THE AUSTRALIAN PEACE HONOUR ROLL

Family Name:

Jensen

Given Names:

Graham Victor

Gender:

Male

Birth-date:

26 September 1948

Death-date:

NA

Marital Status:

Single

Age:

20 years old

Location:

NSW, Enfield

Occupation:

Theological Student

Primary Motivation:

Draft Resister-Pacifism Religious

Reason for Court Appearance:

[1] Refusal to register for national service

[2] Protest on ANZAC Day, obstructing traffic and offensive behaviour

[3] Protest o ANZAV Day failure to pay the fine for obstructing traffic and offensive behaviour

[4] Refusal to attend medical examination

Court Name and Location:

[1] Court of Petty sessions, Sydney

[2] Court of Petty Sessions, Sydney

[3] Court of Petty Sessions, Sydney

[4] Court of Petty Sessions, Sydney

Court Hearing Date:

[1] 29 January 1969

[2] 25 April 1969

[3] 29 July 1969

[4] 6 May 1970

Court Outcome:

[1] Fined with costs or 25 days imprisonment in lieu of non-payment. Arrested to serve 25 days, Long Bay Jail (31 July 1969)

[2] Charged with obstructing traffic, offensive behaviour and resisting arrest. Fined

[3] Convicted and fined for obstructing traffic, other charges dropped. Fine paid

[4] Fine $50 and 7-days jail

Military Event:

National Service  and Vietnam War 1964-1972

Further Information:

Graham Victor Jensen of Sydney was a theological student at Wesley College Sydney University. Graham refused to register in July 1968 because he believed the Act to be immoral.  He informed Minister Bury, through the Department Deputy Registrar of his non-compliance in a letter and was interviewed by officers of the Department of Labour and National Service on 5 November 1968. He was a Christian pacifist and he stated, that the law was immoral as is anything which mandates that a man must fight and possibly kill another. This is against the will of God. As a theological student Graham could have applied for automatic exemption from military service but he chose non-compliance with the NSA. On 29 January 1969 Graham was convicted of refusing to register under the Act, and was fined with the prospect of 25 days imprisonment if he failed to pay the fine. He decided not to pay the fine. He was arrested on 30 July 1969 and taken to Long Bay Jail to serve 25 days. He was kept in the remand section of the jail. He considers he was well treated in jail. He was employed as a sweeper.

Previous to this, on ANZAC Day 1969, Graham sat down on the road in front of the ANZAC Day march opposite the Sydney Town Hall. He was arrested and subsequently fined for obstructing traffic and offensivebehaviour. He issued a statement at the end of the court hearing. It was a criticism of ANZAC Day and what he claimed was that, as a theology student I am committed to serving my God, my country and my world. Our celebration of Anzac Day is I believe an element of the decay which will bring about the ultimate destruction of our country. His criticism extended to government policy and an imbalance between defence spending and overseas aid. He was opposed to the Vietnam War and stated that, I am concerned that we celebrate Anzac Day and forget what our soldiers believed they were dying for – peace; we talk about our fight for peace and yet we are not willing to give it to the Vietnamese. 

On 6 May 1970 Graham was again convicted under the NSA for refusing to attend a medical examination for which he was fined. He was also imprisoned for seven days because of his refusal to give an assurance he would obey a future medical examination notice. Graham remained an activist and non-complier.  He visited Saigon during July 1970 without permission from the Government, which was mandatory. He was not prosecuted for this offence.

Graham was part of an International Mission organised by the International Fellowship of Reconciliation. On 11 July 1970 members of the mission together with members of the press and about one thousand local students sought to deliver a petition to Ambassador Bunker at the United States Embassy. They had barely walked two blocks when the police tear-gassed them. The mission members left on 13 July 1970 but only after three American journalists and three-hundred students all who had been arrested were released. Graham was a speaker at a public meeting at the Blacktown Civic Centre on the topic of Conscription and the Vietnam War. Despite all of this the government was reluctant to convict and imprison him further. Minister Bury sought confirmation of Graham’s status as a theological student by writing to the then principal Dr Robert Maddox. He was not prepared to offer that confirmation out of his own conviction and at the request of Graham. The government’s reluctance to proceed with convictions was the case for many others because of the embarrassment it generated for the government. Graham and others were free from prosecution after the election of the Whitlam Labour Government in December 1972 and its suspension of the NSA.

Confirmatory Sources:

Bobbie Oliver, Hell No! We Wont Go: Resistance to Conscription in Post War Australia, Interventions, Melbourne, 2022.

Peacemaker, January/ February 1969, p.5; May/ June 1969, p.8; July/ August 1969, p5; November/ December 1969, p.8; May/ June 1970, p.4; July 1960, p.1.

Personal Interview, 15 February 2024.

Courtesy: The Peacemaker, January/ February 1969, p.6.