02/06/2026
A huge number of UWU members voted in this election, with a national estimate of 31% of members voting and in some electorates over 40%. Counting is ongoing for the final electorates in Queensland, and while we only have provisional numbers based on what our scrutineers know, we want to share these now as there are already media reports being filed claiming the outcome.
First, a massive shout out to every member, delegate, candidate and volunteer that helped to build Members First.
From what we know, Members First has won all electorates in New South Wales, excluding the Canberra region. Additionally, Members First has won all electorates in Victoria and Tasmania. United for You has won the electorates in South Australia, Western Australia and Queensland. The Northern Territory was an uncontested electorate and has already had 11 delegates from neither team elected to convention. Based on this, there will not be a clear majority of Members First candidates elected to convention.
What does that mean in terms of numbers? New South Wales and Victoria are two of the biggest states in the union. With a majority of members in Tasmania and some very tightly contested electorates elsewhere, it means nationally almost half of those that voted in this election, voted for Members First. In some electorates across the country up to 90% of those who voted, voted for Members First.
This tells us that UWU members want a strong industrial union and are committed to the platform that Members First put forward. Members First isn’t about individuals. It is an idea, a vision for what a union can be. It doesn’t end with the vote, or the Convention. Members First can continue to build inside the union and on the member council, because a union cannot ignore half of its membership if it wants to succeed.
Our platform was built by members across the country and has not changed since it was launched in January this year. As a result, our opponents copied and mimicked many Members First policies, including; more organisers, lower fees and delegate conventions. If both teams ran on these policies, members should expect to see these implemented after the Union’s Quadrennial Convention in July.
There were some big differences too, United for You did not commit to releasing and publishing minutes from Executive meetings, nor a Strike Fund to support industrial action. There were no policies from United for You that would lead to greater transparency and democracy in the union, including for political donations to the Labor Party. But these ideas are supported by close to 50% of those that voted and potentially many more members around Australia. Members – including those elected into leadership positions at Convention – will continue to advocate and organise for Members First.
Members First has been clear with members from the outset about who would be put forward to lead the union if we won a majority of delegates to the Convention. We still do not know who United for You will be putting forward to lead the union, but they will have to advise who their leadership team will be in coming weeks. Only those that have been elected to Convention can be elected to the next National Executive and Member Council, which means that the current serving National President that ran with United for You and the current serving New South Wales Secretary will not form part of the next leadership team of the Union as they were not supported and elected to convention.
There have been a lot of political attacks thrown by our opponents. These attacks and lies were directed at both Members First national leadership candidates, and unfortunately also at rank-and-file members that stood up for Members First. Members First withstood these attacks and doubled down on our commitment to run a clean campaign, with no political attacks, no lies, no smear tactics. We have a vision for the union that was widely supported, including in electorates that were narrowly lost. In Central Adelaide and Southern NSW/Canberra approximately only 50 votes was the difference between Members First winning those electorates.
Members First congratulates the 40,000+ members who voted in this election and accepts the outcome that will be confirmed by the AEC in due course. Final numbers will be published when they are formally declared by the AEC. However, it is also important to acknowledge the disenfranchisement of members who did not receive ballots. Many members have reported never receiving a ballot even after confirming their address was correct with the AEC, and many others that requested replacement ballots received them too late to be able to return them. This should be investigated further out of respect for those members who were not able to participate.
This is not the end of something for those that have stood up and built the vision for Members First, it’s the beginning of something. It is a conversation for this generation of current and future union members about what a union is. What a union should fight for, and how it should fight. Members First is a plan to rebuild an open, inclusive, transparent union movement that believes in the collective power of workers showing solidarity in the face of inequality and attacks on the working class.
Members First has a big mandate in the United Workers Union. This needs to be recognised. Members First candidates, including the hundreds that have been elected, will now plan towards the Convention at the end of July. The leadership that emerges will need to demonstrate how they are going to lead for the entire union and the needs of all members.
