A student leader involved in the protest against higher education cuts that targeted Julie Bishop has been told he’s banned from University grounds.
In the May 16 protest Ms Bishop was surrounded by a group of chanting protesters as she tried to enter a hall on the Sydney University campus. Liberal frontbencher Christopher Pyne described the incident as an “assault”, despite neither Ms Bishop nor her security team being hurt in the incident.
Tom Raue is the vice-president of the student board and says this week he received a letter from the head of campus security telling him he was banned from the university for a month as a result of the protest. It also alleged he was captured on video forcing his way through security and police officers.
The letter, from campus security manager Morgan Andrews, continued: “We are also aware that you allegedly punched a campus security officer in the face and that this is being investigated by NSW police.”
But a police spokeswoman told Fairfax she wasn’t aware of any investigation.
Mr Raue said that apart from affecting his work as a leader of the student board, it was a discouraging sign for other student protesters: “I haven’t been convicted of anything… I think it’s a bad sign for activism in general.”
Disappointingly, Sydney Uni security is yet to ban Liberal politicians from the campus, despite their apparent lack of both the foresight to just avoid the place for a little while AND a skin thick enough to take a little bit of yelling from people who aren’t happy with them.
