WATERFORD, John (Jack)

Family Name:

Waterford

Given Names:

John (Jack)

Gender:

Male

Birth-date:

4 February 1952

Death-date:

Unknown

Marital Status:

Unknown, probably single

Age:

20 years old

Location:

ACT, Ainslie

Occupation:

University Student

Primary Motivation:

Draft Resister

Reason for Court Appearance:

Court Name and Location:

Court Hearing Date:

Court Outcome:

Military Event:

National Service and Vietnam War 1964-1972

Further Information:

John Waterford was a 20-year-old from Ainslie a suburb of Canberra in the Australian Capital Territory. He was opposed to the National Service Act 1964 (NSA), and accordingly failed to register for national service for the January 1972 intake of conscripts. He was also a member of the Canberra Moratorium Campaign. At a Liberal Club meeting at the Australian National University on 3 May 1972, six Canberran draft resisters who were present called on the Attorney General, Greenwood, who was also present, to arrest them. They had committed offences against the NSA. John was one of the six. Greenwood responded that if they had committed the said offences they would be summonsed to court. On 21 May 1972, John was arrested at a demonstration at Gyema Place in Canberra against the NSA. The police arrested 187 students. It is unknown if John was charged. On 15 May 1972 Commonwealth Police served a summons to John and another draft resister Nick Richardson. They were to appear at a court hearing on 2 June 1972 on the charge of failure to register for national service. The police also said they had summons for Robert Britten and David Wright. All were amongst those at the Liberal Club meeting. Nick said that they as a group had not decided whether they would appear at the court hearing. It is unknown if John appeared at court and was convicted and received a penalty. He was still part of a large group of Draft Resisters who had committed offences under the NSA in late 1972 who were inviting the government to ‘Gaol Us Now’. John was still recorded as committing one offence, that is, failure to register for national service. It is likely that John was never prosecuted under the NSA. The government during 1971 and especially 1972 were reluctant to prosecute when the result would be jailing a young man. This was particularly in regard to a refusal to obey a call-up notice. This attracted 18 months’ imprisonment. The government aimed to minimize its political risk of having large numbers of young men in prison. All pending prosecutions under the NSA were stopped by the newly elected Whitlam Labor government in early December 1972.

Confirmatory Sources:

Canberra Times, 29 February 1972, p.2; 4 May 1972, p.1; 12 May 1972, p.2.Tharunka, 18 October 1972, p.6.