Michael Matteson

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Michael Matteson publicly resisted conscription into the Australian Army during the Vietnam War.

Michael Matteson's motivation for standing against conscription was his anarchist beliefs, while others stood against conscription because of religious or other moral reasons.

In 1972 there was "the Michael Matteson Handcuff Incident;" where about a thousand students at Sydney University freed the draft resister from the law. He had made a few highly public escapes in the past but this time he was handcuffed to two Commonwealth policemen; one on each wrist. The combined peaceful action of the students freed him.

[edit] External references

• ABC summary of events from the 1970s
• Markey, Ray (1998). In Praise of Protest: The Vietnam Moratorium (pdf). Illawarra Unity. Illawarra Branch of the Australian Society for the Study of Labour History; University of Wollongong. Retrieved on 2006-07-03.