Reinforcements. Our scrap of paper, honor it. Vote Yes. Referendum (Australia, 1917)
A torn strip of paper carries a quotation signed by former Prime Minister Andrew Fisher, 'We will fight to the last man and the last shilling', framed as 'our scrap of paper' to 'honor'. The named ex-Labor leader vouches for a Yes vote (testimonial), and 'scrap of paper', the phrase then associated with the German dismissal of the Belgian neutrality treaty in 1914, is turned into a pledge whose breach a No vote would repeat (transfer).
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1917
- Period
- First World War
- Made by
- Reinforcements Referendum Council, Melbourne (pro-conscription 'Yes' campaign), printed by Sands & McDougall
Full record
Region, Country, Medium, Issuer type, Regime, Leader, Audience, Purpose, Themes, Event, Source, Rights
- Region
- Oceania
- Country
- Australia
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- Movement
- Regime
- Hughes Government
- Leader
- William Morris Hughes
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Persuade or win support
- Themes
- War and the military, Elections and party politics
- Event
- Australian Conscription Referendums
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- Source
- Australian War Memorial, retrieved September 29, 2026
- Rights
- Public domain (published 1917; AWM: copyright expired; PD-Australia)
Reinforcements Referendum Council; printed by Sands & McDougall Pty Ltd, Melbourne. 1917. Australian War Memorial, AWM2017.1202.1.
Text on the object
Original (English) · read from the image, not independently checked
REINFORCEMENTS OUR SCRAP OF PAPER "We will fight to the last man and the last shilling" Andrew Fisher [signature] HONOR IT VOTE YES REFERENDUM Authorised by the Reinforcements Referendum Council, Claude McKay, Publicity Secretary, 366 Collins St., Melbourne. Printed by Sands & McDougall Pty. Ltd. [imprint line, very small; read at low confidence]
The image as supplied by the holding institution carries a white caption strip below the sheet reading 'AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL AWM2017.1202.1', added by the museum and not part of the poster.
