From the ABC's The Drum website - a call for a national monument to shirkers to sit alongside the Australian War Memorial
Friday, 24 April 2015
UPDATED 3.30PM FRIDAY ARVO
We didn't have conscription during World War One, nor during World War Two - everyone who fought to protect Australia was a volunteer.
We conscripted soldiers for national service after WW2 and had processes by which genuine conscientious objectors could avoid war service - if someone feels that strongly about avoiding their national defence obligation, well that's a matter for them and their conscience. It is not a cause for commemoration or celebration.
Trust the ABC to find someone calling for a monument to sit alongside the Australian War Memorial to celebrate the white-feather brigade, the shirkers who were happy to leave it up to someone else.
It's deliberately provocative to publish a call like that on the eve of the biggest Anzac Day commemoration our nation has known. It's a insult to those fine men and women who did not go jack on their mates, who laid their lives on the line for their nation and for the many families whose loved ones did not come home.
Conscientious objectors should be left to their own devices. The less said the better.
As for Val No-one - go for your life with your own monument, stick it up your backyard.
For our nation's genuine warriors who kept us free I'm sure I speak on your behalf in making this promise forever. We will remember them. Lest we forget.
Australia needs a national memorial to the conscientious objectors to war that sits in or beside the National War Memorial. Alongside the soldiers, these men and women deserve our respect and recognition, writes Val Noone.
As we commemorate the centenary of the Australian and New Zealand role in the British invasion of the Gallipoli peninsula in Turkey, it's imperative that we recognise that Australians have been challenging the dominant Anzac narrative since the very beginning. For example, if 35 per cent of eligible males volunteered, 65 per cent did not.
World War I was a calamity that could have been avoided. We owe it to the millions who suffered on all sides during and after the war to recall not only the military history but also the opposition to the war and the bitter divisions in our society at that time.
Australian activists of 100 years ago took a principled stand, and while their efforts in and of themselves did not bring the war to an end, they were nevertheless successful in keeping alive the flame of commitment to peace. These men and women also deserve our respect and recognition.
READ MORE IF YOU MUST HERE - thanks to Newbposter for the tip.