During the second half of World War I, the First Australian Imperial Force experienced a shortage of men as the number of men volunteering to fight overseas declined and the casualty rate increased. At the time, military service within the Commonwealth of Australia and its territories was compulsory for Australian men, but that requirement did not extend to conflict outside of Australia. In 1916, Prime Minister Billy Hughes called a plebiscite to determine public support for extending conscription to include military service outside the Commonwealth for the duration of the war. The referendum, held on 28 October 1916, narrowly rejected the proposal. A second plebiscite, held a year later on 20 December 1917, also failed to gain a majority.

William Morris Hughes was an Australian politician who served as the seventh prime minister of Australia from 1915 to 1923. He led the country during World War I, and his influence on national politics spanned several decades. He was a member of the federal parliament from Federation in 1901 until his death in 1952, and is the only person to have served for more than 50 years. He represented six political parties during his career, leading five, outlasting four, and being expelled from three.