Compulsory military training in New Zealand
The ordinance required: Every man except as hereinafter excepted, between the ages of (18) years and (60) years, being a British subject, and not an aboriginal native, who shall reside within the colony, shall be liable to serve in such militia.... Those exempted under clause 7 were "Judges of the Supreme Court, all members of the Legislative Council, all clergymen, priests, ministers of religion, and catechists".
In addition under Clause 9 the Police Magistrate shall have power, after hearing such objections, to strike out of the said list the names of all persons who shall not be liable to serve as militiamen, and also of such as are afflicted by lunacy or unsoundness of mind, or deafness, blindness, lameness, or by any other disorder that may render them unfit for active service in any such militia...".
The new Act changed the requirement to register by reducing the maximum age from 60 to 55 and by including all males who had resided in New Zealand for more than three months.
[8] In the late 1880s, people such as Lord Wolseley in England and reported in New Zealand, began to make calls for the universal compulsory military training of young men.
[12] In 1905, the Australasian National Defence League was formed in Australia, with the intent to introduce universal compulsory military training for youths and men on the Swiss system.
[14] By 1907, Australia had begun to move towards compulsory military training despite opposition from trade unions, socialist parties and others.
[18] During the New Zealand 1908 election campaign, Prime Minister Sir Joseph Ward stated that he was against forcing compulsory military training on the populace.
[19] Ward appears to have changed his mind because in April 1909, he announced that the government intended to introduce compulsory military training for youths up to 21 years old.
There was exemption for religious conscientious objectors under Section 92 of the Act but only subject to performing non-combatant duties within the military.
[25] Anti-militarists, such as Reginald Williams of the Passive Resisters Union, and the National Peace Council also spoke out against compulsory training.
Public opinion had tended to harden against conscientious objectors as World War I approached, as the derisive term "conchies" emerged.
[32] By early 1916, Great Britain had introduced conscription, and debate in New Zealand papers was generally overwhelmingly in favour of following suit.
[33] However, it is hard to tell what public opinion truly was, as sedition charges were laid against those who expressed a contrary view[34] and deserters and their employers[35] were pursued[36][37] and given harsh punishments.
[46] In addition to prosecutions under the Act, some local authorities implemented by-laws to prohibit the distribution of anti-compulsory military training leaflets.
[49] During World War II, difficulties in filling the Second and Third Echelons for overseas service in 1939 and 1940 and the Allied disasters of May 1940 led the government to reintroduce conscription reluctantly in June 1940 by the National Service Emergency Regulations on 18 June, made under the Defence Act and the Emergency Regulations Amendment Act of 31 May.
The issue of compulsory military training became a point of debate in the 1960s as New Zealand contributed a combat force to the Vietnam War.
Unlike Australia or the United States which sent conscripts, New Zealand only sent full-time professional regular force soldiers but anti-war protests also included calls to abolish CMT and the Organisation to Halt Military Service (OHMS, a pun on both resistance and "On Her Majesty's Service") mounted a campaign of civil disobedience and lobbying.
There have been sporadic calls for its reintroduction, especially as a measure to reduce youth crime,[citation needed] but no major political party has made it part of its platform.
