Family Name:
Brooks
Given Names:
Christopher (Chris)
Gender:
Male
Birth-date:
Unknown, probably 1951
Death-date:
Unknown
Marital Status:
Unknown, probably single
Age:
20 years old
Location:
NSW
Occupation:
University Student
Primary Motivation:
Draft Resister, anti-conscription
Reason for Court Appearance:
[1] Refused to register for National Service
[2] Refused to attend two medical examinations
[3] Refused to enter a recognizance to attend a future medical examination
Court Name and Location:
[1] Magistrates Court, Sydney
[2] Magistrates Court, Sydney
[3] Federal Court, Sydney
Court Hearing Date:
[1] 18 October 1971
[2] 9 August 1972
[3] 20 September 1972
Court Outcome:
[1] Convicted and fined $60 plus $7 costs
[2] Adjourned until 20 September 1972
[3] Convicted and jailed for 7 days
Military Event:
National Service and Vietnam War 1964-1972
Further Information:
Chris was a 20-year-old from New South Wales. He was an Arts III Student at the University of New South Wales. He was an Aboriginal Affairs Department of the National Union of Australian University Students (Abschol) activist and, a draft resister or non-complier of the National Service Act 1964 (NSA). He was a member of the Draft Resisters Union (DRU) at Sydney. Chris worked for the repeal of the NSA. His Statement of Non-Compliance was published in the university student newspaper, Tharunka 1 August 1972. He had already written to the Department of Labour and National Service on 21 January 1971 informing it of the reasons for his non-compliance with the NSA. He began, I have openly refused to comply with the National Service Act because I believe it is an immoral law, and thus be changed…I object to any form of compulsory conscription on the basis that it is an infringement of a person’s basic human rights to force him to bear arms against his fellow man. The present form of conscription is also inequitable and undemocratic. Chris is no pacifist when he states that, armed forces are a necessary evil in the world today, however I believe that their use can only be used in…defensive situations. He then states that the Vietnam War is not defensive. He confesses that he would be willing to participate in a voluntary national service scheme. He also observes that members of the armed forces are entitled to the same civil liberties enjoyed by the rest of the community. However, he concludes by stating, I will continue in my defiance of the National Service Act until all the above inequities have been removed.
Chris had refused to register under the NSA in February 1971. He was convicted of this offence and fined $60 plus $7 costs. The fine was paid. He refused to attend a medical exam on 3 March 1972 and another on 21 March 1972. He was summonsed to attend court on 9 August 1972 for his continued refusal to attend the mandatory medical examination under the NSA. This was subsequently adjourned until 20 September 1972. As he was unwilling to enter into a recognizance to attend a future medical, he was jailed for 7 days in Long Bay Prison, Sydney. He was then escorted to a waiting police car which took him to the Phillip Street Lockup. He was then searched and fingerprinted. In the afternoon he was hand cuffed and put in a paddy wagon with some other prisoners. On reaching the jail Chris was taken to the Metropolitan Remand Centre. He was searched and finger-printed again. He met up with a fellow draft resister, Peter Donoghue, who had been sentenced two days previously. Chris recalled, we were in adjoining cells and did the same work (mainly washing up). Neither of us had to shave our beards or cut our hair. This was quite surprising since we were the only two convicted criminals allowed this privilege…Life in gaol is boring, disheartening and lonely…On the whole we got on pretty well with the other guys in our wing…Most of the screws weren’t too bad, if you kept on the right side of them…Peter and I had a visit from a Commonwealth Cop. He gave us an invitation to join the army (commonly known as a call-up notice) for 3rd October. Considering the fact that it has been over 18 months since I first wrote to the Department of Labour and National Service informing them I was a draft resister, this was extremely prompt service. Chris’s ironic comment was highlighting the Government’s policy of selective prosecution, the speed of prosecution being directly related to the publicity a particular case attracts. It was aimed to minimize the political damage to the government over jailing too many young men. Chris refused to obey the call-up notice which if convicted attracted an 18 month jail sentence. He was not prosecuted and the charge of not obeying a call-up notice was dropped, with others pending, after the election of the Whitlam Labor Government in December 1972.
Confirmatory Sources:
Tharunka, 1 August 1972, p.8; 29 August 1972, p.7; 12 September 1972, p.11; 26 September 1972, p.11; 3 October 1972, pp.6-7; 18 October 1972, p.6.
Tribune, 22 August 1972, p.12.
THE AUSTRALIAN PEACE HONOUR ROLL 