THENTEUSTRIKES!
UTAS and the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) have been negotiating a new enterprise bargaining agreement for more than six months
UTAS offered staff a salary increase of 3% per year over three years, plus a one-off payment of $1000. It’s a proposal the NTEU says falls short of rising living costs The NTEU says staff at UTAS are the lowest paid in Australia out of 37 institutions The University, meanwhile, says its 3% offer is appropriate given global volatility and inflation A rather interesting interpretation of a shared sacrifice, where academic staff seem to be doing a lot of the sharing here at UTAS, if you ask me.
As a result, the NTEU called for two strikes that lasted for 2 hours in Hobart (May 5) and Launeston (May 6) during class time
Here’s what the NTEU, UTAS, and TUSA had to say about last week’s strikes:
National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU)
“The enterprise bargaining agreement that’s currently on the table is arguably the most important that’s ever been negotiated for UTAS staff We’re seeing single academics responsible for what’s equivalent to an entire faculty, a burn out epidemic, and now the University wants to give the green light to both academic and professional staff competing with AI while refusing to provide a pay rise that keeps up with inflation
We’re more than six months into bargaining and while industrial action isn’t the road we wanted to go down, it’s the path we must take to secure better conditions for staff and students. Our 2-hour work stoppages have seen hundreds of NTEU members, students, and local residents come together in support of a safer UTAS that remains for public good We know that industrial action impacts teaching We are fighting for improved learning conditions and the NTEU deeply values solidarity from UTAS students during industrial action ”
Dr Paige Kelly, Vice President for Professional Staff and Dr Ruth Barton, Tas Division Secretary of the NTEU
UTAS
The University has put forward a salary offer of 3 per cent per year over three years, with a one-off cost-of-living payment of $1000 for staff earning less than $150,000 a year
This is an offer that strikes the balance between supporting staff with an appropriate pay rise in our Tasmanian context, noting recent public sector agreements, while ensuring we have the financial sustainability to protect jobs
There has been a lot of good progress made in bargaining to date We were clear that we were working on a better offer given recent global volatility and inflation, so it is disappointing that the NTEU leadership have made the decision to call strikes, especially for times when students are in class
We respect and support the right of union members to take authorised industrial action, and we will work hard to try and minimise any impact on students and their studies
Kristen Derbyshire, UTAS Chief People Office
TUSA State Council
The TUSA state council supports the right of all UTAS staff to fight for better working conditions and we stand in solidarity with them as they do so Better staff conditions directly lead to better learning conditions, and we stand in support of better working and learning conditions for all. We urge the University to listen to staff and student voices, and to ensure better working and learning conditions for all
Jack Oates Pryor, TUSA President Statement taken from Instagram
Today’s fun fact: NTEU staff said UTAS is the lowest-paid university in Australia out of 37 institutions
Today’s second fun fact: Despite this, Vice- Chancellor, Professor Rufus Black, earns upwards of $1 1 million a year
�� Phil Bohle
RE:[WHATISLIBERALISM: HOUSING]UMACTUALLY…NO!
RestinaNininahazwe
In our last edition, we published Jason Dale’s (Secretary of the UTAS Liberal Club ) article titled “What is liberalism:Housing”where he gave his opinion on housing in Australia Now, it isn’t common to get entire written article responses back to opinion pieces, but this time we did! Now that, ladies, gentlemen, and other gentlepersons, is what Togatus is all about. Here’s what Restina had to say:
I would just like to preface this article by acknowledging that Dale and I seem to have a fundamentally different understanding of housing and its importance to society and the individual Dale sees housing as an industry, whereas I perceive it to be a right A right included in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) at Article 11 The Australian Government has accepted its international obligations under the ICESCR and relies on those obligations to underpin housing policy. But, the Australian Government has not enabled Australians to claim their right to housing under domestic law When you commodify a right like housing, you leave the people who rely on it susceptible to exploitation This idea of Tasmania, let alone Australia, simply not having enough houses, is very widely argued upon by economists and there are honestly many different opinions on this Regardless, it’s been acknowledged that Australia has a real land banking problem. Land banking is when investors buy land or property and leave it vacant instead of renting it out, in hopes that they will be able to sell it for a high profit In 2025, it was found that there were over 200 empty public housing properties, and at the time, these houses had been vacant for an average of 262 days
In 2022, the Tenants Union of Tasmania wrote to the government asking them to reconsider their opposition to an empty homes tax after it was found that 2,000 homes across Tasmania had just been left vacant (563 of them located in Hobart, Glenorchy and Launceston) Imagine trying to explain this to one of the 5,000 plus people on the public housing waitlist, and the countless others who can’t enter the private rental market no matter how much they want to
I’m not of the idea that everyone should be renting or that everyone should be owning; our society shouldn’t be functioning within the extremes That being said, this balance of landlords and renters can only be found when the real problem is addressed.This housing crisis is but a symptom of the broader issue that is the ever growing wage gap and economic imbalance in Australian society You can’t cure an illness by only treating its symptoms
House prices and the value of land increasing over time is not abnormal; the problem is that house prices and wages are not increasing at the same rate Dale’s article makes mention of former PM Robert Menzies
and how, “under his tenure, Australia had the highest rate of home ownership ever”. Whilst this statement is correct, it also fails to address a key piece of information: context More specifically, the economic context At the time of Menzies’ tenure, in the 50s and 60s, Australia had a thriving middle class and a more even wealth distribution Currently, Australia has a dying middle class and an ever-increasing polarisation of wealth distribution It’s like comparing apples and oranges Yes, Menzies’ strategy worked for Australia in his time, but it’s not his time anymore Geographically, socially, politically, and economically Australia has changed We cannot keep trying to solve a new problem with old solutions.
Dale mentions housing demand, but he doesn’t really explain it well The demand for housing is inelastic This means that no matter how expensive housing gets, people will always need the same amount This is a concept you learn in first year economics (shoutout BEA111) Rent caps won’t suddenly turn landlords away from the idea of renting.Yeah, housing may not become the most lucrative market, but it is a steady one that will provide consistent earnings over its period of investment
Albeit, to agree with Dale, rent caps are not the solution Economic reform is. But that can take a long time to happen, so until then, the very real problem of homelessness and housing insecurity needs to be supplemented And I have to say, of everything wrong with Dale’s article, the most absurd part was the blatant disregard for victims of housing insecurity It spends more time making excuses for landlords and justifying the government’s inadequate action with the same two arguments than it does actually offering solutions or alternatives for the people who are currently struggling with homelessness So I would like to present you with some:
1. Email, call or visit your local MPs and demand that they pay attention: they work for us, so their work should represent our concerns.
2 Housing Connect through Homes Tasmania: they offer short-term housing assistance and can direct you to organisations like Anglicare, Catholiccare, etc that can help with long-term support.
3 Skip the shops and check out your local foodbank: the TUSA food hub:Tues andThurs on Sandy Bay Campus, Wed in Hobart City, Tues on Cradle Coast campus, Wed & Thus on Inveresk Campus andWed in Rozelle.
Please spread the word about these resources and utilise them; it helps these organisations advocate for themselves when requesting more funding or when faced with budget cuts And remember: you don’t need to be homeless (or on the brink of it) to seek support
INCASEYOUMISSEDIT
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CarolineWells will become the 30 Governor ofTasmania th CarolineWells graduated from UTAS as a registered nurse and later held senior leader positions, including as the director of nursing, and is currently the chairperson of the Royal Flying Doctor Service, director and deputy chair of Southern Cross Care Tasmania and a member of the Premier’s Health andWellbeing Advisory Council She will replace Her Excellency the Honourable Barbara Baker on the 17 of June th
$150 million‘Chocolate experience’ proposal approved by Glenorchy council
The proposal includes a chocolate lab, chocolate lounge, emporium and tasting opportunities and would be built at the Cadbury factory site in Claremont
“UGH,IHATETHEM.THEY'RE
SOFAKE!”
You’ve heard it said before, possibly many times But what exactly does it mean to be fake?
Suppose it means to be insincere, superficial and inauthentic, for the sake of appreciation from the masses
One might picture this:the saggy jeans, the old t-shirt, the tote bag, vinyl collection, shaggy haircut paired with a nonchalant attitude and a friend group of exactly the same person times about four or five, all huddled together at their favourite niche, family-owned coffee shop They have no clear personality, no solid opinions and they seem to fade into the crowd of first or second year university students travelling in between lectures Do they actually enjoy the styles that they claim so boldly? Or do they prefer being observed engaging in such?
You go to class, you see these people group together like curdling milk People seem to talk as if trying to prove something to one another They talk about relationships, sex, money, and their recurring trips to South Asia.They talk so much, but what exactly are they trying to say?
I find myself surrounded by these people in regular abundance It seems university is one of the hotspots for young people who try so hard to be perceived as different they end up becoming different in the
the exact same way.
I am guilty of becoming this person from time to time – at the end of each day, when I lay in my bed and I review my performance of the day Was my outfit equal parts cool and low-effort? Did my input in conversations average a net positive contribution to the overall vibes? Did I balance out my normal, serious side with a little quirk so people are comfortable conversing with me and find me generally enjoyable to be around? It’s exhausting! I feel like I’m playing a character in a play, trying so hard to fit myself into an archetype
But why am I like this? Why do myself and others feel the need to crush the entire human experience into a digestible package to be consumed by others? Perhaps it’s driven by the innate human urge to be accepted by a group, and to feel loved and appreciated
In Radiohead’s Fake Plastic Trees, Thom Yorke (the main composer of the song) sings about how the world is full of artificiality The woman in the song is watering a fake plant, with a plastic watering can Everything is fake, the Earth is fake Putting effort into something that is fake and won’t grow is pointless, right? Much like how putting effort into an artificial personality, artificial relationships and artificial performances are not worth it in the long term It ‘wears her out’ in the end Thom Yorke ends the song with the lyrics “And if I could be who you wanted / All the time”, acknowledging one’s desire to be loved, a desire so strong that creating a fake persona might be seen as worth it if it leads to intimacy.
But the intimacy isn’t real, no matter how appealing it may look from the outside
On a larger scale, social media has some part to blame for young people's urge to perform and conform Internet aesthetics are visual styles, subcultures and groups of trends that people online filter themselves through to appeal to a desired audience There are thousands of aesthetics and sub-aesthetics categorised using hashtags and trends.
Even instagram ‘photo dumps’, which have become increasingly popular over the years, are a key part of a person's performance and help to create the character they play Even seemingly candid photos are so obviously carefully chosen and put together to support the overall ‘aesthetic’ of the post, and subsequently the entire profile. I am a hypocrite though, because I too love a cute photo dump from time to time
How could an individual, like myself, try less to be individual?
I actually have no idea.I do think I will try to do things because
they feel good and make others feel good, NOT because I think it looks good
It is also important to not only stop judging one’s self so harshly, but also to try to stop judging others.Maybe just observe for once. To end this rant, I encourage you to do one thing for yourself today that you usually wouldn’t do Talk to someone with different interests than you Practice a hobby that you don’t tell anyone about
To fight modern insincerity, I’m going to choose to be proud to be a bit weird, offputting, not really able to be categorised.
So I can free myself from “my fake plastic love”
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through a security checkpoint in the hotel lobby just outside the venue and opened fire
US President Donald Trump, First Lady Melania, Vice President J D Vance and several officials were evacuated swiftly by security teams Fortunately, no one in the venue was harmed although a member of the security team was hit on his tactical vest The Metropolitan Police Department confirmed that said member was rushed to the hospital but is stable
The gunman, one ColeThomas Allen from California, was intercepted by law enforcement and sent to a hospital for an evaluation Police also found the 31-year old to be in possession of a shotgun, a handgun and multiple knives At the time of writing (6/5/2026), the BBC has reported that the suspect was handed three charges by a federal court in Washington, including attempting to assassinate the President Officials state that more charges are likely
Continue reading on our website!
Lots of love from the 2026 Togatus Editorial Team:
Ineka Leffler, Editor-in-Chief
Ella Vanderzwan, Deputy Editor-in-Chief
Amalie Cox, Creative Director
Anaya Shepherd, Digital Editor
Jasmine Jones, Content & Copy Editor
Erin Coull, Content & Copy Editor
Email (and to submit articles): togatusmagazine@gmailcom
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