Family Name:
Sebonka
Given Names:
Peter
Gender:
Male
Birth-date:
Unknown, possibly 1951
Death-date:
Unknown
Marital Status:
Unknown, probably single
Age Range:
Early 20s
Location:
NSW
Occupation:
Unknown
Primary Motivation:
Draft Resister, anti-conscription, anti-Vietnam War
Reason for Court Appearance:
NA
Court Name and Location:
NA
Court Hearing Date:
NA
Court Outcome:
NA
Military Event:
National Service and Vietnam War 1964-1972
Further Information:
Petre Sebonka was from New South Wales. He opposed the National Service Act 1964 (NSA). He refused to register for a 1971 intake of conscripts. He was due to be prosecuted for this offence on 10 May 1971. The outcome is unknown. He indicated what was in the statement he was to make to the court in Tharunka a university newspaper. In part it read, To enforce conformity with its policies of conscription and the pursuance of the war in Vietnam, the Government holds the threat of gaol over the heads of any who dare to dissent. The idea of gaol is made out to be something terrible to cower people into compliance, but it has to be put into perspective: compare two years gaol to the life of the Vietnamese who lives constantly in a state of warfare, under the threat of napalm, “strategic resettlement’’ etc. Furthermore, when you think that compliance helps perpetuate the war then gaol seems like a small price to pay…I am going to gaol to show that the government’s laws do not abrogate the individuals duty and right to think for himself and to determine the morality of his own actions and that where these are in conflict that defiance of the government is possible…Don’t let yourself be intimated into doing what you don’t want to or into something you think is wrong. But whatever you do do, whether you register or not, above all, DON’T GO INTO THR ARMY. It is unknown whether Peter continued with his non-compliance and if so if he was prosecuted under the NSA.
Confirmatory Sources:
Tharunka, 11 May 1971, p.2.
THE AUSTRALIAN PEACE HONOUR ROLL 