COOK, Simon

Family Name:

Cook

Given Names:

Simon

Gender:

Male

Birth-date:

Unknown, possibly 1952

Death-date:

Unknown

Marital Status:

Unknown, probably single

Age Range:

Early 20s

Location:

ACT, Acton

Occupation:

University Student

Primary Motivation:

Draft Resister, anti-conscription

Reason for Court Appearance:

Court Name and Location:

Court Hearing Date:

Court Outcome:

Military Event:

National Service and Vietnam War 1964-1972

Further Information:

Simon Cook was from New South Wales. He was a student at the Australian National University (ANU). He opposed the National Service Act 1964 (NSA). Accordingly, he refused to register for national service. He participated in protests and demonstrations aimed at its repeal and the end to the Vietnam War. On 21 April 1972, at Garema Place in Canberra, he with other draft resisters, who were also ANU students, publicly declared themselves draft resisters at a moratorium demonstration. He also declared himself a draft resister at a protest at the Australian Capital Territory courts (ACT) on Friday 26 April 1972. Again, on 3 May at a ANU Liberal Club meeting, Simon with other draft resisters, challenged the Attorney General Greenwood, who was present, to arrest them for offences under the NSA. He responded by saying if they had committed an offence then they would be summonsed to a court. On 9 June, Simon burnt a summonsed which had been served on him yesterday, outside the ACT law courts. Two other ANU students were at their court hearings. It was unlikely that Simon was 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, 22 April 1972, p.3; 29 April 1972, p.3; 4 May 1972, p.1; 5 May 1972, p.1; 10 June 1972, p.9.

Tribune, 13 June 1972, p.11.

Tharunka, 18 October 1972, p.6.