Initial reactions

When war broke out in September 1939 the Australian Government was much better prepared for it than in 1914.

As in 1914 most Australians seemed to support the decision to be involved in the war. All major parties, churches and newspapers supported involvement. The only groups not to support the decision were pacifists such as Jehovah's Witnesses, and hardcore socialists who opposed involvement because the Soviet Union opposed it.

Two cartoonists' views of the war.
That on the left appeared in the Sydney Daily Telegraph, 1939.
That on the right depicts the "dominions" (eg Australia, Canada) as lion cubs and appeared in the Melbourne Sun on 9Sep1939.

Nor was there the same rush to enlist. The government deliberately moved more slowly and in a more organised way - they had learned from 1914 when many men in essential occupations had been allowed to enlist, to the harm of the home front effort.