STEPHENSON, William (Bill)

Family Name:

Stephenson

Given Names:

William (Bill)

Gender:

Male

Birth-date:

Unknown, possibly 1949

Death-date:

Unknown

Marital Status:

Unknown, probably single

Age Range:

Early 20s

Location:

NSW, Punchbowl

Occupation:

Unknown

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:

William Stepheson was from Punchbowl, a suburb of Sydney. He was publicly opposed to the National Service Act 1964 (NSA). He refused to register for the July 1969 intake of conscripts. He signed a Declaration of Conscientious Non-Compliers prepared at the May 1969 conference of non-compliers and published in The Peacemaker. It read in part, We, the undersigned believe that the National Service Act is unjust and undemocratic…We declare that we cannot, on conscience, comply with any aspect of the Act. It is unknown what happened, if anything, between 1969 and late 1971. It is likely that Bill 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:

Peacemaker, July/ August 1969, p.4; November/ December 1969, p.8; May/ June 1970, p.4; May/ June/ July/ August 1971, p.11.