Dissent and Disengagement: Canberra Student Protest Against the Vietnam War

Photo: Robert Hall

The 1960s, student activism and the Vietnam War conjure images of protest, change and radicalism. At the time, radical Australian students were referred to by politicians as ‘political bikies who pack-rape democracy’ (Billy Snedden, 1970) and have since been referred to as a ‘whole youth generation who were edgy, who directly confronted the dominant mainstream with demands for change’ (Simon Marginson, 2005). But what about Canberra? How did students at ANU protest Australia’s involvement in the Vietnam War? In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Canberra and ANU were both small and relatively newly established. ANU had a small undergraduate population and was dominated by older, part-time students, as well as the children of public servants. Canberra also lacked the union presence that contributed to demonstrations and stop work actions in Melbourne, and was full of government employees who were less likely to vocalise their dissent or to strike. Given this, it is not surprising that student protest in Canberra was smaller than in other Australian capital cities. However, there was still dissent and protest from students who used a variety of protest methods that amplified their small numbers. From the ANUSA, Woroni and The Canberra Times archives a narrative emerges of a vocal minority of Canberra students who protested the Vietnam War. We should bear in mind that the archives of many smaller, more radical groups are kept privately and so the image is weighted towards institutions whose history is publicly recorded.

ANU Students’ Association

On the whole, ANU Students’ Association (ANUSA) — the representative body for undergraduate students — kept itself removed from politics and the debate over the Vietnam War. However, with a new Student Representative Council (SRC) elected each year, ANUSA’s position was far from static. An ‘anonymous’ contributor to the 1967 Current Affairs Bulletin, who was known to be UNSW student Richard Walsh, wrote that due to its location ANU ‘might well have been expected to prove the most dynamic and involved campus in the country,’ but ‘undergraduate life is distinguished by its apathy, conservatism and indifference to national causes’ (Foster & Varghese, 2009, p212). The conservatism of ANUSA can be seen in a long running debate over whether the SRC should take a position on any political matters or hold itself independent. In May 1965, a motion for the SRC to condemn the sending of troops to Vietnam was lost as some thought the SRC was ‘not a competent body to issue dictums on student opinion’ and that the motion ‘set a dangerous precedent’ (ANU Archives: ANUA 331.15, SRC Minutes, 1965). The SRC decided instead to call a Special General Meeting to discuss the motion and later passed a motion declaring itself incompetent to decide ‘political questions in the name of the student body’ (ANUA 331.125, SRC Minutes 1965). In 1966 ANUSA conducted a survey of ANU students and found that their views generally mirrored the general population in supporting Australia’s involvement in Vietnam. 65 per cent of students, from a 20 per cent sample group, supported Australia’s military commitment to Vietnam, but only 32 per cent supported the sending of conscripts (ANUA 331.3.8.354).

The SRC was beleaguered by internal problems and infighting, even passing a motion to disband in 1971 — although this motion was later declared void (ANUA 331.5.17, President’s Report 1971). This affected their ability to carry out advocacy work as much of their focus was directed inward. During this time ANUSA campaigned for internal campus issues, including for a dentist on campus and a childcare centre (ANUA 331.1.15 15, SRC Minutes 1965). However, ANUSA also supported the establishment of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in 1972 and campaigned for the first scholarships for Aboriginal students (Abschol) through the late 1960s, demonstrating that students were willing to engage with external, national issues as well as internal politics.

Changes in feeling toward Australia’s involvement in Vietnam in the general population were reflected within ANUSA. Towards the end of the 1960s ANUSA and ANU student activism increased. The 1969 Bulletin survey of university campuses ranked student activism from ‘frigid’ to ‘hot’. ANU was in the middle with a rating of ‘simmering steadily’ (Foster &Vaughan, 214). An example of this is the AGM of 1969 passing a motion declaring ANU a sanctuary for draft resisters, requiring ANU to provide accommodation and physical assistance to any men resisting conscription. While the motion passed at the AGM, it generated sufficient controversy for a student referendum to be called on the matter, where the motion was soundly defeated (ANUA 331. 3. 8 Minutes 1969). While ANUSA remained preoccupied with internal problems and were reluctant to speak on behalf of a diverse student population, active students gravitated to the ANU Labor Club