Page 29 - Keeping the Peace

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‘The Justice of the Peace’, 10 April 1941, p. 6.
Keeping the Peace – A History of Honorary Justices in Victoria 23
Second World War:
keeping the peace on the home-front
War conditions again created new political concerns that had potential ramifications for the role of the JP. On a very immediate level, reduced transport and street lighting meant that the HJs Association had to cancel many of its lectures and other professional development activities. Apart from losing many of its citizens to the fighting abroad, the country was also increasingly concerned about domestic security. The new Commonwealth legislation curtailing ‘Un-Australian activities’ and the policing of ‘subversive organisations’, for example, caught the attention of the Association and in 1941 it conveyed its interest in assisting in this area to the acting Prime Minister, the Honorable A W Fadden.43
Despite the political turmoil, JPs continued to perform their duties at court.
JPs Thomas Ryan, William Young and Frank Davis sitting on the bench at the Drouin Courthouse [ca 1944].
Jim Fitzpatrick, National Library of Australia, nla.pic-an24358616