A plebiscite milestone: 100 years on from the 1917 conscription debates
Today, 20 December 2017, marks the centenary of Australia’s second plebiscite on conscription. Our regular blogger Barry York asks, 'was this a ‘Brexit’ moment?'
Articles tagged with: conscription
Latest articles
Donald Grant – from gaoled Wobbly to elected Senator
Of the twelve members of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) sentenced in Sydney in 1916 to five to 15 years’ gaol for conspiracy, none is more fascinating than Donald MacLellan Grant.
The Sydney Twelve — treason, conspiracy and conscription in Australia 1916
The ‘Sydney Twelve’ were members of an organisation known as the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), arrested in Sydney on 23 September 1916 and charged with ‘treason felony’. The timing of the arrests, during the campaign over the conscription plebiscite scheduled for 28 October, led many in the labour movement to view the charges with suspicion.
Conscription 1916: Who were the Maltese ‘children of Billy Hughes’?
The Maltese ‘children of Billy Hughes’ were a group of 214 Maltese migrants who arrived during Australia’s conscription plebiscite campaign a century ago and were deemed to be prohibited immigrants under section 3(a) of the Immigration (Restriction) Act after failing a dictation test in the Dutch language.
