Family Name:
Cathie
Given Names:
Christine (Chris)
Gender:
Female
Birth-Date:
Probably 1935
Death-Date:
Unknown
Marital Status:
Married
Age Range:
30s to 50s
Location:
VIC, Aspendale
Occupation:
Unknown
Primary Motivation:
Anti-Militarism, especially Conscription
Reason for Court Appearance:
[1] Willful trespass on government property
[2] Defacing and willful damage to public property
Court Name and Location:
[1] Magistrates Court, Melbourne
[2] County Court, Melbourne
Court Hearing Date:
[1] 8 April 1971
[2] 28 February 1986
Court Outcome:
[1] Sentenced to 14 days jail at Fairlea Woman’s Prison
[2] Case dismissed
Military Event:
National Service and Vietnam War 1964-1972
Further Information:
Chris Cathie was from Aspendale a suburb of Melbourne. She was a member of the Save Our Sons Movement in Melbourne and the Victorian Australian Labor Party Woman’s Organisation. She was the wife of Ian Cathie a Labor member of the Legislative Council and had four children.
Save Our Sons was active in supporting the rights of conscientious objectors and draft resisters (conscientious non-compliers) during the Vietnam War. It worked for the repeal of the National Service Act (NSA), the instrument of selective conscription. It also advocated for a change to the NSA to allow for conscientious objection to a particular war. In this case the Vietnam War. Some members formed a network of suburban safe-houses to help draft resisters evade the authorities. Irene was involved with this. Its campaigns were non-violent and contributed to a larger movement dedicated to the same objectives. It had an advantage in that members were “ordinary” wives and mothers. Many wore hats and gloves and took their handbags to their protest activities.
Its activism included regular vigils In Melbourne City Square and the State Library. Members would stand in silent protest holding anti-war and conscription placards. Members also wore sashes to identify themselves. They also handed out draft registration forms and encouraged people to fill them out with fictious names. The aim was to overload the national service registration system. They also engaged in civil disobedience outside the Swan Street army barracks where intakes of young men reported to. The SOS ceased operating soon after the newly elected Labor government of December 1972 ended conscription and released conscientious objectors and draft resisters who had been imprisoned.
Chris, together with Joan Coxsedge, Jean McLean, Jo McLaine-Cross and Irene Miller, all SOS members, were charged with willful trespass on government property under the Summary Offences Act. The property was an office of the Department of Labour and National Service. The court hearing was Thursday 8 April 1971, Maundy Thursday the day before Good Friday. They were handing out of anti-conscription leaflets to young men reporting for induction into the army. Joan and the others were sentenced to fourteen days imprisonment in Fairlea Woman’s Prison Melbourne, without the option of a fine. They served 11 days before being released. They became known as the “’Fairlea Five’. These jailings attracted opprobrium, verbal confrontation, and abuse. She and other SOS members were charged with being communists or communist sympathisers, anti-Australian, bad mothers and neglectful wives. It was suggested that Magistrate Foley had been leant on by the authorities to make an example of the five women.
After the Fairlea Five’s release they were taken to a welcoming rally at the Melbourne City Square. Chris told the assembled, We refused to ask the Government for any mercy or to recognise their rotten legal system in any way. They were the losers.
Chris continued her peace activism after the 1960s and 1970s. In 1986 she was charged, with others, for defacing public property and willful damage. The defendants informed the judge that they had painted shadows to commemorate the dropping of the nuclear bomb on Hiroshima. They wanted people in Australia to realise the horror of a nuclear bomb. Chris stated, that since the constable giving evidence did’nt know the date of Hiroshima Day, it shows that we have to continue doing this year after year. They told the judge the paint used was easily removed and no permanent damage was intended. The judge accepted their arguments and dismissed the case.
Confirmatory Sources:
Collins, Carolyn. 2021. Save Our Sons: Women, Dissent and Conscription during the Vietnam War. Monash University Publishing, especially Chp. 10.
Tribune, 14 April 1971. p.1; 21 April 1971, p12; 5 March 1986, p.15.
Canberra Times, 9 April 1971, p.1; 19 April 1971, p.9.
THE AUSTRALIAN PEACE HONOUR ROLL 