AUSA Election Candidate Interviews: Finance and Operations VP

Craccum interviews Moksh Manglani and Kalana Piramanage on their campaigns for Finance and Operations Vice-President.

Question 1. How would you describe yourself in 5 words?

Moksh: Goofy, analytical, intelligent, kind and approachable

Kalana: Creative, Innovative, Committed, Energetic, Community-minded

Question 2. Which of your policies/visions are you most excited to implement next year? 

Moksh: Diversifying funding sources- at the moment AUSA gets all their funding from UoA. I want to create external sources of revenue and funding which will get us more money to make student life easier by offering more scholarships, free food, organising bigger and better events, subsidising more resources for students and much more!

I’m also very keen on implementing systems- In my experience Uoa is very decentralised, I studies in an Ivy League uni in USA and they had a lot of good systems set up for students. For UoA we have a calendar app on a website, which is seperate from your campus maps website etc. I want to unify that, make an app for everything Uoa, all at one single place. I have built systems for businesses and charities before, I am not planning on asking uni to build an app and keep waiting for them to find the time… I will build it myself alongside students and get uni to review and implement! 

Kalana: The one I'm most excited about is making AUSA's budget fully transparent and public and easy for every student to actually read (as it is fully confidential this year and previous years), not buried in a report nobody opens. Alongside that, I want to see real investment in student media, student services, and club programmes, since those are what actually make campus life feel alive. I also want to start on a long-term project which is an AUSA x UoA app which will have event calendar, campus maps, Craccum magazine, easy access to UoA and AUSA services for students.

How to pay for the policies mentioned above: By diversifying AUSA's income streams so we're not fully reliant on University funding, and by building a stronger working relationship with the University to negotiate partial funding for specific initiatives where it makes sense.

Question 3. In the official description of the role on the AUSA website, it says that AUSA entities like UBIQ and 95bFM are overseen by the Finance and Operations VP. UBIQ was liquidated, and 95bFM had to move off campus, with no details given by AUSA or the University. How would you oversee AUSA entities differently, and is transparency with students important to you?

Moksh: Transparency with students is extremely important to me, Students should know and be very aware of what things are happening around the campus and the reason behind the decisions we make. entities like UBIQ and 95bFM are indeed managed by AUSA Finance and Operations VP. I plan on making sure that the students are completely kept up to date with what entities are under AUSA and any relevant and Important information about those entities. This will make students aware of what the current status is and if we were to ever make any big decisions in future, students will know why we made the decisions And also what led to the specific decision is being made.

Kalana: Yes, transparency is non-negotiable for me. UBIQ and 95bFM are proof of what happens without it: both are now gone from AUSA, and students still don't have a clear account of why. Going forward, I'd keep much closer, ongoing oversight of AUSA's entities, with regular check-ins rather than waiting until something's already a done deal. If a major decision like a closure or restructure ever comes up again, students should hear about it directly from us, not after the fact.

Question 4. Are there any categories/aspects of student life that you believe need more funding at the university?

Moksh: I believe there are a lot of areas that require more funding from the university specially when it comes to giving financial support to students going through hardships and also subsidising resources and providing free food.

I want to set up a food bank for students. AESA has already done it and it worked great. I want to get to know how it worked so well, collaborate with them and implement that for all students on a very large scale. A lot of sudents take exams on an empty stomach, I want to change that. Students should only need to worry about the exam, Not what they’re gonna have for dinner and their lunch the same day.

Kalana: Yes. There are around 300 clubs at UoA, all pulling from the same limited pool of funding, which means a lot of them end up under-resourced and struggling to run the events or programmes they actually want to. That needs to change. Student media, especially Craccum, also plays a huge role in holding AUSA and the University accountable and keeping students informed, so it should be properly resourced rather than treated as an afterthought. I'd also like to see more support for postgrad and international students, who often get overlooked in student politics despite facing real challenges around cost of living, visas, and feeling connected to campus life.

Question 5. Why should students care about AUSA elections?

Moksh: I believe it is extremely important for students to care about the AUSA elections. AUSA acts as the Student voice, it makes sure that all the important concerns and problems are raised with the university and something is done about them. Getting people who actually care about Student life is something that everybody should care about so that all of the problems that they have can be brought to attention and looked into.

Kalana: Student elections matter because the people you elect become your voice to the University and on the committees that actually shape your experience here. Student voice has real power to change things, and I've seen that firsthand. As Engagement Vice President of AUSA in 2025, I worked with the UGEVP and President to secure 40% off public transport for all tertiary students, helped write the student manifesto on key student issues, and made sure campus life had big, fun events that students actually wanted to show up to. That's the kind of difference student representatives can make, and it's why every student should get out and vote.

Question 6. If you win this election, you will be a part of the team that decides Craccum’s budget for next year. Would you increase Craccum’s funding in 2027 to at least $120k? (Yes/No). If you were in the executive this year, why was the budget decreased to the lowest it’s ever been in recent years?

Moksh: If I am elected as the finance and operations VP at AUSA I would do my best to allocate a budget to Craccum that would allow it to function properly. I am not sure if the budget of $120,000 is justified because I have never been a part of AUSA.  But I do believe that Craccum plays are huge role in Student life so I would like to talk to all the Craccum members to find out what the best budget would be for them and how they would like to allocate it.

Kalana: Yes, 100% (and more). Craccum is a huge part of this University's history and is genuinely the student voice, holding both AUSA and UoA accountable. Keeping the print issue alive matters too. Almost no one reads online only student magazines. Craccum's print pickup rate is over 90% per issue, which shows students actually want and use it in that format.

It's honestly crazy that Craccum's funding has been cut by around $30k in just two years. This year, I worked to make sure Craccum has full control of its full allocated budget, rather than AUSA controlling nearly all of it, so Craccum now manages the entire amount itself. Let's all sign the Craccum Petition! :)

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