The idea of conscription was proposed in 1916 by the prime minister of the time, Billy Hughes. He introduced it in hope it would increase the numbers of Australian Troops, therefore putting them at full strength. The government already had the right to conscript Australian men to fight in Australia but they didn't have the right to do that in other countries.
But he did not have the majority of the senate’s agreement and so he decided to let the people vote on it. The peoples vote wasn't official but he planned to use it to try and convince the opposing senators that it was what the people wanted and therefore change their mind.
Leading up to this vote propaganda was used a lot. It was used for both sides and mostly aimed at the women because they made up the majority of people voting. It was also aimed at the men themselves, parents and even children.
This is an example of a poster for and against conscription.
They are using the same argument in both posters but have completely twisted it so one is arguing for conscription and one against it. They are also both aimed at women, with young children.
The propaganda from both sides were very effective and used every way they could think of to convince people that their side was the right side and that you were a bad person if you didn't agree. The propaganda mostly worked because it brought strong emotions (usually guilt) onto those who they were aimed at.
The result from the vote was the conscription being rejected- 51% to 49%but as you can see it was very close.
In 1917 Prime Minister Hughes held another vote for conscription but once again it was rejected by the people, this time by a larger margin of votes.
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