University of Wollongong Liberal Club

While the University of Wollongong Liberal Club has operated since 1996, our Club saw a generational change in the year 2000. Gareth Ward, a first year Commerce/Law student was elected President. In his commencement report he said:

"I feel our organisation needs to change our focus from one of attacking university culture to becoming an integral part of it. While I will always support voluntary student unionism, this is not to say that we should not run for campus office and influence change throughout the university community'.

"We should not expect people to jour our club simply because we are liberals. We should give people a reason to join and to stay members. We need to offer the opportunity to advice skills and networks and generally provide members with a liberal experience."

In order to set an example, our youngest President was then elected to the University of Wollongong SRC and has served four consecutive years in office. Gareth Ward was elected in a by-election to the Student Council in April 2000 (his first year of study) as a relative unknown.

2002 saw University of Wollongong Liberal Club members successfully take control of the University of Wollongong SRC. This was a year that heralded outstanding improvement in SRC services and student resources such as the book bank and the introduction of 'Beer Bingo'.

Amongst other positions, our Club held the positions of Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Environment Office, and Activities Officer. Liberal Club Vice President Tim Meagher who was one of the key strategists for our election campaign said about our opposition (the left) at the time:

"Just look at them. They don't wash and they smell. If you vote for them, you also don't wash and smell. They are the great unwashed."


In 2002, Gareth Ward was our first club member ever elected a delegate to the National Union of Students. In attending the National Union of Students Conference in December 2002, Gareth was elected to the Executive of the National Union of Students and went on to become the National Liberal Convenor of NUS in 2003..

In 2002, the Liberal Club endorsed ticket of Gareth Ward and Jeff Thom stormed home in the UniCentre Board elections collectively receiving 82.5% of the primary vote which resulted in both being comfortably elected to the UniCentre Board of Management.

2002 was the first time our Club had ever contested the Presidency of the Students Association with our candidate Brendan Lyon only missing out by a handful of votes for that position. While we didn't gain the presidency, we numbered the majority on the Student Council. Brendan ran on the ticket name 'B.A.L.L.S' (Blokes Against Loopy Lefty Scum). It was certainly a popular theme around campus with a campaign T-Shirt being sold at a UOW Wine Society Auction 2 months later for $120.

In response to a question in Question Time, Minister for Industrial Relations the Hon Ben Caldwell MP (Membership Office of the UOW Liberal Club) told the Shadow Minister for Youth Affairs from the UNSW Liberal Club that:

"It's clear to Honourable Members why the Leader of the Opposition appointed you the Minister for Youth Affairs. Your Party's having so many that your lot decided to coordinate it."


In October 2002, division had plagued the Student Representative Council. While liberals numbered the majority on the Council with the support of Independents, two-thirds of Student Council resolved to remove the left-wing President from her post.

In 2003, the Liberal Club continued to dominate campus affairs with the Club winning 3 out of 5 National Union of Students delegateships. While James Hollman, Matthew Williams and Gareth Ward were elected delegates, none attended the National Conference that year in a delegate capacity with the then left wing Students Association President refusing to sign a cheque for conference costs as a result of the ballot which saw a majority of liberal students elected as delegates. This was despite a flying minute signed by a majority of members of the Students Council supporting the payment of fees after the President had refused to pay. Both the President and the Treasurer of the Students Association refused to sign the cheques despite the flying minute until after the National Union of Students Conference had concluded.

Despite the loss of these three crucial delegateships and representation for our Campus at National Conference, our very own Gareth Ward went on to lead the National Liberal Student Delegation as a member of the NUS Executive and achieve the best result that Liberal Students have ever seen at a National Union of Students Conference. ' of the seats of National Executive went to Liberal Students. Previously the best that Liberals were ever able to gain were 2 spots with preferences. Liberals also took out seats on the plum Welfare Committee (Trent Twomey ' President Cairns Young Liberals, James Cook University) and the Education Committee.

2004 was a quiet but successful year. James Hollman was elected President of the University of Wollongong Liberal Club and oversaw our organisation work to achieve another election victory in UniCentre Elections with Brad Winton (Club President 2005) elected to the Board of Directors. SRC Elections were also a great success with the Liberal endorsed ticket winning several positions on the Executive including Justine Linsley to Women's Officer ' a position never before held by a Liberal Club Member. Again the liberal endorsed ticket won 3 out of 5 National Union of Students Delegate spots. This time the Students Association paid the fees and we made the trip to Ballarat.

2005 also saw Gareth Ward become the first life member of the University of Wollongong Liberal Club.