MUNTZ, Robert Howard

Family Name:

Muntz

Given Names:

Robert Howard

Gender:

Male

Birth-date:

Unknown, possibly 1948

Death-date:

27 May 2024

Marital Status:

Unknown, probably single

Age Range:

Early 20s

Location:

VIC, Prahan

Occupation:

Biochemist

Primary Motivation:

Draft Resister, opposition to conscription and the Vietnam War

Reason for Court Appearance:

[1] Police assault

[2] Appeal against assault charges

[3] Failure to attend the medical examination for national service

[4] Failure to attend court on charge of failure to attend the medical

Court Name and Location:

[1] Court of Petty Sessions, Prahan

[2] Unknown, Melbourne

[3] Court of Petty Sessions, Melbourne

[4] Court of Petty Sessions, Melbourne

Court Hearing Date:

[1] 8 July 1969

[2] 1969

[3] 1971

[4] 13 November 1971

Court Outcome:

[1] Sentenced to fine of $20 and14 days jail, on appeal

[2] Appeal upheld, charges quashed

[3] Did not appear, warrant for arrest issued

[]4 Sentenced to fine and 7 days jail

Military Event:

National Service and Vietnam War 1964-1972

Further Information:

Robert Muntz was a Biochemist from Prahan, an inner suburb of Melbourne. He held a Master of Science from 1969. He was active in protests against military conscription of the National Service Act 1964 (NSA) and the Vietnam War. He was a protester outside the United States Consulate in Melbourne on 4 July 1969. In the Court of Petty Sessions at Prahan, Robert was sentenced to 14 days jail on a charge of a police assault by kicking and a fine of $20, in default 4 days jail, for indecent language. He denied the charges and he appealed the sentences. His appeal was successful, and the charges were quashed. On 17 August 1970, Robert was sacked after the Victorian Public Service Board called for his security dossier. Apparently, calling for a dossier was usual practice. He had applied for a permanent research position in the Department of Agriculture. Robert said he was given no reasons for his sacking but insisted it was because of his security dossier, which would only reveal he was active in protests against conscription and the Vietnam war. The practice of providing Commonwealth security files to State Public Service Boards was raised in the Senate of the Commonwealth Parliament. In a letter to the daily press, Robert stated that, I approached the VPSA [Victorian Public Service Association] for assistance. I was told there was nothing that could be done to help, and I should resign to avoid the stigma of dismissal.

On Monday 13 December 1971 Robert was arrested at the City Court Hotel with other demonstrators against conscription and the Vietnam war. He was chained to demonstrators, and he refused to move. Police used bolt cutters to unchain him and then carried him bodily across the intersection to the City Court. He was lodged in the City Watchhouse to await the hearing of the charge against him. Earlier Robert’s name was called in the court where he was listed to appear on a charge of failure to attend the mandatory medical examination under the NSA. When he did not appear Magistrate Kelly issued a warrant for his arrest which the police acted upon. At the subsequent court hearing Robert was fined and jailed for 7 days.

On Monday 17 April 1972, he and another draft resister, John Halpin, spoke to a student protest meeting at Melbourne University. A police van was on campus shortly before the lunch-time meeting which attracted about 500 students, a sufficient number to keep the police at bay. Robert appeared at a second storey window of the union building and spoke for a few moments. He and John ‘disappeared’ immediately after they spoke. Both were ‘underground’ draft resisters. It is unknown if there was further interaction between Robert and the authorities until the time when the newly elected Whitlam Labor government suspended the NSA and dismissed all pending prosecutions under the NSA.

Confirmatory Sources:

Peacemaker, October/ November 1970, p.6; September/ December 1971, p.4; May/ June/ July/ August 1971, p.11.

Canberra Times, 9 July 1969, p.12; 18 August 1970, p.3; 20 August 1970, p.11; 14 December 1971, p.8; 18 April 1972, p.9.

Tribune, 26 August 1970, p.2; 2 September 1970, p.4

Below is a Tribute to Bob Muntz who passed away 27 May 2024 by Pat Walsh

Bob Muntz RIP: Santa Cruz massacre survivor

Bob Muntz, a Melbourne based activist, died suddenly May 27, 2024, following a fall and coma from which he did not recover. He leaves behind his wife, MaryCon, and their two children, Alice and Julian.

Bob was born in 1947 in Colac, Victoria, where his father was a school master. He studied science at Monash and Melbourne Universities.

In East Timor, Bob Muntz is best known as a witness and near casualty of the Santa Cruz massacre in Dili on November 12, 1991.

Bob observed the rally with Kamal Bamadhaj and other visitors in the belief that a foreign presence would protect the protestors. It didn’t make any difference. The military shot and killed many Timorese and Kamal, and fired at Bob. He escaped by running down back streets, clambering over fences and being given shelter by a Timorese man who fetched the Red Cross to rescue him. During his flight he suffered a flesh wound to his arm but did not know whether it was from being shot at or from tearing his skin on a fence. A few days later, he described the protest and the terrifying experience of the massacre at a press conference in Melbourne. His account is also notable for its forceful rejection of false Indonesian claims that the protest justified their deadly response. Though advised by specialists to share the experience, Bob found it very difficult to discuss his trauma in later life.

For a transcript of Bob’s press conference, see https://timorarchives.wordpress.com/…/docs-santa-cruz…/

His flight from lethal danger in Dili was not the first time Bob had fled from danger. During his time at Monash University he joined the anti-Vietnam War protest and refused to serve as a conscript in the Australian military. He was a founding member of the Draft Resisters Union. His anti-war activities landed him in Pentridge prison for 7 days, got him sacked from the Victorian public service, and forced him underground for most of 1972 to evade police arrest. On the run, he stayed in numerous houses and avoided going out during the day. One kind lady who also did his washing told him she pegged his clothes out in the middle of hers so that the neighbours would not notice anything strange. Such was the sorry vibe of the time.

Bob spent the rest of his life in action on social issues. His work included engaging with community and occupational health and with social justice in South East Asia including with Australia Asia Worker Links and the Philippines Resource Centre at 124 Napier Street Fitzroy. As program manager for Oxfam Australia for many years, he took responsibility for community development projects in the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia.

Reflecting later on his work in Indonesia, he wrote: “I first encountered development work in Indonesia during the Suharto period, and found the government controls on the work and thinking of NGOs overwhelmingly suffocating. Innovative work and the effective pursuit of social justice were extraordinarily difficult’. In 2005, he wrote a critical autobiographical reflection on international development entitled Partnership or Pretence that required the wisdom of Solomon.

I think he was visiting East Timor in 1991, following Suharto’s so-called ‘opening up’ of 1989, to explore the possibility of Oxfam Australia establishing a program presence. Being on the ground would allow Oxfam Australia, a key member of ACFOA with a history of commitment to East Timor that included the strong personal commitment of its founding director David Scott, to monitor the situation. Thanks to the Santa Cruz massacre that initiative had to be shelved.

Bob Muntz served on the Board of Inside Indonesia and wrote for the magazine. My last encounter with him was in January 2024 at the magazine’s simple 40th anniversary dinner at Pondok Rempah in Melbourne. Helen Pausacker’s retrospective shows a photo of Bob stuffing envelopes. In 2006, he edited a special issue of the magazine (#86) on Indonesian workers and contributed a piece on a performing group who used workers’ theatre to educate Indonesian kampung dwellers on worker rights.

Once a member of Victorian Labor, he stood for the Greens in the 2007 federal elections.

Behind that soft voice and respectful gentle manner was a formidable person of tested principle who cared deeply about society and the role and capacity of so-called ordinary people. Australia will be poorer for Bob’s premature passing.

Pat Walsh padiwalsh@gmail.com

With thanks to Helen Pausacker and Gerry van Klinken28 May, 2024