Growing Strong
DOM PERROTTET
by Roisin Murphy At some point in the next three years, you will meet a dickhead college boy, probably an engineer - definitely a Young Liberal - who will mansplain his way through conversations and leave you entirely unimpressed. 20 years ago, that dickhead was Dom Perrottet. And now he’s the New South Wales Premier. In the post-apocalyptic scenario where the aforementioned man garners political success, things get pretty bad. In the abstract, it might seem like this wouldn’t impact students in a significant way – it’s not state governments that fund universities, and it’s not state governments that fund Centrelink. However, the overwhelming majority of new COVID cases in NSW are among people aged 20-29. This is, at large, a result of our Premier’s strategy of letting the virus rip. It is of course true that this strategy is having its most devastating impact on at-risk communities, such as older people, people with disabilities and First Nations people. However, there is also a significant impact on students and young people that shouldn’t be overlooked. To state the obvious, online learning is abysmal. While it does open doors for many people who are disabled, immuno-compromised or living overseas, it is not delivered in a holistic way, with recycled lecture recordings and minimal student support producing a substandard education. Simultaneously, online learning closes many doors for students who are unable to learn in such a setting, including those with learning difficulties who need in-person support and those in unsafe home environments. For as long as the Premier provides 15
