The 2026 UMSU elections have descended into chaos following a first ruling by the Returning Officer against the incumbent political ticket, Community for UMSU and its presidential candidate Daniel Motika, who is the current General Secretary of UMSU.

On 31 August, Returning Officer Stephen Luntz delivered a shock ruling against Community over “baseless” accusations against the Clubs and Societies Department, held by progressive ticket Activate.

Members of Activate have combined with last year’s Growth ticket to form Together for UMSU, which is hoping to oust Community in the UMSU elections, to be held between 7 and 11 September.

According to the ruling, Community was in violation of the UMSU electoral regulations, including sections 44.1 and 44.5(c), which prohibit dishonest conduct and the distribution or making of misleading, false or defamatory statements, respectively.

The false allegations, circulated by multiple people, were not published by the Returning Officer, with Luntz stressing their “harmful”, “baseless” and severe nature.

Incumbent People of Colour Office Bearer, Eason Gu, was the only individual identified by the Returning Officer as having circulated the rumours and was subsequently banned from all participation in the election other than voting. Gu is not running as a candidate in this election.

In an email sent by Motika, who is also the Registering Officer of Community, he denied Community’s involvement in spreading the rumours, claiming that the suggestion was “false and defamatory” and that there was no evidence for the claim.

Motika was asked by Luntz to resign as the Registering Officer of the ticket, and subsequently complied with the request. Motika will remain on the ballot at the upcoming election and will remain in office as the General Secretary.

Controversies

This ruling adds to a growing list of controversies which have plagued Community over the course of the past two terms, including April’s “trans erasure” scandal, popularly dubbed “BBQgate” and last year’s Community split, which resulted in the formation of Growth.

A further exodus of the ticket’s politically independent members has also debilitated Community in recent months, with the high-profile defection of President Lushy Chinganya to Together sending shockwaves through UMSU.

However, General Secretary Daniel Motika has also been personally implicated in his own set of controversies and scandals which have haunted his bid for the presidency.

UMSU General Secretary Daniel Motika is Community’s presidential candidate.

In May, a special meeting of the Students’ Council was convened to discuss Motika’s alleged breaches of the Council Charter, including general principles and the general governance duties of Council members. 

The motion to convene the Council Tribunal ultimately failed, but as most of the meeting was held behind closed doors (in camera), the details of it are not currently known.

During a June session of Council, the UniMelb branch of the Chinese Students and Scholars Association (CSSA) appealed its second disaffiliation, caused by alleged regulatory breaches. 

President Lushy Chinganya raised concerns to the Council over Motika’s personal association with the UniMelb CSSA and a potential conflict of interest, as it had personally endorsed him in the May University Council elections.

According to the ABC, the CSSA—which the UniMelb branch is an affiliate of, reports to and is directly funded by the Chinese embassy—providing Beijing with influence within Australian universities. Woroni has also reported on its role in intimidating dissidents and critics of the Chinese government at the Australian National University.

On 27 June Together for UMSU also posted a shock one-and-a-half-minute video on Instagram where Chinganya described her defection from Community to Together.

“As UMSU president this year, I was unable to work with the General Secretary, Daniel Motika, due to concerns I had about good governance, transparency and a healthy workplace,” Chinganya said.

“One of the things that troubled me the most was the handling of Council minutes (institutional records) […] I raised these concerns because the organisation deserves to have accurate, transparent and properly authorised records. I believe there were questions about conflicts of interest, about compliance with regulations and even financial risk for the organisation.”

“When I raised this, I felt shut down, dismissed, and completely undermined in my role as president. My decision to leave was based on an accumulation of these experiences. I felt tokenised and I felt pressured to make decisions that I didn’t agree with out of fear of losing support.”

Community Defiant

Despite these challenges though, Community remains in a strong position ahead of the 2026 elections and could be poised to win an upset victory, as it has in previous election years.

Community holds structural advantages within UMSU politics, with four consecutive years of total control over the executive, six consecutive election wins in Council, and influence over some of UMSU’s largest clubs and societies.

Moreover, the exodus of independents from Community has further empowered its leadership, who are affiliated with the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association (SDA).

A sub-faction of Labor Right, the SDA has traditionally been known for its conservative social positions, but nonetheless has remained highly influential in UMSU student politics.

An anti-Community poster outside Student Pavillion in August.

In spite of Community’s recent controversies, in May’s University Council election, Motika won the position of undergraduate representative on University Council, in an emphatic endorsement by undergraduate voters, and a promotion for the General Secretary.

While the election was largely considered to be a close contest, due to the high volume of online content and social media advertisements by both tickets, Motika handily defeated Activate in a decisive showing.

Thus for Community, such a recent result is emblematic of the political power it continues to wield, even despite its myriad of problems, and could still defy the odds to secure a historic fifth term in power.

Motika and Community were contacted for comment, but did not respond.