Hughes at a huge overflow meeting at the Sydney Town Hall, where he outlined the government's proposals. That was followed by a huge pro-conscription meeting at the Melbourne Town Hall on 21 September. Anti-conscriptionists, especially in Melbourne, were also able to mobilise large crowds, with a meeting filling the Exhibition Building on 20 September 1916; 30,000 people on the Yarra bank on Sunday, 15 October, and 25,000 the following week; a "parade of women promoted by the United Women's No-Conscription Committee – an immense crowd of about 60,000 people gathered at Swanston St between Guild Hall and Princes Bridge, and for upwards of an hour the street was a surging area of humanity". An anti-conscription stop work meeting called by five trade unions held on the Yarra Bank mid-week on 4 October attracted 15,000 people. It was passed on 21 September 1916, and mandatory registration and enrolment commenced while the first plebiscite campaign was underway. By 5 October, The Age reported that of 11607 men examined, 4581 were found fit, approximately 40 percent. The Age noted in the article "Influence of the IWW" that "the great bulk of the opposition to conscription is centred in Victoria". Many meetings in inner Melbourne and Sydney were disrupted by anti-conscriptionists with speakers being howled down from the audience in what The Age described as "disgraceful exhibition" and "disorderly scenes". The issue deeply divided the Labor Party, with ministers such as Hughes and George Pearce vigorously arguing the need for conscription for Australia to help the Allies win the war. They were supported by many within the party, including Labor's first prime minister, Chris Watson and NSW Labor Premier William Holman. Hughes denounced anti-conscriptionists as traitors and a climate of bitter sectarianism developed since most Roman Catholics opposed conscription and most others supported it. By the end of the war in November 1918, a total of 416,809 men had voluntarily enlisted in the Army, representing 38.7 percent of the white male population aged between 18 and 44. On 1 November 1929, the mandatory service provisions of the Defence Act were suspended, and after 18 years, conscription for home defence had come to an end. World War II In 1939, at the start of World War II, all unmarried men aged 21 were to be called up for three months' military training. The men could serve only in Australia or its territories. Conscription was effectively