Michael Matteson was an anti-war activist who resisted
conscription
Conscription, also known as the draft in the United States and Israel, is the practice in which the compulsory enlistment in a national service, mainly a military service, is enforced by law. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it conti ...
into the Australian Army during the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
, due to his
anarchist
Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...
philosophy and principles.
In 1972, Matteson was being escorted by two Commonwealth policemen—handcuffed to one at each wrist—as he had previously taken part in highly public escapes. As the police escorted him through
Sydney University
The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...
, thousands of university students
nonviolently
Nonviolence is the personal practice of not causing harm to others under any condition. It may come from the belief that hurting people, animals and/or the environment is unnecessary to achieve an outcome and it may refer to a general philosoph ...
confronted and blockaded the officers' movement. The combined action of the students pressured the officers into freeing Matteson. The event became known as the "Michael Matteson Handcuff Incident".
In late November 1972 Matteson was jailed but within weeks, along with six other draft resisters, he was freed on direction of newly elected Prime Minister
Gough Whitlam
Edward Gough Whitlam (11 July 191621 October 2014) was the 21st prime minister of Australia, serving from December 1972 to November 1975. To date the longest-serving federal leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), he was notable for being ...
.
See also
*
Geoff Mullen
Geoffrey Richard Mullen (16 March 1947 – 25 November 2014) was an Australian draft resister whose jailing in 1971 became a focal point of opposition to conscription for the Vietnam War.
Mullen was born in Darlinghurst and attended Waverley ...
*
Anarchism in Australia
Anarchism in Australia arrived within a few years of anarchism developing as a distinct tendency in the wake of the 1871 Paris Commune. Although a minor school of thought and politics, composed primarily of campaigners and intellectuals, Au ...
References
External links
Notes by Michael Matteson on Australian draft resistance
Australian anarchists
Australian conscientious objectors
Activists from Sydney
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
Cold War history of Australia
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