In March 1932 the Society arranged for a national convention to be held in the Sydney suburb of Ashfield. The brothers gathered in the Town Hall and enjoyed an edifying spiritual feast. The advantages of street witnessing were brought to the attention of the 600 brothers in attendance.

In 1938 J. F. Rutherford, the Society’s president, visited Sydney for a convention, which was held in the Leichhardt Stadium. Plans were made for him to give the public talk at the Sydney Sports Ground, and contracts were signed for his address to be published in a morning newspaper and broadcast throughout the country by radio. By this time Brother Rutherford was well known for his outspoken remarks about the activities of the Roman Catholic Church in public affairs. As a result, the press and radio authorities wanted to censor his speech before handling it, but this was unacceptable to the brothers. So arrangements were made to include it in a booklet under the title Freedom or Romanism? One million copies of this bright-red “bombshell” were printed for distribution throughout Australia. Meanwhile, Brother Rutherford was the center of intense publicity. As a result, close to ten thousand people came to hear him speak. At that time there were only 1,300 Witnesses in all Australia, so the witness given was great indeed.