COOK, Gary James

Family Name:

Cook

Given Names:

Gary James

Gender:

Male

Birth-date:

19 April 1947

Death-date:

28 April 2019

Marital Status:

Single

Age:

Early 20s

Location:

WA, Nedlands

Occupation:

University Student and Tutor

Primary Motivation:

Draft Resister -Opposed to Conscription and the Vietnam War

Reason for Court Appearance:

[1] Referred by the Minister under reg. 32A to determine if he had conscientious objector beliefs under the National service Act 1964

[2]Refusal of call-up for National Service

[3] Breach of prison discipline

Court Name and Location:

[1] Court of Petty Sessions, Perth

[2] Court of Petty Sessions, Perth

[3] Fremantle Prison visiting Magistrate

Court Hearing Date:

[1] 7 October 1970

[2] 27 August 1971

[3]14 April 1972

Court Outcome:

[1] Found not to have conscientious objector beliefs

[2] Jailed for 2 years for refusal to obey a call-up notice

[3] Sustained and permission to attend University lectures withdrawn

Military Event:

National Service and Vietnam War 1964-1972

Further Information:

Gary Cook was originally from Toodyay, Western Australia. He moved to Nedlands to initially study economics at the University of Western Australia. In 1967 at the beginning of his second year, he registered for national service and was balloted in. He successfully sought approval to defer in 1967 and 1968 while he completed his Bachelor of Economics degree. In 1969 he commenced studying his honours year but withdrew half way through and started studying an arts degree. During 1969 he was required to attend the compulsory medical examination and was pronounced fit for service. He received a call up notice to report to the army reserve barracks at Karrakatta on 28 January 1970. In January 1970 he informed the Department of Labour and National Service that he intended not to obey his call up notice and returned his national service registration card. By this time Gary was aged 23 years. He was a second-year arts student at the University of Western Australia and was employed as an Economics tutor at the university. He published his decision in an article titled, Hell no, won’t go to Vietnam, in the Perth Independent on 4 March 1970.

On 7 October 1970 he was referred by Minister Snedden under Reg. 32A to a court to determine if he had conscientious objector beliefs under the National Service Act 1964 (NSA 1964). It was the first such referral under new regulations gazetted 27 August 1970. On the same day Laurie Carmichael had also been referred. Gary did not attend the Court of Petty Sessions in Perth, but his authorised agent Derek Schapper read the following statement. I refuse to participate in this hearing, just as I will refuse to comply with any procedure which is part of the conscription system, a system which directly contributes to the suffering of the Vietnamese people. This hearing is an attempt by the Government to avoid having to gaol me for two years. The presence of a large number of political prisoners in our gaols is apparently not a pleasing prospect for our government. I have not applied for C.O. status and I do not want to be classified as a C.O. within the terms of the National Service Act. Magistrate T Ansell found that Gary Cook did not hold conscientious beliefs under the National Service Act 1964 which prevented him from engaging in military service. After police issued a warrant for his arrest Gary took refuge with draft resistance groups in Melbourne and joined the Draft Resisters Union. He and three other ‘underground’ resisters appeared at the third Melbourne moratorium march held 30 June 1971. Police intended to arrest them, but they were shielded by an estimated 5000 demonstrators.

On returning to Perth Gary was arrested on 20 August 1971 when he participated in a small demonstration outside the Department of Labour and National Service office in Perth. He was charged with failing to obey a call-up notice for 28 January 1970. He was remanded on bail of $3000 ($1000 cash and $2000 in sureties). He was sentenced on 27 August 1971 to two years jail (subsequently reduced to 18 months). He was sent initially to the maximum security prison at Fremantle. He was then transferred to the minimum security Wooroloo Training Centre in the Perth hills. Whilst at Wooroloo he was badly beaten up by other prisoners and lost two front teeth. In February 1972, following his refusal to have a haircut he was transferred back to Fremantle Prison. His long hair was forcibly removed while he was hand cuffed to a chair. In March 1972 he was granted leave to study one day a week at the University of Western Australia, but this was withdrawn after he refused to scrub the floor of his cell. Peter, Gary’s brother, complained on his behalf. He said he was being punished twice for the same offence as he had already been in solitary confinement. In June 1972 Gary was granted approval for work release. On 19 July 1972 Gary commenced work release as a research officer five days a week with the University of Western Australia’s student guild.

His name was placed on the International Honour Roll Prisoners for Peace. With the election of the Whitlam Labor Government in December 1972 all charges against draft resisters were dropped and those still serving sentences, as was Gary, were released. Amongst this group Gary served the longest. In January 2019 Gary suffered a significant stroke and passed away on 28 April 2019, aged 72 years.

Jenni Perkins and Peter Cook, siblings of Gary wrote in his obituary, published in the West Australian 31 July 2019, Gary’s path was one of uncompromising commitment to truth and moral principle. It was a moralism, in the best sense of that word, born of beliefs in anti-authoritarianism, autonomy and sympathy for the underdog. It was tempered by realism, curiosity and scepticism based on personal experience and wide reading. Following Gary’s example, may these values and virtues long endure.

Confirmatory Sources:

Peacemaker, March/ April 1970, p.6; May/ June 1970, p.4; October/ November 1970. pp. 1and 6; January/ February 1971, p.10; May/ June/ July/ August 1971, p.1; September/ December 1971, p.10.

Tharunka, 3 October 1972, p.7

West Australian 21 August 1971 p 1

Daily News 19 July 1972 p 2

Bobbie Oliver, Hell No! We Won’t Go Resistance to Conscription in Postwar Australia, Interventions, Melbourne, 2022, esp. pp.156-159 and pp. 183-189.

West Australian, 31 July 2019, p.73, Obituary Gary James Cook: Vietnam War Objector, by Jenni Perkins and Peter Cook.

Personal entry amended by Jenni Perkins and Peter Cook, sister and brother of Gary, September 2024.