PEARCE, Ian

Family Name:

Pearce

Given Names:

Ian

Gender:

Male

Birth-date:

Unknown, possibly 1950

Death-date:

Unknown

Marital Status:

Unknown probably single

Age Range:

Early 20s

Location:

VIC, North Clayton

Occupation:

Unknown

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:

Ian Pearce was from North Clayton, a suburb of Melbourne. He opposed the National Service Act 1964 (NSA). He refused to register and sent it back to Minister Snedden. He also refused to attend the mandatory medical examination required under the NSA. In a letter dated 22 January 1970 he wrote Minister Snedden of Labour and National Service explaining why he would not comply with the NSA. It read in part, You may be interested to know why I will not co-operate. It goes like this: This is a totalitarian law, made by a government not renown for its liberality. ..I may be indolent when wrongs you commit do not concern me directly, when I am forced to make some sort of definite choice I must come out against the capitalist-materialistic-nature wrecking way, which unfortunately you represent…I do not believe the State has any right to take a man and turn him into a soldier. To turn 20-year-ols into soldiers is worse. I believe that what makes a man is his capacity to reason and choose. And it is precisely these two qualities which the army takes away from him…The act of conscripting people who do not have a vote and who may not, because of their immaturity, be aware of the iniquities of the war system, is one that I cannot but resist with everting I’ve got. It was unlikely that Ian 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:

Peacemaker, January/ February 1970, p.7; May/ June 1970, p.4; May/ June/ July/ August p.11.