Homefront

The Homefront - Created by Jessica & Cassie. Edited by Jess B, Jess L & Phoebe

 **__Protest Movement on the Australian Homefront__ ** Protests were a big part of the Australian home front. By 1968 anti-war protests were gaining momentum in Australia because they were opposed to the conscription of young men and believed that the war could not be won. A "Don't Register" campaign which dissuaded young men from conscripting gained support and some of the protests became violent.

The moratoriums started off small but gained followers and supporters fast, and they were soon out of the control of the police.

In May 1970, over 200,000 Australians marched in the first Moratorium against the Vietnam War. Because of threats from the police, politicians and the media, 100,000 people in Melbourne marched- fairly convincing evidence that a majority of Australians now opposed the war and conscription. Earlier on it was much harder, the demonstrations were small and isolated meaning they weren’t seen by the public and so people didn’t know about what was really happening. Activists were jailed and beaten, and the public’s opinion was strongly for the war.

In 1966, when Labor went to polls with an anti- conscription policy, it was crushed. Yet from the very beginning there was opposition. Men on the warfs and the seamen delayed ships carrying weapons to Vietnam. Women from ‘Save our Sons’, an anti-conscription group, demonstrated at centers. When US President Lyndon Johnson visited in 1966, his motorcade was splattered with red paint by protesters.

On one occasion, draft resister Michael Matteson, handcuffed between two Federal Police, was freed by students using huge bolt-cutters. Incidents like this captured the imagination and gave others the confidence to resist the draft. By 1972, over 14,000 hadn't registered and there were 500 public non-compliers . 

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__Different views of Australia's Involvement in the vietnam War__ ** Supporters for the Vietnam War Along with the many protesters there were also many supporters of the Vietnam War. Older Australians The older Australians believed that the younger people should do their bit, just as they had done in WWII. The Returned Servicemen's League (RSL) The Returned Servicemen's league believed in the ANZAC spirit. The RSL denied vietnam veterans access to the RSL which is incredibly unfair because the veterans had had no choice but to go. People who supported the political parties People who supported The Liberal Party and The Country Party were in favour of sending troops to Vietnam.  Their were many protests against the Vietnam war and many of them came from the mothers of boys who were fighting in the war. They started a campaign called “Save our Sons.” People opposed to the Vietnam War because they believed the war was none of Australia’s business. Also, from 1968 onwards it appeared that the US and the allies (including Australia) were losing the war and many Australians believed there was no point in sending troops to die. Vietnam was called the first tekvision war, as almost all of Australia could see the horrors occuring over in Vietnam. Eventually the nation disagreed with the idea of the Birthday Lottery. They believed young men should not be sent to war against their own will.  [] This website provided us with some helpful information on Australia's point of view on sending our troups to join the Vietnam War.
 * __Opposition to the Vietnam War__ **

[] This website gave us a lot of very helpful information on Australia's protest movement and the different anti- conscription groups.