and School cadets as wellTony Abbottproposes plan for compulsory national service for school leavers
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12:33pm Nov 7, 2022
Former prime minister Tony Abbott has proposed aplan for all school leavers to serve a period of national service in a podcastdiscussing Australia's future in an increasingly militarised world.
Speaking on a the Heartland podcast by the Institute of Public Affairs, the 65-year-old said itwas time that Australia "had a conversation" about a program of compulsory service.
The former politician claimed compulsory servicewould help unite Australians with its government.
Tony Abbott served as the 28th Prime Minister ofAustralia from 2013 to 2015. (Getty)"This is a two-way street," he said.
"It's about giving as well as receiving and Ithink we do have to talk more about what we can give back to our country."
Abbott said national service could take many formsbut should span a "significant time", of at least six to 12 months.
"Puttingon a uniform" and completing basic soldier training is just one example ofnational service. (Supplied/ADF)"There are all sorts of things people coulddo," he said, explaining "putting on a uniform and becoming a basically-trainedinfantry solider" is just one example.
Other ideas he tipped was that teens could "goto work in a remote Indigenous community to try and ensure schools have plentyof good role models", deploy as an Australian Peace Corps to the SouthPacific, or work in nursing homes.
He added the nation "shouldn't be toodogmatic" about where the national service conversation should go.
There are around 85 countries in the world thathave some form of compulsory military service, the UKForces site says.
Some examples include: Turkey, Cyprus, Israel,Syria, Brazil and the Koreas.
In Australia, military conscription was abolishedby law in 1972.
