Griffith University Master of Arts student Elissa Jenkins, who received a Griffith Award for Academic Excellence in 2009, is running as the Greens candidate for Moreton.

According to Ms Jenkins, her fellow, hard-working students needed more of a voice, more money and a better social life.

“University students – even those who feel happy, financially secure and supported – should take time to check out the educational policies of the major parties and step into the shoes of other students on campus.

“The Greens want to repeal Voluntary Student Unionism to ensure that student services and independent representation are provided on all university campuses.

“The Government’s failure to repeal the Howard Government’s draconian VSU legislation has continued to have a devastating effect on campus culture.

“In the 1990s, when I was an undergraduate student at UQ and QUT, my parents happily paid compulsory student union fees on my behalf because we both knew that it meant there was representative voice for students on campus.

“Even though I wasn’t active in student politics, I knew that paying these compulsory fees meant that students – regardless of their socio-economic background – would have access to free or affordable student services at their disposal including welfare services such as counselling.

“I knew that all of us would also have the opportunity to join social clubs and be part of affordable sporting activities. It was a socially inclusive policy.

“There were also student groups that performed a number of advocacy functions – women’s rights, queer rights, refugee rights.

“Without them on campus doing their thing, I reckon my head would probably have remained under the sand when it came to fully understanding those issues,” she said.

Ms Jenkins said The Greens believed that education should be affordable and accessible.

“That is why we are taking a stance in Moreton to abolish university fees and forgive HECS-HELP debts.

“Personally I think students, after they graduate, should be financially empowered to choose to save for a deposit on a home rather than being forced to pay off large HEC-HELP debts,” she said.