World War I conscription in Australia

In 1916, Prime Minister Billy Hughes called a plebiscite to determine public support for extending conscription to include military service outside the Commonwealth for the duration of the war.

On his return to Australia, he declared his view that conscription was needed to supply the Australian forces with a sufficient number of soldiers.

The campaign surrounding the plebiscite deeply divided the nation, and meetings organised by the pro- and anti-conscription camps were attended by large crowds.

The plebiscite, held on 28 October 1916, asked Australian voters: Are you in favour of the Government having, in this grave emergency, the same compulsory powers over citizens in regard to requiring their military service, for the term of this War, outside the Commonwealth, as it now has in regard to military service within the Commonwealth?The proposition was narrowly rejected, by a margin of 48.4% for and 51.6% against, reflecting a relatively small margin of 72,476 votes.

In the light of that, and a significant decline in voluntary enlistments in 1916–17, Hughes decided to hold a second conscription plebiscite, which took place on 20 December 1917.

The plebiscite question was much simpler: Are you in favour of the proposal of the Commonwealth government for reinforcing the Australian Imperial Force oversea [sic]?The result was a slightly more decisive rejection of conscription than the year before, with 46% for and 54% against, a margin of 166,588 votes.

The failed referendum led to Prime Minister Billy Hughes losing his seat in the Australian Labor Party.

Daniel Patrick Mannix (4 March 1864 – 2 November 1963), Irish-born Australian Catholic archbishop, was one of Australia's biggest influences in the 20th century.

Through this, he encouraged the political endeavours of James Scullin, Frank Brennan, Joseph Lyons and, later, Arthur Calwell.

In between July and August 1916, there was a loss of 28,000 men, and Generals Birdwood and White of the Australian Imperial Forces impressed upon Hughes that conscription was needed for Australia to continue impacting the war sufficiently.

Early in 1917, the two then merged into the Nationalist Party of Australia and won the May election, with Hughes pledging to resign if again defeated at the plebiscite in December that year.

The question was defeated by a yet greater margin this time, and Hughes honored his promise to resign—only to be reinstated as prime minister by the Governor General.