Teaser excerpt:
The Minister for the Army, Percy C Spender, had requested a Cabinet meeting to decide upon a ban of the sect on 9 December 1940, and he had enclosed with this request a military intelligence report dated 21 November 1940 recommending the banning of the Witnesses. Cabinet would have been aware of pressure by the clergy, the Returned Sailors, Soldiers and Airman's Imperial League of Australia (RSSAILA), local councils and state politicians, particularly Mr Mair’s threat to curtail the Witnesses in New South Wales if the Commonwealth did not ban the sect. Menzies himself had received many letters complaining about the Witnesses and had not ruled out the possibility of banning the Witnesses.
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"In October 1940 the Sydney Morning Herald reported the Premier of New South Wales, Alexander Mair, as saying: The organization known as Jehovah’s Witnesses was definitely disloyal to the interests of Australia, was anti-British, and was a disruptive element to the community … he was asking the State Attorney-General … if the Commonwealth Government did not declare the organization of an illegal body, to consider whether the State Government had power to legislate to control it.
Mair then wrote directly to Menzies, saying that ‘the feeling of indignation against the organization is increasing rapidly’.xiv Menzies replied in December 1940: Even if the Commonwealth has power to suppress the body, any action by the Commonwealth to that end would probably result in protracted litigation, as the body would undoubtedly challenge the validity of the Commonwealth action.xv However, the paragraph which was to end Menzies’ letter, saying that the government did ‘not propose to introduce legislation on the subject’ was deleted. This was perhaps a prescient move by Menzies, as approximately six weeks later, the Commonwealth Government banned Jehovah’s Witnesses."
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Read the details in this PDF
http://www.flinders.edu.au/sabs/fjhp-files/2008/JaynePersian2008.pdf
