Family Name:
Lees
Given Names:
Johnathan Boyd
Gender:
Male
Birth-date:
Unknown, possibly 1950
Death-date:
Unknown
Marital Status:
Unknown, probably single
Age Range:
Early 20s
Location:
VIC, Surrey Hills
Occupation:
University Student
Primary Motivation:
Draft Resister, ant-conscription
Reason for Court Appearance:
Failure to register for national service
Court Name and Location:
Court of Petty Sessions, Box Hill
Court Hearing Date:
4 October 1971
Court Outcome:
Convicted and fined
Military Event:
National Service and Vietnam War 1964-1972
Further Information:
Jonathan Lees was from Surrey Hills, a suburb of Melbourne. He was a Science student at Monash University. He opposed the National Service Act 1964 (NSA). He refused to register for the July 1970 intake of conscripts. He was summonsed to the Court of Petty Sessions at Box Hill on 4 October 1971. Magistrate Murray convicted and fined him. Peter informed the court that he refused to be press ganged into the army. He sent a letter to the Minister informing him of the reasons for his non-compliance. It is likely that Johnathan was not further 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:
Peacemaker, August/ September 1970, p.7; March/ April 1971, p.11; September/ December 1971, p.4; May/ June/ July/ August 1971, p.11.
THE AUSTRALIAN PEACE HONOUR ROLL 