... ...conscription...Against the Odds: The victory over conscription in World War One......The Trade Unions' Anti-Conscription Campaign......Newspaper: 'Women's No Conscription Demonstration', 1916...He was also mentor for Curtin and Hyett, and it was in the Anstey circle that opposition to conscription within the ALP and union movements was first developed. Anstey sat on the executive of the national Trade Union Anti-conscription Committee, and produced several pamphlets and newspapers outlining his opposition to the war and conscription.
......A week before the first conscription referendum, on 21 October 1916, the “United Womens No Conscription Demonstration” was held in Melbourne. This was one of the most spectacular anti-conscription events of the campaign.
...In many ways, these localities were a microcosm of the entire campaign. Against the Odds: The Victory Over Conscription in World War One tells the story of the anti-conscription movement in Australia during World War 1 through this lens. ...
In October 1916 and December 1917 two contentious referendums were held in Australia, asking whether the Commonwealth government should be given the power to conscript young men into military service and send them to war overseas.
These campaigns were momentous and their legacy long-lasting. This is the only time in history that citizens of a country have been asked their opinion about such a question, and the decisive 'No' vote that was returned remains the greatest success of the peace movement in Australia to date. Yet the campaigns split families, workplaces and organisations, and left an imprint on Australian politics that lasted for decades.
Many of the actors and events that were central to these campaigns were based in the northern Melbourne suburbs of Brunswick and Coburg. In many ways, these localities were a microcosm of the entire campaign. Against the Odds: The Victory Over Conscription in World War One tells the story of the anti-conscription movement in Australia during World War 1 through this lens.
