Students at the ANU pro-Palestine protest encampment said that they would not be moved despite the university's threat to discipline seven of them.
Their defiance came as the university accused them of having a "negative impact" on the "wellbeing and safety of the broader university community".
ANU leaders reiterated a deadline to "remove all your personal belongings from the encampment by the end of Friday".
But the protesters said that wouldn't happen. They held a loud rally at the encampment itself, followed by a short march on the campus to the university headquarters - the Chancelry Building - where they held a second rally.
"We are not going anywhere," Carter Chryse said.
"We will not stop and we will ask you to fight with us every step of the way," Nick Reich shouted under the awning of the ANU central administration building.
Their vow to remain came as the ANU spelt out what its complaint against them is.
"I continue to receive reports regarding the negative impact of the encampment on the wellbeing and safety of the broader university community," ANU deputy vice-chancellor Grady Venville wrote to each of the seven.
"You have been identified as residing in the encampment, and accordingly I am issuing a direction for the purposes of health and safety and good order of the campus for you to vacate the encampment and remove all your personal belongings from the encampment by the end of Friday, 17 May, 2024. Similar directions will be issued to all those identified as residing in the encampment.
"To be clear, the University is not limiting your right to protest peacefully and in accordance with applicable policies and procedures. The university encourages the respectful exchange of ideas and your right to protest, and this direction does not prevent you participating in the organised protest activities that occur outside of the encampment."
But at the defiant study rally, Lachlan Clohesy, the ACT leader of the National Tertiary Education Union, accused the ANU of intimidating the students, rather than the students intimidating others.
"I say to ANU: 'You're hauling in students under threat of disciplinary action. You are ordering them to evacuate the encampment under threat of disciplinary action. You are pressuring students to give names of their alleged co-conspirators'," Dr Clohesy said.
But difficult questions remain for the ANU.
It is not clear how other students and their tents would be expected to desist even if the seven who've been identified do obey the instruction (which speakers at the rally said they wouldn't).
And it is not clear that there is a legal basis for suspension or even expulsion of the seven if they do defy the authorities.
Jewish students say that they are intimidated by the camp from which chants calling for the abolition of the current state of Israel emanate. They say the camp has poisoned the atmosphere of the university. One Jewish student said that another student had said, "F--- the Jews" in her hearing.
Lawyers are watching the situation at the ANU.
"If the university does overstep the mark, you can be sure that lawyers will come out in droves pro bono to ensure that the students' due rights to protest are protected," Professor Luke McNamara of the UNSW law school said.
