How and why did Australia introduce conscription and censorship in World War 2?

Answer 1

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The Aus Gov. basically introduced conscription and censorship in the Australian homefront to support the war effort (the main threat was the Japanese). The DEFENCE ACT gave the Commonwealth Gov. to conscript men. These conscripted men initially only served on home soil but when it was realised that Britain was under great threat, they were sent overseas. The NATIONAL SECURITY ACT gave the Gov. the power of censorship. Newspapers, radio broadcasts and newsreels shown in cinemas were sensored. With censorship, the Gov. aimed to contain the info that reached the Aus. public that would be alarming. This, in effect, would maintain the high Australian morale.

I'm doing a yr10 '04 task on this too. This is pretty much all I know for now.

Well the Government introduced conscription at first only in the militia. It was decided by the government that any conscripted person would only fight on Australian land to protect Australia but after the Pearl Harbour attack, the fall of Singapore and the Darwin bombings they decided that the permanent army members could fight in a limited area outside Australia. These attacks caused an urge for revenge in the Australian public so there were more volunteers and conscription was used less. There ended up being about 250 000 volunteered militia and they were to protect Australia on Australian soil. I don't know anything about censorship yet-I'll tell u when i do. And I am in yr 9 doing an assignment about World War 2 as well!!

In 1943 the issue of conscription arose. As in 1916 and 1917, the government had the power to conscript men for home service, but not for overseas combat. 'Home', however, included New Guinea, where Australia had a protectorate, and therefore conscripted troops could be and were sent to the war front where they were needed most. But as the Allies began to defeat the Japanese, the war front spread north, and there was a demand that Australian troops be able to go to the new areas which were outside the definition of 'home'. American conscripts were fighting in these areas so it seemed unfair that Australian conscripts should not also be compelled to fight there. As in 1916 and 1917, all the government had to do was to change the Defence Act and it could achieve this; and, unlike the situation in 1916, Prime Minister Curtin knew he had the majority in both Houses to make this change. He did not, however, push the measure through. Rather, he let the Australian Labor Party debate the issue, and come to their own decision which was to support the extension of areas where Australian conscripts could be sent to fight. This debate within the party allowed the opponents to be heard, but also showed how small a minority they were. This avoided a potentially ugly and divisive public brawl on the issue. The Act was changed, the area where conscripts could be sent was extended - though still strictly limited - and it was all done with little opposition in the community.

See www.ww2australia.gov.au/

In October 1939, the Australian government introduced conscription for home service, but not for overseas combat. The CMF, or militia, consisted of mostly conscripts and a few volunteers. They were to strictly stay at "home" and protect the home front. However, by late 1942, as military operations against Japan were increasing, there was a greater need for fighting men on the front lines in SE Asia. Moreover, it was seen, by many US soldiers, that by only defending the homefront precious manpower was being wasted, and it was unfair to them [US] that they had to do all the fighting. That was why the Australian government pushed for conscription of men to fight outside our "home". As in 1916 and 1917, all the government had to do, in implementing these changes, was to change the Defence Act; and, unlike the situation in 1916, Prime Minister Curtin knew he had the majority in both Houses to make this change. He did not, however, push the measure through. Rather, he let the Australian Labour Party debate the issue, and come to their own decision, which was to support the extension of areas where Australian conscripts could be sent to fight. This debate within the party allowed the opponents to be heard, but also showed how small a minority they were. This avoided a potentially ugly and divisive public brawl on the issue. The Act was changed, the area where conscripts could be sent was extended - though still strictly limited - and it was all done with little opposition in the community. Everyone was happy.

Okay. So why did the government introduce censorship? Its original purpose was to protect military operations from eavesdroppers and treasonous individuals selling out to the enemy. But censorship was not only aimed at protecting military operations but also to boost morale among the general civilian population. For example, when Darwin was bombed, details of the death and destruction was not reported, nor was there any mention of the widespread panic that ensued. The government, under the National Security Act, regulated radio, film and all printed materials. Soldiers' letters were censored (often by just cutting words or phrases out of the text), telephone calls could be monitored and a massive government campaign of posters warned against idle chitchat, with phrases such as "Those who talk don't know. Those who know don't talk."

The government decided to introduce conscription in October 1939 because of a need for more troops. It was declared that all men over twenty (later eighteen) were to be military trained and form what was known as the AMF. The AMF was to stay strictly on Australian soil, as written in the constitution, but could be sent to Papua, Australian territory at the time. The government soon changed the defence act to allow Australian conscripts to fight in a broader area. Censorship was introduced to protect military operations from eavesdroppers and treasonous individuals passing information to the enemy and to prevent panic caused by bad news from sweeping through the nation. The Government, under the National Security Act, achieved this by doing things such as editing letters that servicemen and women wrote to their families and stopping radio telephone services to Britain and New Zealand. It was the opinion of the government that the knowledge of what was truly going on in the war would weaken Australia's moral.

"How and why did the Federal government introduce conscription in Australia during world war two?"

Conscription is a word that means compulsory enrolment. In other words, if you were in a certain age group or had a certain status in society, your name was put on a list of people who had to serve in the army. The government decided to introduce conscription in October 1939 because of a need for more troops. It was declared that all men over twenty (later eighteen) were to be military trained and formed what was known as the Australian Military Force [AMF]. The AMF was to stay strictly on Australian soil, as written in the constitution, but could be sent to Papua, an Australian territory at the time. The government soon changed the defence act to allow Australian conscripts to fight in any State or territory within Australia.

The Australian Government basically introduced conscription in the Australian home front to support the war effort (the main threat was the Japanese). The DEFENCE ACT gave the Commonwealth Government the power to conscript men. These conscripted men initially only served on home soil but when it was realised that Britain was under great threat, they were sent overseas.

The NATIONAL SECURITY ACT gave the Government the power of censorship. Newspapers, radio broadcasts and newsreels shown in cinemas were censored. With censorship, the Government aimed to contain the information that reached the Australian public that would be alarming. This, in effect, would maintain the high Australian morale.

"How and why was censorship introduced in Australia in world war two?"

Censorship?s original purpose was to protect military operations from eavesdroppers and treasonous individuals selling out to the enemy. But censorship was not only aimed at protecting military operations but also to boost morale among the general civilian population. For example, when Darwin was bombed, details of the death and destruction were not reported, nor was there any mention of the widespread panic that followed. The Government, under the National Security Act, achieved this by doing things such as editing letters that servicemen and women wrote to their families and stopping radio telephone services to Britain and New Zealand. It was the opinion of the government that the knowledge of what was truly going on in the war would weaken Australian moral. A massive government campaign of posters warned against idle chitchat, with phrases such as ?those who talk don?t know? and ?those who know don?t talk.? I believe that censorship isn?t a bad thing if it is used to support and protect Australia?s interests.

It was well known that during WWII, when our soldiers wrote back letters to be sent home, they would go through a censoring process where the letters would be censored of anything that may give the enemy a hint of the troop's locations and or strategies. Sometimes the letters would be destroyed completely.

"How and why was rationing introduced in Autralia in world war two?"

During World War 11, the rationing of clothing, certain food items, petrol, tobacco, and alcohol was introduced in Australia. Rationing was introduced to ensure that all Australians were able to have fair access to goods.

During a war all goods and services are often less available as a result of less imports, less people available to manufacture goods and less resources being accessible. Many of the young workers have also been conscripted to the war effort and they leave many industries short on labour. As a result supplies would not be sufficient to meet civilian demand at the normal rates of consumption. Therefore, government officials decided that rationing was the only option, if equal distribution and supply was possible for all the population.

There were rationing cards to keep the supply of food under control. The ration cards were presented to shopkeepers who cut the appropriate number of coupons off for the rationed item at the time of purchase. The number of coupons cut was determined by the Ministry of Food. Sometimes more or less were taken depending on the supply of any particular commodity. Mainly fruit and most vegetables were rationed unless you grew them yourself. Oranges and bananas were a very rare luxury. Items of food rationed included all meat, & bacon; milk and milk powder, the later was mainly for children and invalids; eggs; clothing and footwear. Petrol and oil were reserved for essential services. The ordinary person had none or very little. Not so many had cars anyway.

...The rationing cards... As part of the Curtin Government's 'Total War' strategy, certain foods began to be rationed in 1943. An important part of the Australian war effort was the provision of food to servicemen in our region, as well as the provision of food parcels to Britain. Rationed goods included tea, sugar, beef, pork and chocolate. Rationing impacted more on some Cottesloe (Curtain's home town) families than others. In the war years Cottesloe was not as built up as it is today and many residents had large back yards which could be turned over to growing vegetables and raising hens, thus providing a steady stream of fresh vegetables and eggs. Others had blocks big enough to support their own cow and supply themselves with butter, cream and milk.

Conscription means compulsory enrolment. If you were in a certain age group or had a certain status in society, your name was put on a list of people who had to serve in the army. The federal government decided to introduce conscription in October, 1939. It was declared that all men over 20 years of age were to be military trained and formed into the ?Australian Military Force? (AMF). Australia had two armies: 1)The Second AIF which was made up of volunteers for overseas service. 2) The AMF which was made up of conscripts. The AMF was trained to defend Australia and was to strictly stay on the Australian homefront. But in 1942, when it was realized that Britain was under great threat and military operations with Japan were increasing, the AMF were sent overseas.

The conscription for women was introduced in December, 1941. At first only childless widows and single women 20 to 30 years old were called up, but later the age limit was expanded to 19 to 43 (50 for WWI veterans).As part of the conscription requirement women had to choose whether to enter the armed forces or work in farming or industry.

Conscription was mainly introduced to support the war effort and defence on the Australian homefront. There was a need for more troops, not enough men were volunteering to go to war. The more men joined the army, the more powerful it would be.

They also introduced conscription because after World War 1 where many soldiers had seen the effect of war they did not want to go back. Not as many people wanted to go to war so conscription was needed to get the numbers up.

A lot of people were against conscription because it meant that men had to leave their families behind to join the war. Thousands of families were separated and never saw each other ever again.

Censorship is the government having control over what the public can hear, read or veiw about the war. The NATIONAL SECURITY ACT gave the government the power of censorship.

Censorship?s original purpose was to protect military operations from eavesdroppers and devious individuals selling out to the enemy. But censorship was not only aimed at protecting military operations. It was designed to prevent people knowing the truth about what was really going on in the war. The government believed if people knew the horrifying reality of the war it would weaken Australian morale. In July 1940, the Government, (under the National Security Act), had great control over censorship. When servicemen and women wrote letters to their families in Australia they would go through a censoring process where the letters would be censored of anything that may give the enemy a hint of the troop's locations or strategies. Sometimes the letters would be destroyed completely. To maintain the high Australian morale; newspapers, radio broadcasts and newsreels shown in cinemas were also censored.

They introduced censorship on the homefront to boost the marale of the country and to stop espionage.

They also introducted conscription because after world war 1 where many soldiers had seen the effect of war they did not want to go back. Not as many people wanted to go to war so conscription was needed to get the numbers up.