from The Spark November 2007
Workers Party member Joel Cosgrove has been elected president of the Victoria University of Wellington Students’ Association (VUWSA) for 2008. Joel will be the second Workers Party member in this role, Nick Kelly being the first in 2006.
Joel received 980 votes, just shy of 1000 – the highest vote count a VUWSA president has received in about a decade. He defeated incumbent Labour Party VUWSA president Geoff Hayward and Act Party candidate Lucas Schroeter.
This is the first time that a Workers Party member has beaten Labour and Act in a straight head-to-head contest. At the end of 2006 Nick was defeated by Victoria University Labour Club president Geoff Hayward, who also had the backing of National and Act supporters (see February 2007 Spark article “Workers Party working within student associations: how to be a communist president”).
Joel ran on a solid campaign platform including progressive demands such as free internet and printing for students. When asked about his WP membership, Joel’s reply was that he was “Marxist and proud”.
In 2007 as vice-president he and WP supporter Heleyni Pratley organised the Box City protest at Vic, which put forward demands for both students and workers regarding the high cost of living, and demanded universal student allowances as well as higher wages for workers.
In 2008, Joel hopes to build on the work of previous Workers Party members who have been involved with VUWSA. When it was announced that Joel had won, his victory speech was one profound word: “Socialism!”
