Suki Waddel

Running for: General Representative

My name is Suki and I’m running for ANUSA General Representative in 2025. As a Gen Rep on the RAGE Ticket, I am committed to delivering the services you need, building the campus you want, and fighting for the education you deserve. I’m a first-year Law and PPE student, originally from Sydney, and I’m passionate about getting involved in student politics. I want to be part of a team that not only supports student voices and concerns, but also acts on them. If elected, I will remain committed to the policies I’ve outlined, while also being adaptable and responsive to other issues brought to me by you, the students.

  1. My first focus is tackling parking costs. University life is already expensive, and for many of us, cars are essential for getting to work, classes, appointments and home. In just one year, ANU has raised parking from $2.81 to $7.78 per day, a sudden increase of more than 200%! This is part of an ANU wide push to cut costs and increase revenue and we, the students, are the ones paying for it. These raises are unsustainable and put unnecessary pressure on students who rely on their cars every day. Action will include liaising with the parking office at ANU to discuss decreases in the cost of parking as well as actively fighting against any further price increases.I am committed to working to cut these costs and prevent further raises, while ensuring parking remains affordable and accessible for ANU students.

  2. My second focus is protecting student social life. ANU has one of the most active campus social scenes in the country, and for many of us, that was a huge part of why we chose to study here. However, there have been recent moves, such as banning free pour in all residential colleges and other recent moves that threaten student culture. While promoting safe and responsible drinking behaviour is essential, we also have the right to choose what activities we engage in, with college life and campus events being a huge part of the ANU experience. As Gen Rep, I would seek to protect ANU from any restrictions which would affect our social life as well as continuing to support and improve safe drinking initiatives.

  3. My third focus is advocating for affordable access to digital textbooks. Our degrees are expensive, and the cost of textbooks, particularly for textbook heavy courses such as Law, English and STEM, can see students spending $100’s of dollars in a single semester! We deserve to have access to these resources without such large personal expense. For example, in my Contracts course, there are only three free online textbooks for a cohort of over 400! In my role, I would seek to establish a fund that would provide enough digital textbooks to cover 25% of the cohort size, ensuring the increased availability of affordable online resources.