Family Name:
Roberts
Given Names:
Graham
Gender:
Male
Birth-date:
Probably 1946
Death-date:
Unknown
Marital Status:
Unknown, probably single
Age/ Age Range:
Early 20s
Location:
TAS, Hobart
Primary Motivation:
Conscientious Objector – Religious Pacifism
Reason for Court Appearance:
Application for full exemption from military duties
Court Name and Location:
Magistrates Court, Tasmania
Court Hearing Date:
20 April 1966
Court Outcome:
Granted full exemption from military duties
Military Event:
National Service Act and Vietnam War 1964-1972
Further Information:
Graham Roberts from Hobart Tasmania was a member of the Society of Friends (Quakers). The church is strongly pacifist, one of the Historic Peace Churches. Graham applied for full exemption from military duties based on his Christian pacifism. On 20 April 1966, before the magistrate Mr Bingham, he stated that, ‘My conscience does not allow me to take up arms against any person no matter to what country, class or creed the other may belong to. I therefore cannot participate in preparation for war in any way, for it is essentially the training of young men to take the lives or cause suffering to their fellow human beings’. Graham was the first full exemption to be granted in Tasmania under the National Service Act 1964.
Confirmatory Sources:Peacemaker, May-June 1966, p.3.
THE AUSTRALIAN PEACE HONOUR ROLL 