‘Bitter Enemies of the Sporting Fraternity’: The War Precautions Act and the Restriction of Horse-Racing in Australia during World War One

Abstract

The First World War as a form of total warfare required belligerent governments to take centralized control of society in order to better prosecute their respective war efforts. In Australia, this was enforced through the War Precautions Act, an item of legislation which greatly expanded executive power and restricted civil liberties. Among the various regulations emplaced on society came restrictions on entertainments, including sport. This paper focuses on the curtailment of sport on the Australian home front, principally horse-racing, as an example of government authoritarianism in wartime and the turmoil it fuelled. These regulations illuminate the government’s willingness to control even the trivial elements of Australian life, as well as its deteriorating relationship with factions of the Australian populace. Unlike other studies, however, this paper uncovers a broad level of discontent among racing institutions at either end of the social spectrum. Though the middle classes are said to have supported the government in its strict execution of the war effort, socially prestigious clubs expressed resentment toward the repressive methods of government that matched working class discontent. Such evidence brings into question the clear dividing lines used to explain social conflict on the home front during the war.