Tell it in the streets!

Vietnam Moratorium Campaign, 1970

Tell it in the Streets!

On a wet Friday afternoon, 200 people gathered in Martin Place as part of an anti-war ‘tell-it-in-the streets’ campaign. After distributing pamphlets, the demonstrators moved on to a theatre to hear speeches.

The Vietnam War was the cause of the greatest political dissent in Australia since the Conscription Referenda of the First World War. The first despatch of troops to Vietnam was in 1965 and, at first, the war was popular. By 1969, anti-war protests were gathering momentum.

In that year, large demonstrations under the banner, Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam, took place in the United States and the Vietnam Moratorium Campaign was formed in Australia.

The first Moratorium demonstration took place in May 1970 with 200,000 people taking part around Australia. A second Moratorium was held in September and a third in June 1971.

By late 1970, Australia’s military effort in Vietnam began to wind down and by the end of 1971 practically all troops had been withdrawn.
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