Ian Hamilton, a conscientious objector during World War II, is interviewed about his time of incarceration as a 'military defaulter'. He talks of the method of voluntary military service being changed to conscription and because many Labour Party people had spent time in these camps during World War I, they introduced a process involving a tribunal.
Hamilton was represented by Sir Alexander Johnston who told him - "Don't expect justice, this is not a court of law". It resulted in him being sent to Hautu camp which was like a concentration camp for about 700 men who were non-conformists such as himself.
Many of them were younger. He was a married man with one child who had already written a play on pacifism. Because he did not conform he was sent to the 'Bad Boys' camp at Hautu and put into solitary confinement to try and break his spirit. Many of the younger ones had had their spirit broken and were in a state of hopeless despair. He describes being incarcerated as like "having a blanket over your face".
He describes the guards as being "picked out of the scum of New Zealand". There was no real pressure if you conformed but the work they were put to do was not useful at all and so some revolted. As a result the option used was solitary, including different types of force.
Eventually he was sent to Waikune Prison, the toughest in New Zealand at the time, where he and others set about writing letters to government ministers, going on hunger strikes and refusing to work.
He was then transferred to Mt. Eden Prison. You were treated no differently in jail to ordinary prisoners except for the fact that you did not have a prison record on release - as if you hadn't been there.
He recalls the story of Archibald Baxter, who was a non-conformist in WWI and received brutal punishment as a result.
Hamilton clashed with prison staff, both guards and superintendents and comments that some of them were there to avoid going to war themselves. He saw a lot of injustice and comments how he thinks the conditions of today are approaching what happened before WWI.