Zoe Kenny, Sydney
At its annual conference in November, attended by 400 delegates, the NSW branch of Young Labor adopted a policy supporting the reinstatement of a national draft for high-school students. NSW Young Labor will lobby for inclusion of the policy in the ALP's 2007 federal election campaign.
Support for the draft by the ALP's youth wing reveals the extent of Labor's shift to the right; even the Liberal Party has not endorsed such a policy. During the Vietnam War, Labor opposed the draft and abolished it when it was elected to federal government in 1972.
If implemented, Young Labor's policy would force all high-school students to spend a period of time doing either community or military service in order to be able to graduate from high school. Young Labor president Sam Dastyari justified the policy by citing a so-called lack of willingness by young people to contribute to society — therefore "students should be required to formally contribute".
While it is true that many young people are alienated from our society, more meaningful education and work choices would be far more effective solutions to their problems than a national draft.
The community service component of Young Labor's policy would have young people "helping with chores at the local retirement village" or "helping community groups or churches or charities". It is a transparent attempt to substitute unpaid youth labour for properly funded public services and properly paid jobs. The Salvation Army has already endorsed the policy, no doubt having calculated the gains to its bottom line.
Compulsory military service could "normalise" military activities into young people's lives and help convince more of them to join the armed forces after leaving school. But this is not automatic — young people have been at the forefront of opposition to all wars, including the recent invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan. Opinion polls consistently show that opposition to the occupations of those countries is very high among young people.
Nevertheless, the fact that Young Labor has endorsed such a policy highlights the urgent need to build a stronger anti-war movement in Australia, a movement that can ensure that this reactionary policy is never implemented.
From Green Left Weekly, January 25, 2006.
Visit the Green Left Weekly home page.