Young ACT Makes Shaky Return to VUW Campus

Words by Ethan Manera (he/him)

CW: Sexual Harm

The youth wing of the ACT Party are reinstating their Wellington branch. They have re-appeared on Kelburn campus, attending the Clubs Expo for the first time in multiple years.

Young ACT was previously active on campus until allegations of sexual harassment and a culture of misogyny saw the youth wing embroiled in an explosive controversy, which caused many members to publicly resign in 2020. The ACT Party announced an investigation into the branch, the findings of which were never publicly released. Young ACT then vanished from social media and public view for over two years.

The youth wing’s website has been updated with new policies and a whole new executive for Young ACT, which includes five representatives from across the country, all of whom are men. 

The apparent resurgence of Young ACT has former members concerned, raising questions of whether the organisation has faced accountability and changed its ways since 2020.

In 2020, Ali Gammeter was the Vice President of Young ACT until they publicly resigned, citing numerous experiences of sexual harassment within the branch. Gammeter has concerns about the return of Young ACT at VUW, and says the organisation needs to be “transparent about how and what they have changed over the past years.”

“How will Young ACT make itself unwelcoming to the types of people who made it such a vitriolic mess back then, while simultaneously being the youth wing of a political party that does the same?” they said.

Gammeter says Young ACT and the ACT Party “actively court the alt-right” and are “home to some of the worst people”. 

Another former Young ACT member, who Salient has agreed not to name, was contacted about rejoining the new Wellington branch. They are concerned about the youth wing’s return to campus, saying they “want nothing to do with it”. The student said they “hope this time they have proper safeguards in place to prevent what happened last time happening again [...] I’m not particularly confident.”

James Sales is the new president of Young ACT’s returning Wellington branch, and the only member present at the Clubs Expo last Tuesday. 

Sales said that, for the past three years, ACT voters on campus “haven't had a voice”, and he believes it’s important for the youth wing to return so they can represent “the student body at the university that's sympathetic to ACT.”

Sales said the branch’s constitution, while still in the draft stage, will include “multiple mechanisms” to prevent a repeat of what happened in 2020.

“When there are allegations laid, one very important thing is to hear both sides of the story, and that's what our constitution allows.”

When asked how the youth wing has faced accountability or changed following the investigation into allegations sexual harassment in 2020, Sales said, “As far as I'm concerned, they remain allegations because I havent seen [the report] myself.”

He said it was “a dreadful situation for many members, and we've moved on. It was years in the past.”

Sales said he hadn't discussed the 2020 investigation into Young ACT with the ACT Party before reinstating the youth wing.

Due to the wishes of the victim, the report into Young Act has not been publicly released.

A spokesperson for the Act Party told Salient “We took these allegations seriously and had a senior employment lawyer investigate them.”

“We are comfortable with the findings of the report and we are happy to release it. For the full story to be told, the report should be released. We’re happy to do that but we first need permission from the complainant.”

The party spokesperson maintained that they are “comfortable with our culture and we take it seriously.”