpose is to represent students to both the University and the Government.
List of presidents of the Association
- 1992: Amanda Chadwick
- 1993: Kath Cummins
- 1994: Caitlin Wyndham
- 1995: Hamish McPherson (removed by ANU Council because he ceased to be a student of the ANU. He was replaced by Craig Cork and later Pip Bolding)
- 1996: William Mackerras
- 1997: Matt Tinning
- 1998: Harry Greenwell
- 1999: Helen Stitt
- 2000: Russell Egan
- 2001: Maciej Wasilewicz
- 2002: Joanne Yin
- 2003: Steve Michelson
- 2004: Max Jeganathan
- 2005: Aparna Rao
- 2006: Laura Crespo
- 2007: Claudia Newman-Martin
- 2008: Jamila Rizvi
- 2009: Sham Sara
- 2010: Tully Fletcher
- 2011: Leah Ginnivan
- 2012: Fleur Hawes (Elect)
1996 ANU Students' Association elections - the "Wadgate scandal"
The 1996 ANU Students' Association elections saw the losing Labor right "Rage" ticket embroiled in scandal. 146 votes for the "Rage" presidential candidate Daniel Jenkins were excluded by the Returning Officer after allegations of ballot stuffingBallot stuffing
Ballot stuffing is the illegal act of one person submitting multiple ballots during a vote in which only one ballot per person is permitted. The name originates from the earliest days of this practice in which people literally did stuff more than one ballot in a ballot box at the same time...
. The fraud was discovered when a student sitting in a cafe saw a voter attempt to stuff a wad of ballots into the ballot box. When the Returning Officer opened the ballot box, five wads of ballots were found, all of which gave their first preference to Jenkins.
The scandal was dubbed "Wadgate" by the student newspaper Woroni
Woroni
Woroni is the student newspaper of the Australian National University, based in Canberra, ACT, Australia. The name ‘Woroni’ derives from an Indigenous Australian word meaning ‘mouthpiece’...
and was subsequently reported on the front page of the Canberra Times (05/02/97) and elsewhere. It was also raised at least three times in the Australian Senate
Australian Senate
The Senate is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives. Senators are popularly elected under a system of proportional representation. Senators are elected for a term that is usually six years; after a double dissolution, however,...
by Sen. Eric Abetz (Senate Hansard: 30/10/96, pp.4747-4750; 05/02/97, pp.125-127; and 23/06/97, pp.4929-31).
As it happens, the winning presidential candidate, Matt Tinning, from the "Counter Attack" ticket, secured enough votes that he would have won even if the fraudulent votes had not been excluded.