Salient. Victoria University Student Newspaper. Volume 38, Number 26. 1975

....Result Unexpected...

....Result Unexpected....

File:	947/82/-
Memo:	to the Director, Washington DC
From:	0032, Wellington, Australia
Subject:	student election

1.	Further to my circular memorandum (No 129, file 947/82/-) I have to advise that certain trends apparent at that time do not "appear to have been forthcoming.
2.	It will be recalled that I projected the steady decline of the liberal/left alliance at Victoria University, the well known "red" base among students Down Under, in that memorandum.
3.	Events since that time have revealed that the incumbent group in control of the students' association here has a greater hold on student activities than we had previously suspected. A brief chronology of recent events is as follows:
4.	After being defeated by less than 30 votes by the incumbent candidate Beckford, Stephen Hay successfully appealed the election to a committee which successfully used the association constitution to potentially upset Beckford's prospects.
5.	The re-election for president was held here on 02 October. Regrettably our campus contacts failed to publish a second issue of 'Sullient', a device used by us in the first contest to goad Hay into challenging the result. The leftist campus editor, Robinson, was restrained from outright attacks on Hay, and our contacts inform us that the majority of student opinion considered Hay a "bad loser" and moved decisively towards Beckford.
6.	The results were as follows: Hay 722 votes, Beckford 952 votes, Westbrooke 68 votes, informal votes 46, invalid votes 9, total votes 1797. Beckford thus benefited almost totally from the increased poll and increased his majority by more than sevenfold.
7.	I regret to advise you that our strategy of discouraging students from voting, publishing the 'Sullient' as an apparent device of the radical Left etc. has failed to deliver the desired results. We are firmly of the conclusion that the "Young Socialists" have proved a dead loss in this strategy and recommend that their services be discarded.
8.	A further, detailed report will be forwarded from this office as soon as possible.