CONSCRIPTION  TO  RESUME
Tomorrow's headline?  It's being discussed as you read, and anti-discrimination means both sexes next time.

The subject re-emerges regularly from community sections.  Not a year goes by without calls to bring back national service - this year is no exception, only recently a group was calling for its return in national media.  Compulsory national service is often presented as a remedy for youth unemployment and lack of personal standards.  Figures are usually quoted to show that many countries today have compulsory military service.  A real concern to the middle-to-lower end of the social-economic scale - our combat zone had a mysterious absence of conscripts from rich, powerful, or political families.  No silver spoon conscripts with a rifle in the jungle, check the records.  Also check their various means to avoid conscription or remove privileged conscripts from the system when war posting loomed.  Most war conscripts would recall examples of both, even after all these years.  Lest we forget.

"Bring back national service" is usually the call (always for someone else - never for themselves, brave souls).  So far the calls have been unsuccessful, with our community having the sense to say "no".  That's no reason for complacency because this won't always be the case.  Those supporting peacetime conscription will not simply fade away and community emotions are capable of huge swings of the pendulum.  When public emotions rise with calls of democracy for the free world or giving a helping hand, if your country needs instant fighting troops - forget any academic theories about your human rights.

In the Australian constitution lurks the same cruel machine patiently awaiting its next peacetime conscripts ...