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7.19 Category 6: Conscription
7.19.1 Discourses of rejecting British requests and dissociation through
conscription referenda.
The modern world emerges (Lawrence et al., 1986) includes an overview of the two referenda
held during WWI to decide whether Australia should compulsorily conscript men into the
armed forces for overseas service. The two referenda, the first held in 1916 and the second in
1917 were both initiated by Prime Minister Billy Hughes as a result of pressure from Great
Britain to provide more troops for the battles in Europe (see Source 7.92 for an overview of
conscription issues).
Source 7.92. Overview of the conscription issues extract from The modern world
emerges (Lawrence et al., 1986, p. 302).
Connections to British heritages, as represented in this textbook, relate primarily to the two
sides of the conscription debate—those who opposed and those who supported conscription.
In particular, the point made by the Catholic Archbishop of Melbourne, Daniel Mannix
highlights the complexities of Australia’s relationship with Great Britain, with the textbook
stating: “The ruthless suppression by the British of the Irish during the rebellion in Ireland in
1916 was reason enough not to support the war effort” (Lawrence et al., 1986, p. 300). No
further information of this suppression or rebellion is mentioned, however it does point to a
multitude of perspectives related to Australia’s connection—emotional and political—to
Great Britain. Spanning time (Power et al., 1985) also briefly covers the conscription issue.
Pressure from Great Britain requesting extra troops is not mentioned and barely alluded to in
an extract that discusses the two conscription referenda held during WWI. Although the
extract states the conscription debates were “...one of the most bitter arguments in Australia’s
history” (Power et al., 1985, p. 224) little information is provided of how these debates
played out and little connection to British heritages apart from one dot point, stating “Irish
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