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Keith
 Sep 15, 06 - 6:54 PM |
Retired Officer Raises The Issues and Condemns The RSL Leadership
From: Bernie McGurgan Sent: Friday, September 15, 2006 5:28 PM Subject: Eternal Flame Foundation-QLD RSL Gidday Doug Thank you for the letter and survey material which I received today, FRI 15 SEP 06. I believe I joined the RSL back in 1989 when I finally decided to settle down again after some 25 years Army service, and I now belong to the Cleveland RSL Sub Branch (Member no 550719)! After resigning from the ATO in 2000, after ten years service, I decided to use my tax taught computer skills, to better the lives of Returned Servicemen and women and their families, by providing regular Veterans information in regards to entitlements, updates and any Government information pertaining to the well being of Veterans and their families! So much so that I now have rather huge email listings of all my ex AATTV mates, ex RAR/RAE mates, ex Bn mates and many more ex soldiers/sailors/airmen/civilians from around Australia! I also subscribe to various returned servicemen web sites with the same gaol in mind of assisting our fellow War Veterans tirelessly! Indeed I have been badgering DVA Ministers since the time of Bruce Scott, four such DVA Ministers ago, as well as various Defence Ministers and Ministers assisting who have been continually shuffled and changed by John Howard during the last six years! I think we met somewhere around 100 years ago whilst in Sydney or Townsville, John Crossman is a good mate of mine, and if memory serves he introduced us those many long years ago at some Mess function or other! Doug I believe the National RSL are not doing their chartered job of looking after ex servicemen and their families! It would seem to me that the National RSL personnel are more interested in the Canberra "Cocktail Circuit" than assisting Veterans and their families! Just this very week Bruce Billson announced the injection of some $600 million towards Veterans Health, something which the DVA actually brought upon itself in the first instance with their infighting with the AMA, to fix the problems of the Gold and White card, which many in the medical profession were refusing to service! Bill Crews used this injection of funds to his advantage but, as the greater majority of Veterans know and understand, Blue Ryan (TPI) and Tim McCombe (VVF) and other ESOs have been suggesting this very same fix announced by Billson since 2002/03 (I have the paperwork to verify this very point). Where were the National RSL and its leadership during 2002/03 when this problem first came into being? I would like to suggest a few topics, which Veterans are indeed concerned about, and about which the National RSL appear to be doing very little about: A Superannuation As you are aware all DFRDB/DFRB together with PSS/CSS (the PS superannuation schemes) are indexed solely against CPI. Consequently since my retirement in 1987 I have lost a conservative cumlative loss of around $68,440.00, and that is a lot of money in anyones terms! No other superannuation funds that I am aware of are indexed solely against the CPI figures! Indeed the Government just before the last election, as a vote catcher, began to index the Single Mothers pension, the Aged Pension and the Dole against 25% of Average Weekly Ordinary Time Earnings (AWOTE), or the CPI, whichever was greater! The reason given by Government then for this largesse being that the CPI is not a true indication of cost of living increases. Furthermore two Senate Select Committees have recommend that all PS and ADF superannuation schemes be indexed against CPI or AWOTE whichever is the higher! The Government has refused to budge on the matter! Thus some 150,000 ADF superannuants and some 450,000 PS superannuants, and their families, are slowly having their just and legal superannuation entitlements eroded away over time! Federal politicans have their superannuation entitlements indexed against Male Total Average Weekly Earnings (MTAWE) which is even more financially lucrative than AWOTE? As an example over the past ten years (to DEC 04) CPI has increased by around 30%! For the same period AWOTE increased by some 54%! I know which indexation method I would much prefer to be on, and why is the Federal Government actively discriminating against ex soldiers and ex PS? We must have our superannuation entitlements indexed against CPI/MTAWE, whichever is the higher, as recommended by the two Senate Select Committees! B TPI/EDA ENTITLEMENTS Again you are aware TPI/EDA entitlements are partially indexed against the CPI figure! After the Clarke report the TPI entitlement was divided into two separate entities, the economic and non economic loss (of which I am still waiting to see the necessary amended Legislation from the Minister). The current Government does not break the social security and Service entitlement into TWO separate parts, so why should TPI entitlements be treated this way? Thus over time TPI/EDA entitlements will continue to lose value are eroding away quite rapidly! To date the TPI payment has lost $80.00 per fortnight in value since 1997! The TPI/EDA entitlements need to be fully indexed against the CPI/MTAWE, whichever is the higher, and the total entitlement payment of TPI/EDA indexed in this manner, not partially! C WIDOWS BURIAL ASSISTANCE Widows of the Vietnam/Korea/Borneo wars receive only $1,000 to assist in the burial of their Veteran husbands! Widows of the Iraq/Afghanistan/East Timor conflicts can receive up to $4,000 in financial assistance to bury their Veteran husbands! Once you are dead, you are dead and it costs the same to bury your Veteran husband in Australia, regardless of which war the Veteran fought in! Why the disparity in burial assistance? D CARERS ALLOWANCE Carers of Veterans receive a much smaller carers allowance than do the carers of everyday civilian disabled! Why again the disparity? I would have thought Veterans carers should be paid more for their care and suffering? E PHARMACEUTICALS Why should Veterans now be paying for their necessary medication, when the same medication was FREE in the 1990s? Indeed why should a TPI/EDA Veteran pay for any medicines at all? F GOLD CARD /WHITE CARD SHAMBLES The non servicing of the GC/WC by members of the AMA was a national disgrace! It was a direct result of the DVA/AMA infighting and of the DVAs own making! All Bruce Billson has now done is rectify the financial side by the injection of $600 million into Veterans Health and made peace with the AMA! Hopefully this will see the end of the problem? It is important that the new Super Card be suitably embossed and coloured to distinguish DVA Gold Card holders from the rest of the Health system participants! One final matter is the RSL agenda items of each and every years conference, when all State and Federal RSL leaders/members get together to discuss Veterans welfare! Is it possible to get copies of the Agenda items as few, if any, RSL members that I know have any idea of the items to be discussed at such conferences! It is all a big secret, why? To conclude I will be forwarding a small monetary amount to assist fellow Veterans in genuine and immediate need! I wish you well in your new venture as State President of the RSL (QLD Branch). Persevere Bernie McGurgan (A Veteran) |
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Lloyd Patterson
Sep 16th, 2006 - 8:02 AM |
Re: Retired Officer Raises The Issues and Condemns The RSL Leadership
Just on Military Super 1 billion dollars was saved. The sting is in the tail of the following extract. Defence and Senate 2001 Thursday, 15 February 2001 SENATE—Select SFS 133 SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES [1.53 p.m.] WELLSPRING, Mr Adrian, Director-General, Personnel Policy and Employment Conditions, Department of Defence CHAIR—Thank you for appearing before the committee today. Mr Wellspring—Thank you for the opportunity to come before the committee to speak about Defence superannuation arrangements. Defence has made a submission to the inquiry and I do not propose to go through the submission in detail. Rather, I will address some of the main points. The Defence submission notes that at times there is criticism of the indexation arrangements. This criticism often implies that the schemes are deficient in this regard and are therefore bad schemes. The criticism is usually single-focused with the suggestion that rather than a small change resulting from indexation arrangements, members might be better of by taking the money and investing it in the open market. This raises the issue of the unfunded liability of the schemes, particularly that part that relates to the preserved benefits. The Australian Government Actuary has estimated that if all existing preserved benefits were to be funded for the military superannuation schemes, there would be a need to find in excess of $1 billion. |
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Keith
Sep 18th, 2006 - 3:17 PM |
Re: Retired Officer Raises The Issues and Condemns The RSL Leadership
From: Bernie McGurgan Sent: Monday, September 18, 2006 11:01 AM Subject: THE REAL CPI (SM Herald today)-Very Interesting! Gidday No wonder the Howard Govt discrimimates against retired ex ADF/Ex PS members by maintaining CPI indexation for retirees via CPI indexation of DFRB/DFRDB/PSS and CPS schemes and additionally CPI indexation of TPI/EDA entitlements (or rather a portion of?) Persevere Bernie ********************* The real CPI: cars cheap, food a luxury IF YOU have a weakness for electronic gadgets or new cars it's been a tempting decade. Prices for TVs and computers have fallen 68 per cent, small electronic goods 14 per cent and vehicles 19 per cent since 1996. But it's a different story for many of life's basics. Fruit and vegetables, health services, public transport, child care and even bread have been rising much more quickly than the overall rate of inflation. During the past decade fruit prices are up 112 per cent, vegetables 70 per cent, health care 50 per cent, public transport 49 per cent and bread 48 per cent. Child care has risen an eye-popping 91 per cent since 1996. In that time, however, the average increase for all 90 goods and services that make up the official inflation measure - the consumer price index or CPI - has been just 29.6 per cent. A report, "Let them eat cake - How low-income earners are disavantaged by the consumer price index", claims the disparity in price changes between many essentials, like a loaf of bread, and many non-essentials, like plasma TVs, reveals shortcomings with the CPI. The CPI is not an accurate guide to the cost of living and underestimates the impact of inflation on low-income families, including many retirees, it says. "Families who spend relatively more than average on food have experienced a more rapid cost of living rise than suggested by the CPI while the cost of living for those families that spend heavily on new cars and electrical appliances has risen more slowly than indicated by the CPI," the report, commissioned by the Australian Greens, says. The Greens' leader, Bob Brown, said the report highlighted the need for a new cost of living index to be developed to complement the CPI, which ignores the cost of interest rate payments and the land which houses are built on. "The CPI has its uses, but the Bureau of Statistics is the first to concede that it is no longer a cost of living index. It is time that the Government funded the bureau to construct a proper cost of living index that includes the costs of mortgage interest, the cost of land, and focuses more on the costs of the essentials that low-income earners rely so heavily upon," he said. The CPI has become the most closely watched economic indicator since the Reserve Bank was formally charged with managing interest rates to keep inflation between 2 and 3 per cent in 1996. When the June quarter CPI showed inflation had reached a decade-high 4 per cent - excluding the one-off price spike following the introduction of the GST - the bank increased interest rates a week later. Many economists believe it will lift rates again in early November, soon after the next quarterly inflation figures are released in late October. Since the bank's inflation target was introduced, the cost of mortgage interest was removed from the CPI to tailor it to the needs of managing interest rates. Senator Brown said the CPI was masking how low-income earners were being hit by inflation. "A major problem with relying on the CPI as a measure of the cost of living is that it averages out the differences in a wide range of costs. The Treasurer might think cheaper electrical appliances help balance out more expensive fruit and vegetables when he is talking about inflation, but struggling families are unlikely to substitute one for the other," he said. |
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Raymond Evans
Sep 18th, 2006 - 11:23 PM |
Re: Retired Officer Raises The Issues and Condemns The RSL Leadership
Commonwealth policy on indexation: some recent history:- Indexation arrangements as they apply to Commonwealth funds have always been complex and to a certain extent ad hoc. In 1995 the Keating Labor Government announced plans to review and revamp the major indices used for its programs across the whole of Government. Following the review, the Government said that it would introduce a revised series of indices including, for the wage cost component, a new set of indices then under development by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). These indices would reflect actual wage movements, industry by industry. The new ABS Wages Cost Indices, when finalized, would be applied to each program in a “cocktail” index that reflected the proportion of program costs made up by wages and salaries and related costs; the other portion of the index would consist of a price measure for goods and services, such as the Consumer Price Index (CPI). As an interim measure – until the ABS had finalized its new wage indices - Keating said that indexation for most programs would be based, as far as wage costs were concerned, on the Safety Net Adjustment (SNA). The SNA is the annual rise in the minimum wage determined by the Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC) and expressed in dollar terms. (For example, the 2004 determination by the AIRC granted the lowest paid workers a rise of $19 per week – an unusually generous decision. The previous year an amount of $10 was determined.) As soon as the ABS indices were ready, they would replace the makeshift series of SNA-based cocktails. It was expected at that time that the new ABS figures would be available for use in the 1996 Federal Budget; the interim arrangements would last, in other words, just one year. This was just as well, because the indices struck in 1995 were quite inadequate in that they failed to take account of actual wage movements relevant to the funding of programs across the various different Government expenditure areas.(Teachers, for example, usually receive salary increases greater than $10 per week – a sum that represents something around one percent of their annual salaries.) It was not until 1997, however, that the ABS managed to finalize its set of wage cost indices. By this time there had been a change of government; the Howard Government was well ensconced and it saw no reason to make good Labor’s promise to implement indexation arrangements that made use of these actual measures of salary movements to fund its programs. Instead, it stuck to the interim Labor system, utilizing the much less generous SNA measure for wages. This is the system used to this day and applying to over 80 percent of Commonwealth expenditure. By this means, the conservatives in power were able to curb public spending by stealth, administering effective cuts to virtually all programs in nine successive Federal Budgets. The failure to implement the revised wage cost indices that Labor had planned represented in effect a systematic “efficiency dividend” whose impact differed industry by industry and sector by sector, but which steadily drove down expenditure across all portfolios. TAKEN FROM:- http://www.vista.org.au |
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Keith
Sep 22nd, 2006 - 7:47 AM |
Re: Retired Officer Raises The Issues and Condemns The RSL Leadership
From: Lloyd Patterson Sent: Wednesday, October 22, 2003 8:34 AM Subject: RETIRED OFFICER COMMENTS ON THE ISSUES AND THE RSL In early 2004 I wrote this paper, it is about a new Veteran Entity. I tried to get support from within the Victorian TPI however the dogma was and still is that the Government must restore the TPI to one payment not two, or as it is more correctly now three, Service Pension, General Rate and above General Rate. The paper outlines the value of using the good name and the Federal System of the TPI Federation whose values and membership are not diluted with a non service component. It was politely received and I remain on good terms with those to whom I presented it to. Karen’s email about a new entity has jolted me to pull this one out of the vault. The ESVP highlighted the problems with starting a new process, its **** hard thankless work. We have the organisation that can expand and once was, in the 50’s and 60’s a big organisation, lets convince the board of management that they have the organization below them to rapidly expand and become the dominant ESO. EXPAND THE TPI ASSOCIATION MILITARY COMPENSATION = WHITE + GOLD DISCUSSION PAPER STATEMENT White card holders are the future of the TPI and EDA organisations, and their income now represents a portion of every TPI’s income. Our future TPI income is linked to theirs, as is theirs to ours we are all Military Compensation Recipients AIM For the TPI Federation of Australia to broaden its membership so as to include all recipients of DVA Disability Pensions and Military Compensation payments. To change the name of the TPI Association to a name more encompassing and suitable for the expanded grouping. Turn to the advantage of Military Compensation Victims, the Governments (and Labour’s) terminology of Economic, Non Economic and its fast and loose use of the word Veteran. PREAMBLE The myriad of Organisations that represent the Ex Service Community, are either aimed at very specific groups that have been disadvantaged by differing conditions of service or they seek to be covered under the very broad umbrella of the RSL. Some groups are supported by the RSL. Some are totally independent. The RSL and other agencies work with the Governments Insurance Agency (DVA) in the processing of claims to the mutual benefit of the claimant and the Governments Insurance Agency. Thus the claimant’s agent (welfare office) is in fact a processing agent assisting both the claimant and the Governments Insurance Agency. Once the claim has been processed and a conclusion reached the claimant if successful becomes either a white card or a gold card holder. The vast majority become white card holders and remains that way until death. Specific groups that have an emotive issue that politicians can wrap themselves in at election time sometimes gain benefits for which their maybe no legislative entitlement, while the General Rate (now the “Non Economic Rate”) is left to wither. INTRODUCTION Prime Minister Howard in March 2000 used the terminology, Economic and Non Economic, to split the Special Rate of Payment given to TPI’s in to two payments, these are the: 1. Economic Rate which is the Income (wage) supplement, this figure represents about 22% of Average Weekly Income; the other division he invented was, 2. Non Economic (Pain and suffering) this payment is the Disability Payment at the maximum rate of 100%. These artificial divisions were then used as the rational to have differing indexing rates. The Economic Rate has been indexed on the same index as the Aged Pension, while the Non Economic has been indexed on a lesser indexing scale, the Consumer Price Index (CPI). This financially disadvantages Military Compensation Victims, by indexing them to the Cost of index (CPI) and thus they lose about 1.5% compounding each year. Giving the absurd situation where the payment for pain and suffering reduces every year. Thus all Military Compensation recipients from 10% to 100%, TPI, EDA and Intermediate Rate have been disadvantaged by of lack of commitment by Ex Service Organisation’s. BODY The intent of economic and non economic payments is to cease the economic payment at 65. Our Ex Employer (Defence) has been submitting for some years to Commissions, the latest being Clarke, that it desires the splitting of the TPI Rate in to two components Economic and Non Economic. Clarke accepted this recommendation. Both Labour and Liberal are seeking the same outcome which is to contain costs. It is a matter of public record and is reflected in the Clarke Report and by statements by senior public servants to Senate hearings. Neither Party has it in Policy Platform, however both Liberal & Labour have constantly said that after 65 the monies required progressively fall as the age of the person(s) increase. This was and is the argument used when arguing the use of the CPI as a measure of income. When the legislation has been passed to approve the Prime Ministers March “Clarke Report” recommendations for Veteran Compensation Payments Non Economic Military Compensation recipients be inching ever closer to a defacto workers compensation scheme being applied to Veteran compensation income. While still not having the same industrial rights as those under Workers Compensation, such as OH&S in all situations or a Trade Union. These changes will not at this time affect special rate recipients with war (qualifying service). The RSL and some other ESO’s have not argued against the principle of income reducing with age when it has been raised at Senate Committee hearings, and until five years ago the TPI Association was as guilty as the rest. In fact the RSL has not argued against the use of the CPI as modified in 1998 for Military Superannuation payments, effectively reducing superannuation by 1.5% per year compounding. The State Governments sought with the Commonwealth to reduce the CPI in 1998 arguing the “older you get the less you need” CPI principle when seeking exemption for State unfunded superannuation schemes from the cost of living increases. As a recipient of Military compensation and tied to the CPI do you do have a lonely feeling? It is stress both Parties at all levels of government have the same attitude, with both parties arguing this acceptance of the principle that Governments pay superannuation and Non Economic Compensation payments at the Cost of Inflation not the Cost of Living. We must turn to our advantage the Governments (and Labour’s) terminology, Economic, Non Economic and its fast and loose use of the word Veteran. 1. Non Economic (Pain and suffering) continues to financially disadvantage Military Compensation Victims, by having them remain indexed to the cost of inflation index (CPI) and thus losing about 1.5% compounding each year on pain and suffering. 2. Government terminology now lumps all DVA recipients into the same barrel whether they served overseas or not, the car accident victim is now a “Veteran” whether you are ex, Vietnam, Korea, Holdsworthy Barracks in Sydney, Syria, or France. You are all now “Veterans”. DVA as the Insurance Agent of our ex employer (Dept of Defence), is required to live within the budget constraints laid down by our ex employer. Our ex employer, as any good manager will tell you, has to live within budget constraints. People are the most expensive item on its cost ledger. To contain costs, you as an expense must be contained. As time goes on and the numbers of Economic (Wage substitution) recipients fall, it is intended that the Economic payment will cut out at 65, and recipients will have to live on the aged pension and the Non Economic payment, which will continue until they die. The spouse receives nothing upon the death of the “Veteran”. Veterans Entitlement Act TPI recipients so far have been isolated from the threat of payments ending at 65. The Liberal and Labour Parties intended out come is to phase out the whole of life approach to care. The outsourcing to contract of Departmental responsibilities has resulted in most service providers not understanding the difference between a TPI and other Gold card holders. The Economic and Non Economic philosophy provides our ex employer with another tool to confuse and reduce costs. With Veteran self imposed barrier associations (referred to as ESO’s) for EDA, TPI, RSL, VVAA, VVFA, Legacy, War Widows etc., the Governments Insurance Agency knows it has a divided and reducing falling community of clients. The success of the TPI Federation in obtaining MATWE for the economic recipients of the Service Pension has left, the non economic two thirds Military compensation (White Card and some Gold Card) holders disenfranchised. White card holders are the future of the TPI and EDA organisations, and their income now represents a portion of every TPI’s income. Our future TPI income is linked to theirs, as is theirs to ours. CONCLUSSION Reliance on the RSL is a forlorn hope as they have opted to follow the model of accommodation in seeking to gain the best results for claimants against the Governments Insurance Agency. This Policy of accommodation has been in place for some 30 years and in those 30 years the RSL has overseen the reduction of “Veteran” benefits to such an extent that all Military Compensation recipients only receive a maximum of 42% of the Special Rate as it was some 40 years ago. Other than the RSL, other self interest groupings of “Veterans” are in some cases more accommodating than the RSL and others are not, but they represent isolated groupings and are not a grouping of Military Compensation Recipients. The Special Rate will continue to fall against the Male Average Total Weekly Earnings at a rate of about 0.75% per annum, compounding. Veterans are Vote winners, wrap them in a flag, have a tear in your eye, and call them heroes and who will call you a liar. We have an advantage; we are the ones in the flag. With some 120,000 white card holders the paltry base of 27,000 TPI’s could explode. Expanding the focus of the TPI Organisation, to represent, all recipients of a Military Compensation Benefit be it Economic or Non Economic will provide a voice that ALL must stop and respect. Rather than just say that the TPI Federation cannot be expanded, take the assets of your own TPI organisation, divide the dollar sum by the number of members and you have your worth. Paltry isn’t it? Like it or not the Prime Minister in March 2004, linked the future of the Special Rate to the General Rate. White Card, Gold Card, and TPI we are now in the same frying pan. RECOMMENDATION That the positives of the terminology Economic, Non Economic and Veteran be used to increase the longevity of the TPI Association. That the terms Economic and Non Economic the loose use of the word veteran be used to the advantage of the Association. That it be recognised that the Non Economic (White Card) holder is a disadvantaged “Veteran” and needs the support of a dedicated agency. That it is recognised that the issue of Non Economic Veteran recipients will not be resolved by “Round Table” agreements as the influential Ex Service Organisations have by default stated their case in agreeing that “Older Veterans Need Less” when submitting recommendations on the relevance of the CPI Index to Senate hearings. Lloyd Patterson. May 2004 |
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Keith
Sep 23rd, 2006 - 8:40 AM |
Re: Retired Officer Raises The Issues and Condemns The RSL Leadership
COMMENT. Yes Ron, the Kindred Organisations Committee is already set up to go, so as you rightly say, why reinvent the wheel. However as you also say, for the KOC to work forcefully and properly, personalities, one-upmanship, treachery, ambition and personal agendas must be put to one side, the members must agree to disagree at times, the issues and principles must take precedence over personalities and ambition, and a united front must be presented to Government by a group which is decent, honest, dedicated and which has the welfare of the Diggers uppermost in it's mind. There is no room in our community for those who grandstand, who ride the gravy train, who grovel to Government from a base of cowardice, who think power and prestige are more important than standing for Justice and Truth, who use the Diggers as stepping stones for career extensions in ESOs and who don't understand we are dealing with the health, financial stability and lives of the Veterans and ex Servicemembers of this country. These are very serious issues in anybody's book. KT. ***************** From: ron king Sent: Saturday, September 23, 2006 6:38 AM Subject: Re: how about a new Veteran Entity I have read the thoughts that Karen put up as simple as it sounds it would not work as this would open the flood gates for the unwanted elements that Karen would not have heard of especially in this part of the town who would be looking to use some thing like this to regain their crediblity and who on the surface apear to have veteran issue at heart but they are only pushing their own wheel barrow I believe the monthly meeting of the kindren associations needs to be revisited and if an issue comes up that all groups believe to be right no matter who thinks of the issue sign off on that point and the orginating assoc then carries that lobby to the goverment of the day..............the others then can work on other issues that concern veterans Would that not put a thorn in the goverments side with one assoc fighting one one point and other building up cases and after many meeting the issues would be all going BUT the main point is that all kindred associations would have signed the greivence on behalf of all VETERANS This is another reason I believe to back the new state RSL state pres in QLD as he wants to rekindle the the kindred assoc meeting for all to have an input into veterans issues I hope this does work for every one's sake especially if the points raised are a grievence on veterans issues and it does not become a forum for grand standing and mud slinging by people who are only interested in personal grievences against the gov and that is the main thing the concerns are against the gov of the day as they are the ones who give their depts all the guide lines for the dealing veterans and other groups KINGIE. From: taw_kamh Sent: Thursday, September 21, 2006 9:25 PM Subject: how about a new Veteran Entity Hi I hope you all don’t mind me putting in my 2cents worth, however after all the information that I have seen distributed over the lists, I have a thought. It would seem obvious to me that Major General Crews may have a conflict of interest. He runs a business under the name of R.S.L. he gets re-elected unopposed all the meanwhile he claims to be a advocate for Veterans. My idea although sounding simplistic is this “create a company called say League of Veterans or any other acceptable name. Which would, or could be, an umbrella for all Veteran Groups and Veterans to Unite under. I have so often read that we need weight of numbers and with the weight of numbers unified in one voice perhaps we can then begin to equal the R.S.L. and really get heard. Just a thought guys, it obviously needs a lot of refining. its just that I see so many splinter groups all saying pretty much the same thing. Splinters can be ignored but a tidal wave is a very different matter and we can be the tidal wave if we unite. I sincerely hope I haven’t come across rude or trod on any toes, just trying to contribute and help in my own way. Thank you all Keep up the good fight Best wishes Karen from W.A. I will get back in my box now.:) |
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Neil Macdonald
Sep 23rd, 2006 - 2:46 PM |
Re: Retired Officer Raises The Issues and Condemns The RSL Leadership
G'day To You All Karen keep out of that box your sugestion has great merit & the league you suggest is very well intentioned & highly comendible. So to start the ball roling start with the top five active advocates of veterans rights form a league to include the three armed services & lets see what can be done for all of us & not a select few as the RS&L hirackey advocate. Very worth while reserching & posibly acting upon. Bye for now the weather up top in Shanghai is nice and mellow, so Take Care best wishes Jockcn. 
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Keith
Sep 24th, 2006 - 10:35 PM |
Re: Retired Officer Raises The Issues and Condemns The RSL Leadership
From: Bernie McGurgan To: B.Nelson.MP@aph.gov.au ; b.nelson.MP@aph.gov.au ; B.Billson.MP@aph.gov.au ; senator.sandy.macdonald@aph.gov.au Cc: david.hurley@defence.gov.au ; peter.leahy@defence.gov.au ; david.hurley@defence.gov.au Sent: Sunday, September 24, 2006 2:18 PM MPs & Editor Army Newspaper I always thought, and was taught, that soldiers in a war zone were wounded in action (WIA), not injured, as the attached report from the Army newspaper incorrectly indicates! It is very important that the terminology WIA and KIA (Killed in action) is CORRECTLY reported by ADF authorities, and particularly by the Army newspaper, who at all times should and must get it right! Soldiers on active duty are not "idle civilians" swanning around in parts of Iraq and Afghanistan! For heavens sake, get it right for the soldiers benefit and for later compensation and disability claims via DVA! It is hard enough now to get claims through the ever obstructionist DVA system, lets not make it any easier for them! Civilians are "injured" falling down the steps of "A" Block Russel Offices or injured running to the carparks around Russell and "Bugs Bunny" at 1951 HR daily, eh? Soldiers in any war zone are WIA or KIA by enemy action! Perhaps we need to have more combat experienced soldiers at the helm of the ADF to show correct leadership? Bernie McGurgan (A Veteran & WIA SVN) ADDRESS DELETED FOR PRIVACY REASONS. ************** COURTESY THE ARMY NEWSPAPER. Soldier recovering from rocket attack Volume 11, No. 50, August 24, 2006 TOWNSVILLE-based soldier Cpl Sarah Webster is in a stable condition in hospital in Germany after a rocket attack that injured four Secdet soldiers in Baghdad on August 14. Cpl Webster suffered concussion, bruising and minor lacerations when a rocket exploded close to a building housing Australian personnel in the international zone. Force protection measures employed by the ADF prevented the attack from having more serious effects. Cpl Webster was treated at a hospital in Baghdad before being transferred to a hospital at a US base in Germany, where her mother and fiancé are joining her to aid her recovery. Three of her colleagues received minor injuries in the random attack involving three rockets, two of which fell harmlessly in a river. JTF 633 Commander Brigadier Mick Moon said the three returned to work soon after the attack. He said morale remained high within the Secdet and he praised his troops for their rapid and professional response to the incident. Personnel evacuated the casualties within minutes, ensuring they received expert medical attention immediately. “I have to say, they’re a very tough, professional, resolute band of young men and women,” Brig Moon said. He has conducted a review of Secdet’s force protection measures and is satisfied they provide the best possible protection for Australian troops. CDF ACM Angus Houston said he did not think the incident indicated that threats were increasing against Australian soldiers in Baghdad. |
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