Casey councillors vote in favour of compulsory military service to help curb youth unemployment, crime
A CASEY councillor has used a council meeting to call for a return of compulsory military service for 18-year-olds, saying it would help curb youth crime and provide employment for young people.
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A CASEY councillor has used a council meeting to call for a return of compulsory military service for 18-year-olds, saying it would help curb youth crime and provide employment for young people.
Cr Rex Flannery put forward the audacious plan — which would require two or three years’ of service for every 18-year-old citizen — after visiting Israel and seeing how people in that country accepted their compulsory service.
He said he had a relative who “dodged bullets in Vietnam” but who was stabbed while alighting from a Melbourne tram after telling a young man to stop swearing in front of women and children.
“I believe our children are being lost in the system, I believe our children need direction, they need a place of belonging ... people stay at home and play PlayStation and ... national service would be an opening for young people,” he said.
“It is ... safer to be in the army and to go to Afghanistan than to walk the streets in our city these days with the stabbings and the one-punch attacks.”
The motion, which was supported by every councillor at the meeting, will also include officers writing letters to federal MPs Greg Hunt and Jason Wood, asking them to lobby their Liberal colleagues to change the law.
Cr Rosalie Crestani said she supported the plan with trepidation as she had a 14-year-old son who could potentially be compelled to fight overseas if conscription was reintroduced.
However, she said there was sometimes a conflict between being a mother and being a community leader.
Vietnam veterans association of Victoria spokesman Bob Elworthy said the facilities to take in thousands more recruits through a compulsory scheme were not there.
“The infrastructure and the ADF training capability to handle the numbers contemplated by a national compulsory military obligation of two years just do not exist,” he said.
“The ADF would find it difficult if not impossible to provide the level of training and support staff needed. Current facilities would not be able to cope with a massive influx of additional manpower, and what military roles would they undertake?”
Mr Elworthy said there was also the issue of physical, mental or character testing that could exclude people from the army, including some of the people Mr Flannery wanted to target.
Conscription was first introduced by Prime Minister Alfred Deakin in 1911. The draft was abolished by Gough Witlam in 1972, after the hugely unpopular Vietnam War.
The National Service Act 1964 required 20-year-olds drawn from a lottery to serve in Vietnam, despite the fact that they were too young to vote.
According to the National Archives, 1052 men applied as conscientious objectors during Vietnam. 733 were granted exemptions, 142 were exempted from combat and 137 had their applications rejected. Of those who refused without permission, some were sentenced to prison terms.
60,000 Australians served in Vietnam, 521 died and 3000 were wounded. Those who returned were often shunned by the Australian people.
Flinders federal Liberal MP Greg Hunt said conscription is not something the Federal Government was considering.
“The Federal Government supports a highly professionalised military, the foundation stone of which is voluntary participation,” Mr Hunt said. “However, we do have many voluntary programs for young people to take part in, including the Defence Force Gap Year Program and Cadets.”