Welrep

Sometimes we get some nice little surprises in the office. I mentioned in the last Newsletter that our Office Staff had not been granted the full travel allowances they were entitled to last year. Back in August last year, I lodged an appeal with DVA hoping to get the balance for our staff. Nothing happened for a long time, and I called DVA in South Australia where the BEST Grant is administered from on several occasions, only to get the usual run around, Such as “Nothing can happen as the Government is in a care taker due to the federal Elections. etc, etc.” Well Lo and Behold, a couple of weeks ago, we received approval for the back payment of our travel expenses that we had incurred. This made for a nice little bonus for the troops as they trudge back to work in the Office.

I know there are such things as Guardian Angels, because we have some looking after us. To all of you out there who responded so magnificently to my appeal for a donation, I cannot thank you enough. Things are looking good for us now and we can progress with our work of helping you, and other Veterans without fear of financial difficulties. Your support and well wishes via donations, Christmas cards, and letters are all the thanks we need, and the motivation for us to keep going.

I would also like to say thank you, to those of you who turned up to our Memorial Re-dedication day on the 30^th November last year, up on Monument Hill in Fremantle. As usual the Royal Australian Navy provided a ceremonial guard and flag party and the service was conducted by Chaplain Duncan Bearchi of the RAN.

I am also very pleased to announce that we have a new Patron. He is Captain Brett Wolski, ADC, RAN, Commanding Officer HMAS STIRLING. Captain Wolski replaces Captain Brett Dowsing, RAN, who has been posted overseas.

Some important news for you to remember, please write this down in your diary. Our AGM will be held on May 23^rd 2011 at the Swan Yacht Club at 1200.

The reason for the early elections is that several of our currently elected office bearers will be away from early June and would not be able to attend the AGM.

There will be no printed newsletter for June, so this month you will get two pages of jokes to make up for it. For those of you who are on our email list a reminder will be sent out to you about the AGM date sometime in early May.

As you are aware our Official Motto is “Care and Support for all Veterans.” Sometimes the going gets a bit tough, so next time you are in our Office, you might see our “Unofficial Motto” hanging on the wall.

Just cut this out, or print it and stick it on the fridge. It might just give you a laugh, and help you through the day.

Hello everyone and welcome to the old and new members of our Association that have been included into our mailing list for the Newsletter. We have always considered anyone who walks through our doors, or who contacts us for help as being members of our Association. We do not charge a fixed membership fee but gratefully accept donations. It has certainly been a busy couple of months for us, with an increase in veterans, widows and serving personnel seeking our assistance.

For all of you who were ex navy, I am sure that most of you would have been aware of the Memorial Service at Leeuwin Barracks, and dedication of a monument to the memory of the boys aged between 15 to 16 who trained as Junior Recruits in HMAS Leeuwin and HMAS Cerberus from 1960 to 1984.
It was a fantastic week of reunions, catching up with old mates and spinning tales and whoppers of days gone by. The Junior Recruit Reunion Organizing Committee did an absolutely fantastic job of herding over a thousand ex JR’s and partners all over Perth , and organizing fabulous functions. At one of the functions, our Association was given the opportunity to run a raffle. I am delighted to say that we raised $1420. I’d like to say a huge thank you to the JR reunion committee, those who donated prizes and especially our members and their partners who helped us out by selling the tickets.

We also recently received our BEST Grant from DVA. Unfortunately it was much less than we requested. Our Grant has now remained the same for the past three years, despite our request for an increase as a

At our AGM in June, it was an honour to be voted back in as Honorary Chairman. Once again I have the great support of Bob Lindsay as Vice Chairman and Carole Matthews as our Secretary/Treasurer. We also have an excellent committee support team of Trevor Robbins, Peter Knight, Ian Smith and Ted “Aussie” Lawrence and all our Office staff remain with us..

It was also my happy duty at the AGM to announce that Aussie Lawrence had been made a Life Member of our Association in recognition for all the years of excellent work he has put in as a volunteer worker for us, and for assisting veterans with Asbestosis related claims.

Please remember that we do have an excellent relationship with Kacey Wuelfert, a Senior Associate with the Law Firm of Turner Freeman. Kacey has now set up a branch of Turner Freeman Lawyers, over here in Perth , and she specialises in Asbestos related claims. We would be more than delighted to pass on her phone number, to anyone who needs her help. Kacey has also indicated she is quite happy to come down to our Office on the last Thursday of each month, and offer obligation free advice to any veteran who needs it in relation to Asbestos related claims.. So if you would like to talk to her at the office please contact us early in the month so that we can arrange for Kacey to be there at a certain time. Kacey is married to a member of the ADF, and she definitely understands many of the service related issues that confront us all at some time.

Finally in the jokes section of the last newsletter we had “THE RULES.” So just to even things up a bit, and to prove that women really are from Venus, and men are from Mars, this quarter we have “Spring Classes for Women.”

I am very much aware that all the people who have asked us for guidance and assistance come from various sections of all three arms of the Australian Defence Forces, and from many eras going back to WW2. On ANZAC Day you naturally want to congregate with your mates from days gone by, and raise a glass or two to the memory of those no longer here. So I was very pleased to see on ANZAC Day a wide variety of Veterans who chose to march with our Association through the streets of Fremantle. We had many of our regular veterans, and quite a number of people who no longer have an Association to march with came up to me and asked if they could march with our Association. They were welcomed, and invited to join our ranks for the day, as they should be.

I want to take this opportunity to thank the few who bothered to help us with donations for our Raffle on ANZAC Day at the Swan Yacht Club. You know who you are and I think I have contacted all of you. I would especially like to thank the wives and partners of our Office Staff who went to a great deal of trouble procuring gifts and making up baskets of goodies to be raffled. Although numbers were down this year at the Swan Yacht Club, we still managed to make $690. A big thank you also to all who helped sell the raffle tickets on the day. Once again I must extend a huge thank you to Dean Furness the Commodore of the Swan Yacht Club, to his Committee, the Managing Secretary Geoff Reynolds and all the fantastic staff who work there.

Throughout the entire year the Club generously donates their premises for us to hold our meetings and allow us to fund raise on special days like ANZAC Day. Without their ongoing support, and community spirit we would be hard pressed to find a suitable alternative.

We have finally embraced technology and upgraded to Wireless Broadband on our Office Computer. The old Dial Up service we had closed down, so we took the opportunity to improve our communications. Our new email address is anvvwa.wa@three.com.au Please do not send us jokes or video clips to this address as we only have a limited download of 500 Mb per month. We cannot afford to waste our download allowance on unnecessary emails.

The meeting on the Monday 14^th June will be our Annual General Meeting, so if you are interested in seeing this Association continue to function, and want to have a say in how we should approach the coming year, please come along to the Swan Yacht Club at 1200.

To all of you who have sent us in donations this year, I sincerely thank you for your support, and letters of appreciation. Last year we received approximately $5500 from the BEST Grant to cover our operating costs for this year. Out of that we have to pay for all our postage, stationary, printer cartridges, replacement of consumables etc. It doesn’t leave us much when our postage costs are well over $3500 and the replacement printer cartridges cost us $312 each and we need four of them per year. On top of that we have to pay our own Insurance costs, and the cost of repairs and service maintenance to our office equipment, plus a myriad of other things and unexpected costs that arise throughout the year, none of which are covered by the BEST Grant. Without your help we would struggle to survive, as DVA have advised us there will be no increase in Grants this year.

For those of you who were Junior Recruits or Ship’s Company at Leeuwin Barracks when it was HMAS Leeuwin, you will probably be aware that there is a 50 year Reunion in July 2010 celebrating the commemoration of Junior Recruits training at HMAS Leeuwin and HMAS Cerberus. In 1960 the first intake of Junior Recruits into the Royal Australian Navy were trained at HMAS Leeuwin. 86 intakes were trained at HMAS Leeuwin, the last intake in 1984. There were two intakes trained at HMAS Cerberus between 1963 and 1965. The Junior Recruit Reunion Committee has generously invited our Association to run a fund raising raffle at one of their events. We will need donations by the 1^st of July. So if you can help us out please contact us.

Finally I would like to take this opportunity to thank our Vice Chairman Bob Lindsay for his valuable support and advice throughout the year, our tireless Secretary Carole Mathews who has better batteries than the Energizer Bunny, all the other office staff and their families who freely donated their time and effort to help other Veterans of the ADF and to keep us going.

Here we are open for business again after the Christmas Break, and it is good to see that the same familiar faces have once again put their hands up to help others in the Veteran Community with their Advocacy and other Volunteer help.

Unfortunately it is a fact of life, that all of us get older and have our own medical problems and demons to deal with. Every single one of us who volunteers to work down at Leeuwin fall into the 60 to 70 year age bracket. Without these people there would not be any functioning ANVVWA WA (Inc). Many of our volunteers, including myself, need a long term break, or are looking to retire from their volunteer work within the Veteran Community. These people have done their bit for Veterans and have carried the torch. It really is now time for some of the younger people within the Veteran Community to put up their hands, and carry on the legacy of what the previous generations of Veterans have done for current serving ADF Members and younger Veterans who may no longer be in full time employment, and who have some time on their hands to help.

We are currently negotiating with the Civilian Property Managers of Leeuwin Barracks, and the Army to get a three year Lease Agreement in place to enable us to remain where we are. Hopefully this will happen over the coming months, and we will be able to continue the excellent relationship we have established with the Army at Leeuwin.

There appears to be quite a backlash within the Veteran Community aimed directly at the current government, who promised to do so much for recipients of the ADF DFRDB scheme, to review this scheme and make it more fair and equitable with other government departments pensions. Despite several previous reviews where past governments were advised to change the method of pension indexation, the present government conducted another review, and got the answer they wanted, which was not to change the indexation method of pension increases from the CPI method currently in place. Kind of makes you wonder why a Politician’s wife and family are regarded as being more needy or entitled to a handout than a Serviceman’s Family, and therefore have a much better lifestyle from their Politician partner’s rate of pension and other benefit increases.

On page 4 of this newsletter, I have included a graph which clearly shows that over the past 20 years, the rate of a Politicians pension has doubled the rate of a Military superannuants pension. The military pension is based on CPI increases, whilst the Politicians pension is based on an MP Backbencher’s salary, which was a bucketful of money before they even considered giving themselves massive pension raises. Included in the graph is the Age pension which has certainly done far better than the Military pension. To simplify this graph, and remembering that there was already a huge disparity in pension rates at the time it was started 20 years ago, we know a Politician was already starting on a higher pension than the Serviceman. So over 20 years that Politician’s pension has increased by 140% of what is was at that time.

The Age pension has increased by 130% of what it was. Meanwhile the lowly Military Superannuant who is stuck with CPI increases has had his pension increased by 70%. This is the same load of rubbish index that the Political bean counters keep telling us hasn’t increased over various quarters, yet all over the place the cost of living is going through the roof. Buggered if I know what planet they are living on, but it’s not the same one Military Superannuants live on.

Anyway time will tell at the next Elections. The unfortunate thing here is that the major ESO in Australia , originally established after WW1 to assist returned Servicemen and Women, and the one who obviously carries the most influence with the government pollies, appears to be doing very little if anything to support the rank and file Veterans. This can be clearly seen by their lack of support for TPI’s and other recipients of Service related disability pensions. Maybe one day we will get a decent politician who does have the fortitude to get his snout out of the trough and support the Veterans. But don’t hold your breath waiting. Somehow I don’t think the airport in Canberra would be able to handle all the flying pigs coming home to their trough in Parliament House to make a decision favouring the Military Superannuants and Service Disability pensioners.

It's almost that time of the year again, when we can put up our feet and have a well deserved rest. Our office will be closed from Thursday 10/12/09 until Tuesday 26/01/10. We will monitor our office phone as often as we can during the festive season, but please bear in mind that for most of that period of time we are unable to gain entry into the Leeuwin Barracks Medical Centre as it is also closed. Things also tend to slow down a bit over the Christmas period at DVA, as people take holidays. So please be patient with us and DVA.

Work down at the office has slowed down considerably in terms of new clients contacting us. We are still doing reviews and lodging new claims for existing clients if their previously accepted conditions have worsened, or if new conditions have arisen which people believe are service related.

Many of you will be aware that the husband of our Secretary Carole, had one of his legs amputated a couple of years ago as a result of medical complications. Unfortunately, the same medical condition reared its ugly head early in October and Barry had to have his other leg amputated to save his life. He is progressing well with rehabilitation, and is now back home.

I very recently had news that a good friend of mine, and a Veteran was diagnosed with terminal cancer that is very advanced. He lives in NSW, and fortunately his family has a great group of ex service friends to support them and try and make things a little easier. He is receiving hospice care at home.

This got me thinking that there are so many things that need to be done to put a person's affairs in order, and to assist the family left behind to cope with bereavement. So I checked with DVA and came up with a handout folder called "Planning Ahead." It contains a very good advisory book on preparing for and coping with bereavement. It also contains two excellent forms. One is called "A checklist for notification", and the other is a "Personal Information Sheet." There is, no way I can reproduce the entire booklet here. However I am sure that you could get a copy from DVA if you need it. It contains a huge amount of excellent information. As previously mentioned the forms are readily available from DVA, however I have decided to copy them for inclusion in this newsletter. Although they are primarily designed for Veterans to use, there is no reason why other family members could not use them, and not fill in the sections that are not applicable to their circumstances. These forms once completed, should be kept with your Will in a safe place that other family members are aware of and can access if necessary.

Due to space restrictions this quarter there are some things I have left out, such as the thank you acknowledgements to those who have made a donation to our Association recently, and I apologize to all for not individually acknowledging them. You know who you are, and we know who you are as well. Without your support we could not continue. This year we received a total of just over $3500 from the BEST Grant to cover our running costs for the twelve month period from 1^st July 2009 until the 30^th June 2010. It is much less than we applied for on our application, as in the previous twelve months our expenses for the period July 2008 to June 2009 amounted to $8250 just for postage and office operating costs.
We do manage to raise some funds ourselves with the ANZAC Day raffle, and from other activities that some of our office staff are involved with. This is the money which is used to pay for light refreshments at the Swan Yacht Club after our Association Memorial Day held on the 30^th November at Monument Hill in Fremantle, which commences at 1030, and the rest goes into our bank account.
No donations made to the Association are used for anything other than office operating costs at Leeuwin Barracks. But at the end of the day we still struggle to make ends meet. With this in mind I am appealing to any of you out there, that if you want to make a donation to our Association to help us survive, please send your donation or cheque made out to ANVVWA. Remember, we are registered as a charity, and donations are tax deductible. Also with Christmas time around the corner, no doubt some of you will receive gifts that you may not have a use for. Rather than put them in the wardrobe and forget about them for the next twenty years, please consider donating them to our Association, so that we can raffle them off to raise funds on ANZAC Day.

Recently our Senior Advocate Trevor Robbins completed a Level 4 Training Seminar in Canberra through the TIP programme sponsored by DVA. Well done Trevor.

There have been a couple of interesting developments concerning the Veteran Community since our last Newsletter. Probably the most important was the Federal Budget 2009 ‑ 2010. This was partially covered in the recent Vetaffairs newspaper June/July 2009. I write partially because this newspaper which purports to inform and represent the Veteran Community printed only the good points relating to the Budget. Over four pages of gobbledygook propaganda about mythical case studies, and how much better off these people will be.

What is wrong with these Pencil Pushers in Canberra ? Veterans and their families don't want to try and wade through all that rubbish, desperately trying to figure out if they have received, or will receive any extra benefit from the Fat Cats if this budget is actually approved.. They don't want to know about idiotic terminology such as "income claw back", "dollar taper", "transitional arrangements", "Pensioner and Beneficiary Living Cost Index", and any other fancy name some boofhead manages to dream up to justify his/her employment in the public service, so at the end of their career they can collect a huge payout whilst the veteran he/she is supposed to be looking after tries to eke out an existence on a miserly pittance.

Where is the good news about the increase to the TPI pension? It's not there. Why? Because these people didn't get an increase. Not one single cent. The very people most deserving of any government's gratitude got absolutely nothing. Those of you who know people who are TPI's, know that their lives can be extraordinarily difficult due to their circumstances. Even the most mundane things that all of us take for granted can be obstacles for these people who have to live with their problems. In order to overcome some of these obstacles, it does cost money that these people have to pay for out of their pensions. In the mean time some numbnut in Canberra who has never been anywhere near a military installation, let alone been in the Defence Forces, sits behind a cosy desk earning $80,000 plus, and dreams up ways to confuse an already confused and troubled Veteran with political bullshit dialogue.

Some Veterans who managed to complete a minimum of 20 years in the Defence Forces, and who came under the old Defence Forces Retirement & Death Benefits Scheme, were recently given a huge Benefit increase to their fortnightly Superannuation. It was a big fat zero. Why? Because yet again some dipstick in Canberra who has no idea of the real world situation decided there had been no upward movement in the Consumer Price Index over the six month period from September 2008 to March 2009. I don't know what fantasy land these financial boffins live in. But in my real world, I am not aware of most basic essential items that did not have some kind of increase in its cost in the last twelve months.

This method of assessing DFRDB payments has been a huge bone of contention for the Veteran Community for many years. It is amazing that one government department can say there has been no increase in the CPI, (therefore no DFRDB increase) and another government department comes up with a 4.2% increase in the Wage Price Index, designed to cover the increase in the cost of living.

There have been several successive government inquiries into why our Defence Force people are paid their DFRDB superannuation pension based on the CP1 and how to fix the disparity. In each case, recommendations have been made to change this to a fairer system. Sadly the fat cat pollies and their crony public servants have the old ostrich mentality of burying their head in the sand, hoping the problem will go away. However, every time they come up for air, the situation is still there, so they have another inquiry only to be told what they already know.

On a more pleasant note, 1 would like to take this opportunity to welcome Bob Lindsay as our new Vice Chairman. Bob has been with us for many years as one of our office staff, he has a wealth of service knowledge and extols excellent advice to those he talks to on the phone. Our previous Vice Chairman, fan Dunn decided not to renominate for the position this year. He has had some health issues, and is fully involved in the 50 year RAN Junior Recruit Reunion to take place at Leeuwin Barracks (Ex HMAS Leeuwin) in 2010. Ian is staying on as one of our Senior Advocates, which is most fortunate for us, as we can ill afford to lose any of our fantastic people at the ANVVWA Offices at Leeuwin Barracks. I would also like to thank all new, and re‑elected Officials for putting up their hands to assist in running the ANVVWA.

Another year of our Association’s existence has almost gone by, and once again our Annual General Meeting is upon us. It will be held in conjunction with our Quarterly Meeting in June. I encourage all those veterans of the ADF that we have helped in the past to please make an effort to attend our meeting if you can. This is without a doubt our most important meeting of the year, when we plan our annual budget, and we review our efforts of the past year, and listen to ideas on how we can improve our service to the veterans of the ADF.

Recently there has been some unsavoury suggestions made by a person on another website that our Association “charges, or firmly suggests” payment for helping people to get a successful claim. I want to make this quite clear. At no time have we ever conducted ourselves in that manner.

It is illegal, and against the DVA regulations for us to qualify for the BEST Grant. On completion of a successful case, we send out a letter of congratulations to the claimants on their success. We also advise people that they can come into the office and collect their files as we do not have the storage capacity. We can, and do ask for a small donation if people can afford it, to cover our costs that are not covered by Grants. We do not do any follow up on who sends us in a donation, nor do we keep any kind of list.

I get very angry and frustrated when people make these idiotic damaging statements, as it invariably reflects on the good people in our office who do so much to help veterans. I would be pretty safe in saying that at some time every single person who works in our office has on more than one occasion put their hands in their own pockets to pay for something that was not covered by a grant or they said don’t worry about re-imbursement Pete, consider it a donation to the Association.

I challenged the person who made this statement to name one single person who we had charged, for our services.

His standard cowardly reply was, “I’ve got names, but you clearly think me a fool. I spent years gaining the trust of veterans,...to be dropping their ID’s to the likes of you.”

Well, yes I do think the man is a fool. Any person can come up with accusations, and make stupid statements at any time, but it takes a particular type of nasty low life coward, to say something like this, not identify himself and remain anonymous by not even having the intestinal fortitude to put his name to the statement, and not being prepared to back up his rubbish.

There is only one way I can respond to these disgusting allegations, and that is to write this for all to read.

If there is anyone out there in the veteran community that has any proof what so ever that the ANVVWA has ever charged for their services or firmly suggested that they make a donation to our Association, I would request that you take this matter up with the Department of Veterans’ Affairs as soon as you possibly can. DVA will keep your identity anonymous and will act on your complaint.

We do not have a paid up membership in this Association, as we consider all those that we have helped in the past to be

“Members” of our Association. No person who works in the office receives any kind of remuneration from our Association. We are purely a volunteer group, and charging a Membership fee is not in our Constitution, nor is it allowed by DVA for those Associations who receive the BEST Grant.

With that in mind, once again I do appeal for a small donation to our Association from those of you who can afford it. I know that there are a few people that make a regular annual donation to us and we are most grateful for that. The BEST Grant that we apply for every year only covers certain areas of our operating expenses. It does not cover costs such as Public Liability Insurance, Office Contents Insurance, Equipment Maintenance Fees, PO Box Rental charges, a large percentage of our postal costs, and a host of other items, all of which are paid for from donations to our Association. 100% of donations received go into the Association’s Bank account and are used for the operational expenses of the Association. So if you can help us financially please send us your donation made out to ANVVWA.

Several interesting events have occurred since my last report, with most of them centring around the issues of unity between ESO’s, so that we can continue to care for all Australian veterans from the past and those in the future. Perhaps the most important step in that direction has been our Committee’s decision to affiliate our Association with the Naval Association of Australia (Western Australia Section), in response to their invitation to join with them.

Several ESO’s are affiliating with each other as a matter of survival and practicality. Many of the WW2 Associations are now very thin in the ranks. Rather than have these fine veterans retire their colours and banners whilst they remain alive, some organizations are picking up these Associations and affiliating them within their own ranks so these men and women can enjoy the time they have left knowing that their Association lives on.

Recently the Vietnam Veterans Association of Australia (VVAA), and the Australian Peacekeeper and Peacemaker Veterans’ Association (APPVA) signed a Memorandum of Agreement to work together. (See article on page 3).

Ideally we would like to go down a similar path with the Naval Association of Australia. We will remain a completely distinct Association, maintaining our own identity with our own Chairman and Committee. For quite some time now our two Associations have been trimming individual sides of the advocacy hedge, and occasionally utilising our respective talents to assist each other with certain cases. By affiliating we will become a unified force that can better utilize our respective talents to trim the entire hedge, and assist all veterans. As I have said in the past we are here to assist all veterans of the ADF. We are a unique family, and although our roles in the various Defence forces, may be different, at the end of the day we are all brothers and sisters to each other sharing a common bond..

Malcolm Hughes from the Naval Association of Australia (Rockingham Section) addressed the members of the ANVVWA at our last meeting in December. Mal was deeply concerned for the members of the Naval Association of Australia (Fremantle Section), all of whom are WW2 Veterans.

Recently their longstanding President passed away, and there was concern that if they could not attract younger ex, or currently serving RAN personnel into the ranks of this Section, then in the very near future their banner would be lowered for the final time. There are only about 35 members of this Section of the NAA remaining, and of that only about six are active enough to be able to attend the occasional meeting or function. Mal appealed to our members to look at joining this section of the NAA, so that younger veterans could take up the banner and the running of this Section of the NAA. It would be tragic if this historic section of the NAA was to close down.

On Mal’s behalf, I am appealing to any ex or currently serving sailor who would be interested in joining and/or taking on an active role in the Fremantle Section of the NAA, to either contact us on our office number (9311 2719), and we will send you out an application form to join the Naval Association of Australia. Alternatively you can contact Mal direct on 0419 911 454.

In my last Newsletter I mentioned that we had started up a collection in the office to get China Hammal over here for ANZAC Day next year. The response from our members who sent us in donations to assist us was fantastic, and we have easily reached our target. It is really heart warming to know that there are people out there who appreciated what our founder China did for them during his time as Chairman of this Association. I can advise you that he is over the moon with your support, and is champing at the bit to get over here in April for a couple of weeks to catch up with you, and thank you personally.

Another fantastic piece of news, is that China ’s son Kieran recently graduated from the RAN College at HMAS CRESWELL as a Midshipman. Kieran joined the RAN a couple of years ago, and obviously made some excellent impressions on his superiors within the Marine Engineering Branch. So much so, that he was recommended for a Commission. He passed his Fleet Board with flying colours, and was the Guard Commander at his passing out parade. He is now in Melbourne with his wife Michelle for the next four year as he completes his University Degree in Engineering. China attended the passing out parade at HMAS CRESWELL. Keiran advised him that the Naval Police had been alerted to his presence, and that he would be searched for any “Rabbits” that he attempted to remove from CRESWELL. Bravo Zulu Kieran and Michelle.

Firstly I must apologize for not getting a newsletter out last quarter. I was overseas for six weeks and upon returning had a backlog of jobs to do both at the office and at home. I would like to thank Ian and Carole for holding the fort during my absence, and all the office staff for ensuring we continued to function effectively.

Earlier in the year we submitted an application for a grant from DVA through the BEST Scheme. I am pleased to say that most of what we applied for was approved. This included a mileage allowance for our office staff to compensate them for the expenses that they incur in assisting veterans with their claims. It was interesting to note that some of these mileage and parking fees incurred amounted to well over $900 in two cases, and in the vicinity of $500 for two others. These were expenses that up until now, our office staff had paid for out of their own pockets to help other veterans. Hopefully future Grants will continue to cover these expenses incurred by our office staff.

We also received a grant to update our office computer, and replace some of our furniture which was either homemade, or second hand, or had been borrowed from the Army several years ago when we first moved into Leeuwin Barracks.

Despite the cutbacks in our postage expenditure over the past two years, this continues to be our most expensive outlay. Last year we spent in excess of $3000 on postage and only received a grant of $1000 to cover this. This years grant is similar and our expenditure will again be in excess of $3000. The shortfall to cover our costs on postage comes from donations, and whatever fundraising we do ourselves.

There has been a slight decrease in the number of new cases that we have taken on, which has been a blessing in disguise for our Advocates.

In nearly all instances they are already dealing with a heavy work load, as many existing Veterans with claims require several visits to our office to see their Advocate to clarify details, or follow up on DVA documentation that have come in. It is also giving our Advocates a chance to further their training by attending TIP courses at DVA in the city.

Carole has continued to go through our old files, with the view of reducing what we are currently holding. Where possible we are making every attempt to contact people whose files we have, in an effort to return them to the Veteran or their family. Unfortunately in many instances, our last known contact phone numbers or addresses are no longer relevant. Whilst we do try and locate Veterans through the phone book, some may have moved interstate, are deceased, or are not listed in the phone directory. If we manage to locate the Veteran or their family we give them the option of either coming into Leeuwin Barracks to pick up their file, alternatively we will post it out to them provided they forward us the postage costs in advance as several of these files are bulky and could cost up to $20 to post. We simply do not have the money to pay for the costs of sending out approximately two thousand files to their owners. Our third option is if we can contact the owners, and they do not want the files, (as in most cases they will already have their own copy of what we have on file), we will shred them for privacy and security reasons We do not just throw them away.

If we are unable to make contact with either the owner of the file or their family, we shred the files we have with the exception of hand written notes, and the last decision documentation handed down by DVA on their claim. We simply do not have the storage capacity to retain so many bulky files.

I had the pleasure of attending a function recently to celebrate the 30^th anniversary of the commissioning of HMAS STIRLING, and was fortunate enough to meet our new Patron Captain Brett Dowsing RAN. He was enthusiastic about taking over from Captain Steve Davies RAN who has been posted to a new role. I would like to thank Captain Davies for his support of our Association and wish him and his family every success for the future.

Planning is well underway for our Memorial Rededication Day to the eight RAN service personnel who lost their lives during the Vietnam Conflict. This service is held on the 30^th of November each year at our Memorial on Monument Hill in Fremantle at 1030. Followed by light refreshments at the Swan Yacht Club, Riverside Rd, East Fremantle.

This year the 30^th November is a Sunday and I would encourage everyone to make an effort to attend if possible.

Once again we have received fantastic support from the RAN, although I think Carole is really pushing the friendship in trying to get her helicopter flypast.

Whilst there has been a slight downturn in the number of claims we are processing, I have no doubt that claims will continue to come in as long as our ADF are in combat and peacekeeping situations. All members of the ADF train and work in extremely hazardous and unique conditions. Unfortunately there will always be situations where our ADF personnel sustain injuries. Most of our office staff are now in their 60s, and whilst we would like to continue as long as we can running this Association, realistically at some point if we are not replaced by younger people then eventually this Association will be forced to close. All of us here have our own demons to deal with, and eventually we will have to call it a day. Many excellent people have kept this Association running for over thirteen years now, it would be a huge loss to the Veteran community if we had to close down our operations.

It would be great if we could get some volunteers from younger veterans out there to come onboard as office staff with the view to eventual training as Advocates, and ultimately taking over the running of this Association some day. It doesn’t matter if you are Army, Navy, RAAF, or a family member of a Veteran. We are all part of the ADF family, and we don’t turn any veteran away from our office. Sadly it seems that when the crunch comes, we have to look after each other, simply because past experience has shown that successive Governments in power have failed miserably to look after the Veterans that they send to places and then put them in dangerous situations. Whatever compensation, pensions, superannuation or benefits past Veteran Lobby Groups have managed to drag out of the Government coffers is rapidly being eroded away. Past veterans looked after our interests when we were in the ADF, as those of us who are veterans now try and help the younger veterans of the ADF to make sure they are adequately compensated for their injuries or illness as a result of their ADF duties. If we don’t have people put up their hands and volunteer to train as the advocates of the future, then who is going to help the next generation of Australian veterans? If you have the time, and want to help please contact our Association Secretary Carole Matthews on our office number.

Last ANZAC Day we ran a very successful raffle at the SWAN Yacht Club, and we raised approximately $700 as we raffled prizes that had been donated by association members and other public organizations. We will run another raffle next year so if you have any thing at home which is new and you do not want or don’t use, please consider giving it to us so we can raffle it off and raise funds.

We have finally managed to recover our outstanding interest free loans in almost all cases. We have three to go, two of which are paying us and only have a couple of hundred dollars outstanding in each case. Sadly the person involved in the third loan, continues to ignore any pressure I have managed to put on him. I even wrote to the RSL Sub Branch President in Bomaderry in NSW where this person now lives and is a member of that RSL. They fronted him up before their Committee and he advised them that he would try and sort the matter out. This was over six months ago and we have still not heard anything back from him, despite having written another letter to him. I will continue to pursue the matter, in the hope that he will eventually do the right thing and repay the money he owes us.

Sometimes, I sit in our offices down in the dungeon under the Leeuwin Medical Centre, and wonder how the heck are we going to pay for this expense that just lobbed on my desk. Then out of the blue, guardian angels step in to help.

Last issue, I appealed for a bit of financial help from those that we have assisted in the past. All donations to us are important, and we realize that people give to us what they are comfortable with. I would like to acknowledge the wonderful support that we have received in the past few months. Without revealing your full names to avoid any embarrassment, you people who made donations to us, make it all worth while for us, knowing that we have your support when our funds get a bit low, and we have bills to pay. If I have missed anyone from this list, I apologize for the oversight.

Donations were received from R.H. from Winthrop, T.S. from Safety Bay, B.T. from Coogee, B.M from Cooloongup, P.C from Bull Creek, G.T from Port Kennedy, L.C from Willagee, K.T from Rockingham, B.C. from Southern River, P.B from Busselton, J.G from Cooloongup, T.C from Swanbourne, D. M. from Rockingham, C.M. (unknown address), B.M. from Rockingham, G.M. from Port Kennedy, G.S. (unknown address).

Whenever possible we will acknowledge donations in this newsletter in the future, and send you out a receipt for your donation. Once again, we thank you all for your support.

Our ANZAC Day raffle at the Swan Yacht Club was a huge success. We did end up with a great variety of prizes. Again we have to thank some special people for their efforts and donations. In particular I would like to thank Mr Gary Moulton from W.A. Trade Tool Centre in Pitt Way , Myaree. Gary went out of his way to obtain some fantastic donations from Bosch, Hitachi ,Irwin,Makita and Metabo. A lady won one of the drill sets. However she decided to swap it for another prize when we explained that it did not come with a handy man who knew how to operate it.

We also received from Rochelle Parkinson of Don’s W.A. in Hamilton rd, Spearwood. two leg hams. They were absolutely huge, and the ladies who won those will be able to feed their families for the next six months.

Several of our Office Staff also came up with donations to be raffled. These good Samaritans were Don Bowman with a terrific household fire safety kit, which included a fire extinguisher, fire blankets and smoke alarms. Don obtained this donation from where he used to work. Trevor Robbins donated 6 bottles of very good quality red wine. We also had a “Temptation Hamper” made up of all sorts of exotic and delicious items.

If you are considering buying products over the coming months, please remember the brand names of the Companies who helped us with donations. We are most grateful for their support.

Once again it would be very remiss of me if I didn’t take this opportunity to thank Mr Geoff Reynolds, Managing Secretary of the Swan Yacht Club, The Commodore of the Club, Mr Chris Lees, all the Committee and members of the Club for inviting us back to the Swan Yacht Club on ANZAC Day after the march in Fremantle, so that we could enjoy the day with our families in a magnificent family orientated venue.

For several years now the Swan Yacht Club have graciously donated their venue for us to hold our meetings at no expense to us, and we are very grateful for the community support they give our Association.

Quite often I get asked how our Association founder is getting on these days. Those of you that know China Hammal are probably aware that there were people in the veteran community that did not like him, and complained to DVA that his status as a TPI was not based on service related conditions. These complaints resulted in DVA investigators coming to the conclusion that he was not entitled to his TPI pension, and subsequently took it off him. As a result of these malicious complaints from other veterans, he had no money, had been advised he had to repay over $230,000 to DVA, was unable to work, was reduced to handouts from charitable organizations, and was often on the very edge of giving up the will to live.

Those of us who knew the man, refused to accept the decision by the DVA investigators, and we stood along side him as mates. We supported and assisted him financially to survive, helped him to get his VRB Appeal together, and he finally had his day at the VRB in January 2008.

The VRB heard his appeal, and they accepted the evidence that China presented, that his claim was genuine. This was the same evidence, that China had advised the DVA investigators was available if they would look at it during their investigation. They did not do it. China won his appeal and his TPI status was restored. He received all the back pay that had been withheld. DVA have not lodged an appeal against the decision handed down by the VRB. What those people who call themselves veterans did to another veteran was unforgivable in my book. They are not worthy of the title veteran. The truth prevailed.

Here we are back on deck, with some of us still trying to shed the extra kilos that seem to magically appear around the waistline after the Christmas festivities.

Whilst our Office was closed during the Christmas break, several of our Advocates continued on with their work at home looking up information, and doing research to help with their cases. The mail continued to be collected, and checked for any urgent responses.

We had our Memorial Re-dedication day on the 30^th November 2007 at Monument Hill, in Fremantle, followed by light refreshments at the Swan Yacht Club.

Although I wasn’t there because of our Association fund raising commitments in Busselton, I was delighted to hear that one of the Senior Staff Members from the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, Mr Graham Follington presented our Secretary Carole Matthews at the Swan Yacht Club with a certificate awarded by the International Volunteer Day Committee for her volunteer work in the veteran community. Some of you may not know that Carole’s husband Barry has had a very rough time during the last four years with serious operations, and the she has also had her own problems with knee and leg surgery. Yet she continues to manage to find the time to volunteer her help as our Secretary and as an Advocate. There is no doubt in my mind that without Carole we would struggle to keep ourselves organized functioning efficiently.

My gratitude also must go to each and every member of our team at the Office who put in countless hours of volunteer work and who continue to put their hands in their pockets to pay for small things that crop up from time to time. Simple things like milk or bikkies, so we can offer our vets a brew when they come down to see us, or they see something that we can use in our Office, and then refuse to be reimbursed for the item they purchased for us.

Sadly our Christmas Fund raising drive didn’t go down very well, with only two people out of 600 responding to our sale of little flashing badges
as stocking fillers etc. We made a total of $36 in sales before costs were taken out. Thank you AC and TJK. We also received two very fantastic donations, one for $100 from Vic B and a $200 donation from Elsie C.

Our Association does not charge a membership, as under the BEST Grant guidelines we cannot charge for our expertise or the assistance we provide to Veterans and their Families. We are a Volunteer Association and although we get limited funding through the BEST Grant to buy capital items such as Computers, Office Furniture, and Printers, we do not get any funding to maintain and repair these items. Neither do we get any funding to pay for insurance and other incidentals that we must have. These have to come out of our own fund raising or from donations. Over the past couple of years our Office staff have attended fund raising events at various musical concerts selling the flashing badges, and glow in the dark products. These have been quite successful, but it does take a lot of time and effort and we have to pay to set up at these events, even though we are a registered charity. We also have a few excellent people who regularly send us in a donation, or give us a donation at our meetings.

One of our ways to raise funds is to request a voluntary donation of $20 when we get your personal details on the information form your fill in when you come into the office. This covers some of our stationary and other expenses we incur in trying to help you. If we are lucky maybe one person out of every ten we see responds to our request. We don’t force the issue and never refuse to offer our help if we can irrespective of whether the donation is forthcoming or not.

Another way we request your help, is if we are successful in getting you some type of pension, our Secretary will write you a letter advising you of the outcome of your claim, with a request for a donation if you can afford it. Again we do not press the issue, or keep any records of who did or did not respond to our request for help.

There is another way we try and raise funds, and that is through this Newsletter when I appeal (like now) to those of you we have helped. Please think of what we have done for you, and remember we could not have done it without the generosity of people who have made donations to us in the past. We don’t ask for, or suggest any set amount, but if you can help us with a donation to keep us going so we can help Veterans in the future, then our appreciation at the Office will be immense. A receipt will be sent to you for any donation you make to us.

At our AGM in June it was a privilege and an honour to once again be elected as Chairman of our Association. After two years in the chair, and having completed most of the DVA Advocacy Courses, I feel much more comfortable than when I first started. At least I don’t feel like a complete fish out of water. It certainly helps when we have the dedicated people in the office who gladly give up their time and expertise to help others.

Sometimes we have a few problems with cases, especially when we lose one of our Advocates, and another person has to pick up the strings from where the previous Advocate left off. One of the requirements of DVA is that all Advocates are supposed to be insured against legal indemnification if something goes wrong or the Advocate inadvertently gives out incorrect information or advice. All Advocates who work under our Association banner are insured through the DVA insurance system. However if an Advocate leaves our Association, it is then in their own best interest to arrange alternative insurance as they are no longer covered by us. In most instances we can pick up the case being taken over relatively easy, if we have all the information available to us on our files. Occasionally this does not happen.

We don’t always get it 100% right. However there can be a number of factors as to why this does not happen, or why there are delays. In many cases it is a result of lack of communication by the client with us or with DVA. If you do have a case currently under review, it is very important that you advise us of a change of address, phone number, email address, or even if you are going on holidays, please let us know when you will be back and a contact number while you are away if possible. Our Advocates can only do so much, and guide you through the minefield. The rest is up to you.

In an ideal world, those of us at the office would not need to be there, however this will never be the situation. We are starting to see an increase in the numbers of people who have served in the Middle East , and on Peace keeping deployments through out the world. Many of these people are still serving in the Defence Forces. It is important that people realise you don’t have to be a civilian to get a Service related injury recognised. If you know of someone who has been injured as a result of doing their job in the Defence Services and it is Service related, please advise them to seek help, either through our Association or another recognised Advocacy Service.

We have also seen an increase in the numbers of RAAF and Army people coming to our Association for help, which we find very gratifying, as we have always considered ourselves as an Association dedicated to assisting all Serving and Ex Members of the Defence Forces and their Families. Our Secretary Carole, is also an Advocate, and has been devoting a lot of her time to helping widows and widowers with claims.

We are in a most fortunate position, thanks to the Army who allow us to operate from Leeuwin Barracks. So anything we can do to assist their Service Personnel goes towards repaying their generosity. We do have an excellent working relationship with the Medical Staff at the RAP, (sickbay for you sailors), and they are always quite happy to direct our clients to us down in the dungeon.

We consider that all people we help are Members of our Association. You all have a common link, and that is the DEFENCE FORCES. It would be really great if we could see a few new faces at our next general meeting in September, especially from the Army or RAAF Veterans we have helped.

We don’t charge a membership fee for our Services as under the DVA guidelines this is not allowed. However we can accept voluntary donations, and raise our own funds (which the office staff do) to help us with running our Association. To those of you who have made donations to us over the past year to help us out, I would like to thank you very much. Without your generosity we would struggle to survive. There are some expenses we incur during the year that are not covered by grants from various sources. If we have helped you in the past, and you feel you can help us with a donation we would be extremely grateful. Any cheques or Money Orders should be made payable to Australian Navy in

Vietnam

Veterans Welfare Association. A receipt will be sent to you. We are slowly managing to build up a few dollars in the bank for a rainy day, and to pay those bills.

CHAIRMAN’S REPORT ...... May 2007

It’s amazing how quickly time goes by. I can’t believe that it is almost two years since I stepped into the shoes of Chairman of our Association. At the time of accepting the position I had no idea what I was letting myself in for. All I did know was that there had been a lot of unrest and unhappiness during the preceding years, with a split faction trying to take over the running of the Association. As I delved into the operational side of our Association it became clear that these squabbles had taken us away from our direction of trying to assist Veterans, as much of our Administrative time had been taken up sorting out these problem areas. There were a lot of loose ends that needed to be tied up, and problem areas sorted out if we were to continue as a viable Association.

At the time my knowledge of the advocacy side of things was almost nil, but I quickly realised that the Advocates doing this work did not need outside distractions that would interfere with their efforts in helping Veterans to process their claims. So my plan was to allow these people to get on with their work without undue interference from me, and with the help of our Secretary Carole, we would concentrate on straightening out the operational and financial side of the Association.

The first thing we needed to do was look at our financial position. At the beginning of the financial year 2005, our financial situation was a disaster. We had no money in the bank, we were in the red for $361. Between us we worked out an operational budget for 2005/06. We estimated that in the past our operating expenditure per annum was close to $26,000, and that we had to reduce that significantly. That did not take into consideration an allowance for unforseen expenditures during the year. We also needed to take a look at our Association and reassess our priorities in determining exactly what we were about. It was decided that our operational function should be primarily as an Advocacy Service. In the past we had been participating in offering welfare, financial assistance, and physical assistance that could have been done by other areas of the public sector or government agencies. We neither had the resources financially, or physically to continue these activities. So we cut them out.

As another cost cutting measure, it was decided to terminate all the social activities that the Association participated in each year. These had become a burden both financially to our Association, and physically to the few who helped out organizing them .

Cost cutting measures were undertaken in the office to reduce the unnecessary paper trail, and streamline our operations which resulted in a huge financial savings in postage and stationary.

We applied for a grant from DVA for much needed office equipment which was forthcoming, and we also did some fund raising by the Office staff. That combined with the generous donations from the people we have helped along the way managed to see us through to the end of June 2006 with all debts paid and about $2644 in the bank. However the stationary cupboard was bare so that went fairly quickly.

We have continued with these cost cutting measures throughout the current financial year, and sourced out other areas to try and get financial assistance. Lotterywest provided us with a much needed grant for some new office furniture and some stationary supplies. So instead of chasing our tail this year as we have done in the past, we have managed to stock up throughout the year and will go into the financial year of 2007 with most of our equipment and office supplies already there. This could not have happened without the extremely generous donations we received from people we have helped, DVA through the BEST Grant and Lotterywest.

I would like also to take this opportunity to thank Allan Ellis, one of our long serving Advocates who has decided to leave our Association. His work has been invaluable to the Veteran Community over the years, and we hope he will continue elsewhere as an Advocate.

I must add here that all our Office Staff donate their time and expertise free of charge to our Association. Many of them go out on the road to see veterans who cannot make it into the office, and none of our staff ever ask for any form of financial re-imbursement, although in the past there was provision to do so in our Constitution, and it was done to some extent. We have been advised that we can claim these travelling expenses through the BEST Grant next year. This unselfish and caring attitude by our Staff speaks volumes for the dedication, and excellent work that they all perform. Without them I would not be in a position to write this report.

Well here we are back on deck after a great Christmas Break. Most of us have had a chance to recharge the batteries, and we look forward to the challenges of 2007. We reopened our doors on January 16 when Trevor Robbins, Carole Matthews, Buster Keating and yours truly crept down into the dungeon at Leeuwin Barracks ready to do battle with all the wild animals living down there. Someone must have been spying on us as the phone rang just as we unlocked the door to the office. Already our appointment book is getting a steady list of entries.

Over the holiday period Brian and Marie Trewella, two of our dedicated office staff decided to take a break from our office to pursue other activities. I would like to thank them both for the amount of time and effort they put in, helping veterans and their families that have come through our system. It looks like we have also lost Aussie Lawrence for a few months, as he is about to undergo surgery. Hopefully he will return fit and well again in the near future. Without people like them we could not function. On the plus side, I’d like to welcome on board two new office staff members, Don Bowman and John Davidson. Once again if any of you out there have ever considered becoming an Advocate or have one or two days a month spare to help us in the office, Carole would love to hear from you. Please call our Office number 9311 2719 and leave a message if she is not there.

Following the successful day we had in Fremantle last year on ANZAC Day, we have again decided to march through the streets of Fremantle this year. Last year, despite the torrential down pour we copped, the march itself was very well attended by the Royal Australian Navy from HMAS STIRLING and the ships based there. Besides ourselves there were several other ESOs supporting the Fremantle march and other organizations such as Sea, Air Force and Army Cadets, Surf Life savers, and Scouts and Guides.

After the march we will be adjourning to the Swan Yacht Club on Riverside Rd. to participate in the Club’s short march and

Commemoration Service there. After that we will be entertained by the Midland Military Brass Band who put on an excellent afternoons session of great music. The Club kitchen/galley is open from about 1230 and they have a terrific menu at very competitive prices for members and guests. The Club is very Family orientated with a nice grass area for kids to play on in sight of the parents. So if you are considering marching this year and you don’t normally march with any particular Association, or you feel that the march in Perth might not be suited to you, then you are more than welcome to join in with us at Fremantle on ANZAC Day.

From time to time snippets of good information and advice come into our office from various sources. Elsewhere in this newsletter some of this information is printed. You may have read it in another publication, or it may not concern your particular requirements, but some of it may help you or others you know.

Sadly the big raffle we were hoping to have will not take place now. Despite writing to several large retailers their response was either negative, or in most cases no response was forthcoming. We did however get a $50 voucher from Bunnings at Melville and the promise of a plant arrangement from Waldecks also at Melville. We are hoping to pick up a few other items to raffle at the Swan Yacht Club on ANZAC Day. If any person in the metro area of Perth has anything they would like to donate to our Association to be raffled as a fund raiser for us, please let the office know, and we will arrange to pick it up, if it cannot be sent or delivered to us.

The first thing I would like to express on behalf of those of us who keep the office open and running, is our gratitude to the people who sent in a donation to help us with our operating overheads. To those of you who made the effort to help us with a donation, please be assured we were in pretty dire straits, and although we don’t have much left in the bank after paying all our bills, (yes, we do get them), at least we are debt free for the moment.

Our intrepid Secretary Carole, is always on the prowl for stationary specials whenever she goes shopping, and she does manage to pick up some good bargains. We have been given the approval of a BEST grant from DVA to purchase two new laptops for our Advocates to assist them lodging claims when they are away from the Office. It was hoped to be able to obtain one of these for each of our six Advocates, for them to use whilst they remained with our Association. The two new ones would have taken our total to 4 laptops, supplied through DVA grants. Unfortunately one of the laptops we purchased last year was stolen from one of our Advocate’s car. The theft was reported to police, but its loss was not covered by the Advocate’s household or car insurance. Fortunately because of the security lock password on the laptop, no confidential documentation can be accessed by the thief

On the subject of confidential documentation, all hard copy files at our office are kept in a locked room, and the only time these files leave the office is if an Advocate is working on a case at home or needs them for a Review Board Hearing. We are required by law to retain all hard copy files for a period of seven years after completion of a case.

At the end of this time they are returned to the Veteran if we can locate that person, or else they are destroyed once they have been put on our Department of Veterans’ Affairs V-PAD computerised documentation system.

For those of you who know him, I recently had a phone call from “

China

” who is now living alone near Gosford in NSW. Some of you may be aware that he has been through a pretty traumatic time over the last twelve months, and spent several months in Concord Repatriation Hospital in the psychiatric ward following a nervous breakdown, and the end of his relationship with Helen. He is slowly recovering from these, and is getting some good support from people he has helped in the past. On medical advice, and because of the lack of suitably trained people to assist him,

China

has decided that the NSW branch of the ANVVWA will be closed down. We will retain him under our Association banner for insurance purposes, so that he can assist us with our claims and do the occasional one himself

Many of you may also be aware of the disgusting way that

China

has been treated by certain people and Associations over the past few years. They continuously try to find ways to put him down and degrade the excellent work he has done for Veterans in the past. It seems that he no sooner puts to bed one of these libellous and petty accusations, when up pops another. There are certain people out there in the community who have nothing better to do with their lives than to knock someone who gets things done. These anonymous cowards do not have the intestinal fortitude or the courage of their beliefs to state publicly who they are. They simply rush into print, or supply photographs purporting to incidents that are incorrect. They hide behind the anonymity of the Department of Veterans’ Affairs cloak of Secrecy, and an offshore website based in the USA to spread their malicious rumours about

China

. Slowly but surely we are compiling a dossier on these people, we know who some of them are, and when the time is ripe, we will expose them.

We have recently acquired the assistance of Ian Smith, ex. matelot upon his retirement from the Police Force. Ian has slotted in very well and has picked up the routine with no problems. We are always on the lookout for extra people to join us at the office, so if you have some spare time please give Carole a call. Carole’s teenage grand daughter Stacey has also been assisting Carole updating our files.

Carole’s husband Barry recently had major surgery to amputate one of his legs, following years of pain and infection. Our senior Advocate Trevor is desperately trying to convince DVA that Barry needs a motorised wheel chair to get around in. We applied for one before, but it was knocked back. Then by pure chance one of the senior OVA people saw Barry and realised that his situation was more serious than previously assessed. Carole was advised by him to re-apply for DVA assistance, and he would take a personal interest in the claim. The reason why I am relating this is that our Vice Chairman Ian Dunn recently wrote a letter to OVA outlining what we do, and what we face at times to assist Veterans. DVA people only see the paper trail, they do not come face to face with the Veteran or their family, and OVA case officers have to follow the guidelines as laid down in their brief. They do not see the human side of the individual Veterans, or what the Advocate has to go through to extract the information needed to try and get a claim approved. I thought it was a brilliant letter, and have reproduced it in this Newsletter for all to read. It really does highlight the magnificent work that all Advocates and office staff do to assist others.

It would also be very remiss of me if I did not thank Mr George Peddey an accountant who audited our books for us this year at no cost to the Association. We are very grateful to George, because without the audit we cannot obtain the BEST grants and other grants we apply for.

On a lighter note, if the format of this edition of the Newsletter is slightly different or not up to the high standard of previous editions, it is not the fault of Trevor. With the increase in the number of cases he is now handling, yours truly volunteered to put out this edition. I’m considering changing my title to “office lackey” or “dog’s body”, which would probably be more appropriate, and would certainly be understood by all the old sailors and secretaries out there. This #*$&@+ computer definitely isn’t like the old Pussers TOW’s Olivetti.

May I also take this opportunity on behalf of all of us at the Office to wish all of you a safe and Happy Christmas, and best wishes for 2007,

CHAIRMAN’S REPORT ….. June 2006

It is hard to believe that it is almost one year since I stepped into the role of Chairman of our Association. During that time I think we have become a more streamlined Advocacy service, rather than trying to spread ourselves out too thinly by helping Members in areas where they can better obtain assistance from other sources.

We have limited our Membership numbers to now include only those of you who indicated you would like to remain in contact with us, and any new cases we have taken onboard since we made contact with you. One of the most significant areas where we have saved money is in postage and printing of our news letter, by emailing this out wherever possible, and only mailing it to those who are not on the net. On this note, it would be appreciated if you are receiving this by mail, and have now hooked up to the internet, or you are online and considering changing your email address, please add us to your mailing list of people who need to know of any changes. Our email address is navywelfare@argonaut.com.au and our Secretary Carole will update our records. We would also appreciate you contacting us and letting us know if you no longer wish to receive our newsletter.

Despite the torrential downpour on ANZAC Day after the march in Fremantle, the majority of our Members who took part, and returned to the Swan Yacht Club later have indicated to me that it was a very successful day. There has been no negative feedback to me from those who attended, as to the change in where our Association marched this year, as most felt it was an easier march and we had no parking problems thanks to the car passes supplied to us by the City of Fremantle Council . We were greatly assisted by two serving sailors AB Travis Hancock from HMAS ARUNTA and LS Alexander King from HMAS STIRLING who volunteered to carry our banner, much to the relief of a bunch of sprightly old codgers who all instantly contacted mysterious illnesses, and other ailments when volunteers were called for from the ranks to carry the banner.

Work is still continuing on the restoration of some areas of the Memorial Monument on Monument Hill in Fremantle. One of our Members, Graham Thurstans has a son at HMAS STIRLING. At Graham’s suggestion I contacted his son Steve who is a Chief MTP, and in doing my best impersonation of a Chinaman rabbiting, Steve arranged to make up the stainless steel corner protection covers for the Memorial at no cost to our Association. They have now been fitted and many thanks to Graham, Steve and of course the RAN which is probably sailing around with one of its ships missing a vital piece of stainless steel plating. The plaques on the Monument need to be removed and taken back to the workshop for restoration, hopefully this will happen in the near future, as I did not want them missing at the Dawn Service on Anzac Day.

We will be having our AGM at the Swan Yacht Club at 1200 on Monday 12^th June. As this is the meeting where Office Bearers are elected, it would be appreciated if you could come along and cast your vote. I can assure you, that you will not be skidded into doing anything that is not your choice. But we do need your support and suggestions on how best to run our Association.

We are getting towards the end of the financial year, and once again our operating funds are diminishing at a rate faster than the donations, which occasionally come in.

Our Association is registered with the ATO as an income tax exempt charity. If you are considering making a donation to a charity before the end of the financial year, please consider sending a few dollars our way. Many people in the past have helped us financially and your support is greatly appreciated, but sadly there are some who just take for granted what they get as a result of our Advocate’s efforts. Please remember all of us here at Leeuwin Barracks are unpaid volunteers trying to help other veterans. Your financial support is needed for us to be able to continue. All monetary donations are acknowledged by receipt.

Once again it would be remiss of me if I did not pass on my gratitude and thanks to all of the people who work so hard at our Office at Leeuwin Barracks. If it wasn’t for them, there would be no Advocacy Service operating in the immediate area and many of us would not enjoy the benefits we have today. Hoping to see you at the AGM.

The last few months seem to have flown by, with our Association at the office continuing to support Veterans of all three Services, and War Widows in giving them assistance with claim lodgements to DVA and MCRS. Until taking over the role of Chairman of the Association, I must admit that my knowledge of the operations in the Office at Leeuwin Barracks was very limited. By observing, learning the ropes, and listening to how our Office Staff deal with the day to day issues that arise at Leeuwin, I must say that these people are providing an exceptionally brilliant service to those who need our assistance. The dedication and devotion that they freely display has to be seen to be really appreciated. With the exception of our Secretary, who receives a small allowance for petrol, to assist her with the endless amount of running around she does, no other person receives any kind of remuneration from our Association, it is all voluntary assistance. There is always someone at the Office during our operating hours, and it is amazing how these people cheerfully step up to the plate to cover each other in the event that something unexpected happens on their rostered days.

Our Secretary Carole Matthews, is constantly on the look out for any person who wishes to donate a little of their time at the Office, assisting us by answering phones, doing a bit of filing or photocopying. It is not difficult work, and there is always another person or Advocate available to assist you if required. So if you are looking to fill in your days once or twice a month, please call Carole at our Office (08 9311 2719) or leave a message for her to get back to you.

As I said in my last report, we would be updating our Office files. This has now been completed to the best of our ability by talking to those people who were contactable by phone. Our association has always considered that any person we may have helped in the past was automatically listed as a “Member.” Over the past eight years, we have assisted approximately 1300 people with claims or other assistance. This list of people had never been updated, and in an attempt to cut down on our mailing costs for newsletters, etc. people were asked if they wished to remain listed as Members, and receive our Newsletter and other snippets of information as they come to hand. Those who wished to be removed from our mailing list were, as was any person who we were unable to contact.

Many of you provided us with your email address so that we can send you out our information through that avenue. This results in a huge savings on postage cost and administrative time in sending out the information via Snail Mail. So if you do get on the internet, please email our office and let us know your email address, and keep us up to date with your other contact details.

As you are probably aware, we get no funding from the government to assist us in the running of our Office. We do not charge a Membership Fee, and all our income for running the Office comes from donations from people we have helped in the past, and a few private businesses. Many of you indicated you would be prepared to make a donation to assist financially in helping us provide an Advocacy service to other veterans as we have done for you. I would sincerely like to thank those of you who have responded to my request for donations. It is heartening to see the trickle of donations coming in, as it enables us to plan a little in advance, knowing we have the funding to cover our costs. I do appreciate that times are tough, but if you are still considering forwarding a donation to us, it would be gratefully accepted.

We are getting a greater influx of veterans from the Army and the RAAF seeking our assistance. This is perhaps indicative of the times, and despite our Association name, we are prepared to assist any ex-service person or war widow if we can. Please don’t think that simply because we have Navy in our name, that our Association does not apply to you if you are ex Army or RAAF. We have many ex Army and RAAF contacts in our network if we require any information about these Services. We are first and foremost a Veterans Advocacy Service.

There are a couple of dates that you need to mark in your diary. The first one is Monday 7^th November, which is the date of our next Association Meeting at 1200 at the Swan Yacht Club opposite Leeuwin Barracks in Fremantle. The other very important date is Wednesday 30^th November at 1000. This is the day on which we hold a Memorial Service at Monument Hill in Fremantle for the Royal Australian Navy Personnel who lost their lives in action during the Vietnam War. On completion of this Service Members and Guests are invited back to the Swan Yacht Club to partake in light refreshments, or you can purchase lunch from the galley at the Club.

It would be great if you can attend either, or both of these functions, and catch up with old friends.

Some of you may be aware that we have an Association shirt bearing our logos. These are on sale at our Association Meetings or we can send one out to you. They are of excellent quality and cost us $41.00 each because of the embroidery work. We are selling them to any one who wishes to buy one for the same price plus postage cost if applicable.

We also wish to remind you that our Office will be closed down over Christmas from 9^th December until 17^th January. There will be people going into the Office to check phone messages and to continue with ongoing cases, but we will not be taking appointments during that time, unless they are extremely urgent, as most Government Departments also curtail their workload over this period.

We have held a phone hook up meeting with the ANVVWA (NSW), and we are in the process of forming a National Association. For those of you who wish to know, “

China

” is still very much involved with Advocacy work, and is the Chairman of the ANVVWA (NSW) which he started up. We are in constant touch with each other, ensuring that both Associations are heading down the same path in our endeavours to assist Veterans and their Families.

As this will be the last newsletter to go out before Christmas, on behalf of all of us at the Office, I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a Merry Christmas and all the best for the New Year.

When I took on this job, I certainly did not appreciate how much my predecessor, China Hammal, had put in to making our Association the success it is. One cannot even begin to understand the countless hours he has devoted to helping veterans until you actually start to do some of the work yourself. Another consideration is that to do the job, you tend to lose any hope of privacy, or a 'quiet' weekend, the telephone is always ringing or the answering machine is loading up again.

I say "start to do" because that is precisely where I feel I am at present, at the beginning of some enormous project, which probably has no ending. It is only because of the help and unity provided by our team at Leeuwin Barracks and behind the scene that our work is possible. Every one of them has my profound gratitude and admiration.

China is still working as hard as ever and is handling even more cases from his base at Orange on behalf of our Association, and has continued to expand his knowledge by taking more courses through DVA. in N.S.W. At the time of writing this, he is back in Perth for a couple of weeks, and we have had a chance to sample his beloved "Yum‑cha" at our favoured restaurant.

There have been changes at Department of Veterans' Affairs in town, the main office and reception has relocated to the fifth floor and the Veterans' Review Board is now on the seventh floor. The staff in both these areas continue to provide lots of help and advice, which is much appreciated by ourselves and smooths the process for the veteran. TIP training courses have been programmed for the New Year and anyone who wishes to be included in any course should talk to one of our advocates so that we can submit the required documentation.

There is still regrettably some animosity directed particularly to China from several individuals in VLSVA which has made smoothing troubled waters very difficult. I want to stress that we have no problem with most of the members of the VLSVA and are very happy to meet and chat at various functions, but cannot tolerate some of the spiteful actions which have marred the past year. The defacing of the memorial was stupid, illegal and totally unnecessary and demonstrated the childish mentality of the individuals involved.

Repairs to the base and tiles of the memorial are being costed and when approval is given will be undertaken in the New Year. I must extend our thanks to Chris Grisewood for his continued advice and assistance at various functions involving the memorial.

Today, in company with many of our members, I will be laying a wreath in memory of the sailors lost in that dreadful fire aboard HMAS Westralia. Our Association was able to assist some of the relatives of those lost, in travelling from the Eastern States to attend the service.

We continue to represent some of our veterans at Veterans Review Board and Administrative Appeals Tribunal hearings. I must comment that some of these hearings would be unnecessary if the initial applications for pension properly addressed the provision within the relevant Statement of Principle. "Tid" Carter is currently working on a new guide, which will assist advocates in addressing some of these requirements when assisting veterans to complete applications.

At our last general meeting it was suggested that the names of all persons who donated to the Association be recorded in each 'Mateship'. I would like to see this, but must first ask those who have donated if they would object to having their name published. The amount would not be shown. If all who donate could be asked to indicate if they would object to being included on a nominal roll of donors each year, this could then proceed in the next 'Mateship'.

Last, but certainly not least, I thank all those who have assisted in some way throughout the last year. I wish you all a very pleasant and peaceful Christmas and a healthy, happy new year.

Since taking office at the AGM, there have been a few changes to our operating procedures in the office at Leeuwin Barracks. There were a few loose ends which needed sorting out, and some slight changes in our running of the office.

We no longer offer interest free loans as part of our operating procedures. Unfortunately some people decided these loans were not repayable, and over the years managed to get under our radar, and were not detected as being long overdue in repaying their debt to our Association. A brief rundown of this situation is as follows.

We are no longer going to have a Christmas Banyan, or the Annual Dinner Dance, as the time and effort involved in organising these functions in the past have not been productive in their return to our Association. They have in fact cost our Association finances which we no longer can afford. Having said that we are still going give small Christmas presents to children under the age of 16 of deceased Members of our Association. At this point in time, I believe there are only about 7 children involved.

Because several of the office staff are only available to come in on certain days, we had a situation where some of our people might not know others who work at Leeuwin. The office staff now meet at the SYC once every two months so we can discuss what is happening within our operating procedures, and to ensure we are all on the same track.

We are still desperately short of people willing to spend one or two days a month helping us at the office with tasks such as filing, answering the phones and photo copying. If any of you can be of assistance, please see Carole.

Two of the situations which I encountered in the office were a lack of documentation, and a lack of accountability. These occurred mainly because some previous office staff had everything in their heads, and not on paper. There was also a cloak of secrecy over some procedures that had occurred in the past. All the office staff handle confidential documentation and situations every day. As far as I am concerned they are all volunteers doing a magnificent job helping others, and if they need to discuss these matters with other office staff, in an effort to get things done correctly or to seek advice from each other, then they should be free to do so.

With China having started up a NSW branch of the ANVVWA, at the insistence of DVA in NSW before they would assist him financially, a decision was made during an office hook up between the NSW branch and ours to form a National Association in order to assist each other where possible and to ensure we are both going down the same track..

The principle office bearers of that Association are: Chairman China Hammal (NSW), Peter Denver (WA), Secretary Carole Matthews (WA), Treasurer Evan Hayden (NSW).

I was disappointed with the roll up at our last AGM and General Meeting, so we are going to coincide with our newsletter going out approximately two weeks before the meetings to give all interested members a reminder and the opportunity to attend future meetings. For those of you who have read our last newsletter, it was put together by Trevor Robbins who did an excellent job.

At our executive staff meeting held on the 01 of July, we talked about supporting the Fremantle Community as our Memorial Monument is situated on Monument Hill 'in Fremantle and we are Fremantle based. We also discussed supporting Fremantle Council in future events. A proposal was put forward to support the Anzac Day march next year through the streets of Fremantle, rather than the march in the city.

Further discussion of this took place at our general office staff meeting held at the SYC on July 29. It was agreed that next year we should make an effort to attend the Dawn Service at Fremantle on Monument Hill, followed by marching through Fremantle and then returning to the Swan Yacht Club to continue with the day.

The Management and Committee of the SYC have been excellent in their assistance to our Association. As a result of Army requirements, we can no longer hold meetings at Leeuwin Barracks, the SYC have given us permission to use their venue free of charge to hold all our meetings. They have also invited us to return to their Club to continue our get together days on our two important Association Annual functions, namely the Memorial Dedication Day on November 30th each year and of course Anzac Day. Anzac day at the SYC is a wonderful day for renewing old acquaintances and having your family with you. There is a small march and wreath laying ceremony, followed by live music throughout the day. Plenty of parking facilities and a great venue, all of which is offered to us free of charge.

Sadly I have to tell you that this will be my last report as Chairman of the Welfare Association. It has been a great pleasure for me to have held this role in our Association since its inception in 1997. I truly believe that there are many experiences and dedicated members who will continue the work we have begun and been done so successfully over the years. I will continue to offer my support although it will be from a distance (with the occasional visits to Perth). My partner Helen has accepted an academic appointment with the University of Newcastle at the Centre for Rural and Remote Mental Health in Orange New South Wales. We will be setting out on our family adventure at the end of April. So I wish to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has worked beside me in the Welfare Association and those who have kindly offered to take on other positions due to my departure. It has been an honour to work with you all and to provide the good service that we do for our fellow veterans and their families.

I encourage all members to continue to support our Association by attending our meetings, helping in our advocacy office, marching on Anzac Day and helping our widows. We have a strong team of volunteers who work hard for our members. Please do your best to bring new members to our Association and think about how you can help out. You can help in many different ways, advocacy training, answering phones, photocopying, hospital visits or busy bees. Just ring our Leeuwin office and volunteer, your help would be much appreciated.

You will have read in my previous annual reports that our advocacy service has successfully completed more than 1500 pension claims including assistance at the Veterans Review Board and Administrative Appeals Tribunal levels. This is a very impressive track record!!! And one that we are quite capable of continuing. I have just completed a two day workshop for “Veterans Law” in which our Advocacy service was highly praised for its handling of complex cases with the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT). For those unfamiliar with the system, the AAT is a court of law with advocates trying cases against barristers. Our Association has done very well to receive such praise.

From our early days at Leeuwin of processing claims on a small table and sorting files on the floor, we now have a suite of four furnished offices including a television lounge area. We are also more appropriately resourced for computing and communication needs thanks to successful grants. It is pleasing to see we have more advocates being trained and joining our experienced team at Leeuwin. The strength and experience of our team is shown by the wide demand for our services. For example we are often contacted by people from the Eastern States seeking help with their claims. Some of you may not be aware of the growing need for our advocacy service by current serving members. This is a gap we are very happy to fill in return for the assistance we continue to receive from the Defence Force.

I urge all members, widows and families to march on Anzac Day under our banner RAN In Vietnam. —Welfare Association. This will be the first year we have had our banner for Anzac Day. Our mustering point is Barrack Street close to Hay Street. Please also join us for drinks afterwards at the Carlton Hotel.

Again I wish to thank everyone who has been involved in the Welfare Association during my time as Chairman. Although I am moving East I will remain on the Welfare Association committee and continue to work as an advocate. Please come along to our meeting on 15^th April and stay for a few drinks afterwards. I wish the Association and all members the very best for the future. Please visit when you next pass through Orange.

Welcome to our fifth annual newsletter, MATESHIP, of the Australian Navy in Vietnam Veterans’ Welfare Association Inc. (ANVVWA).

We welcome this year as our patron Commander Phil Orchard and his wife Isabel who have shown us a lot of support over the year.

2003 has been tough for me due to ill health early in the year but to be positive it was good to see who my true mates were and who supported both me, my family and the Association. I still consider it an honour to have received an O.A.M. although now removed.

Thank you to all the very dedicated volunteers in our office; we could not do what we do without you all.
This year we have also changed the constitution to include younger veterans. We felt as we are all getting
older that we need younger people to carry on. This change was approved by all members and so we look forward to welcoming some younger blood aboard!!

With our advocacy work we have been giving lectures and doing claims at HMAS Stirling approximately every 3 months which has proved to be very positive and we plan to continue these lectures throughout 2004 to support our defence personnel and pass on knowledge of entitlements.

Anzac Day, our first Anzac Day dawn service at the Fremantle War Memorial, was very successful and the City of Fremantle has suggested and welcomed the prospect of an annual service. A very positive outcome for the Association and a big thank you to all the members and family who came along.

In September I was honoured with a Community Service Recognition Award from the Federal Electorate of Fremantle, a proud moment in the year.

Our Annual Dinner Dance was fantastic, what more can I say, great band, great dancing, great night and wow, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers what a performance!!.

Many thanks as well to all the following:
Our new team of busy bees - who were kept very busy throughout the year.
Keri for her work with all the war widows.
Hollywood Hospital for their generous sponsorship of our magazine and the War Memorial.
And finally, all our members and their families who have supported the Association through financial donations, volunteer work or attendance at functions. It is thanks to you that our Association continues in such fine spirits. May you all have a Merry Christmas and a Happy and successful 2004.

ANVVWA

HONORARY CHAIRMAN'S REPORT ..... 2002

Welcome to our fourth annual Newsletter, MATESHIP, of the Australian Navy in Vietnam Veterans’ Welfare Association of Western Australia (Inc.) (ANVVWA). Once again the year has shown a growth in our membership and importantly in the number of qualified volunteer advocates. We must thank all who have taken the time to complete the advocacy training and given the commitment to the Association of providing hours of their service for the welfare of veterans, serving members and their families. Without the dedication of our advocates the Welfare Association would not exist. Thank you to all. I would like to take this opportunity to call upon volunteers to train as advocates in the New Year. The time commitment is up to you, you may work as often or as little as you wish. If you need time off for a holiday, family commitments or ill health then that is what we are all about. We welcome any help you can provide.

The Association would also like to extend its warm gratitude to the many willing volunteers who have assisted with ‘general duties’ at the Advocacy office in Leeuwin. As with many jobs there comes a certain amount of paper work that is always made easier by extra hands. So thanks to all the volunteers who helped in the office. We were threatened with a move of office earlier in the year but for a number of reasons this did not eventuate. We could say this was good and bad luck. On the good side we have a complete floor of the medical block to ourselves and that gives us a lot of space and freedom. On the bad side our people have to march up the hill to us and this is hard for many of our disabled mates. Added to this is the lack of air conditioning for summer. So if you visit us over the summer period please bring a pack of ice for the workers. And if you have troubled walking the distance please let us know ahead of time so we can assist. Apart from this few downers, the advocacy office is a blessing to the Association and provides a central point for all of our business. Please remember if you have a query about your claim or wish to make a claim, then you will need to phone the office on 9311.2719 to make an appointment. We cannot see people straight off the Street as this disrupts the appointments of those who have been waiting some weeks to see us. Please respect the needs of others, phone and make an appointment and then wait for that time. You will be seen and everyone needs to bear in mind that DVA does not complete claims overnight it all takes time. You want the best possible chance for your claim so it is worth taking time and completing it in detail.

We have shown strength in our Association by the maintenance of our Advocacy office for over two years now, the growth in our membership and number of volunteer advocates, and the large numbers of people attending our functions. In this manner we are supporting each other and pursuing the aims of the Association, namely care and support. Sadly we have seen more funerals this year but importantly our members have supported the bereaved families by attending the funerals. Members have also assisted families with busy bees and other support activities for our widows. Thanks to Tony Samiotis for coordinating the busy bee group. It has been great to see more of our widows participating in our functions thanks to the guidance of Keri Larson. Thank you Keri for all your work. Thanks to Jennie Koltasz and Helen Stain for hosting the Mothers’ Day luncheon for our war widows. I wish to welcome a new helper from our war widows and that is Christiane Allen who has kindly taken on the role of coordinator for dependents of war widows. In this role Christiane is merrily purchasing and delivering birthday presents, Easter Eggs and Christmas presents to the children of our past ship mates. Thank you Christiane for taking on this important position. It was pleasing to see so many of our war widows at the Dinner Dance and to see what warm welcome everyone gave to them.

For those who missed any of our functions this year, you missed a great opportunity to mix with mates and let your hair down. So let’s try and make it next year.

Commander Peter Higgins, Commanding Officer of HMAS Stirling, has been an excellent Patron to our Association over the past 12 months. We are sad that he is leaving the Navy as this means he will no longer be our Patron. We wish Commander Higgins, his wife Liz and daughter Rebecca the very best for their future here in Western Australia and hope they will come to some of our functions. Thank you Commander Higgins for your hard work and support of the Association. Patrons of both our Associations Commander Peter Higgins for the Welfare Association and Rear Admiral Phil Kennedy for VLSVA have been heavily involved in the HMAS Perth bell project. Through negotiations with the Navy and the City of Perth, two HMAS Perth bells will be made. A bell will be poured using the mould of HMAS Perth I bell and material from HMAS Perth II. This bell will be engraved with the name and date of commissioning of each HMAS Perth past and future. The bell will be kept within Western Australia and displayed at various public facilities. Another bell will be poured using the mould of HMAS Perth II and material from HMAS Perth. II. This bell will be presented to the Navy for HMAS Perth III at the time of commissioning. The HMAS Perth bell project will strengthen the bond between our Association and the Navy as well as with the community. Having bell passed from one ship to the next is the first of its kind for the Navy so once again our Association makes history.

As most of you will be aware, on the weekend of 29th and 30th November 2002 the first War Memorial for Royal Australian Navy Vietnam veterans was dedicated at Monument Hill in Fremantle. The ceremony included a RAN band and a fly past by the Royal Australian Air Force. We would like to thank Rear Admiral Phil Kennedy and Commander Peter Higgins for many months of assistance towards the War Memorial project. We would also like to thank HMAS Stirling, the Navy Cadets and the RAAF for their participation in the project.

Finally I would like to thank all of our members and their families who have supported the Association through financial donations, volunteer work or attendance at functions. It is thank to each of you that our Association continues in such fine spirit. May you all enjoy a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. I look forward to seeing you in 2003.

As you are aware we run our Association in a friendly and democratic manner. As such all members are entitled to express their opinions at our meetings. The three members who wished to voice their opinions to other members were given the opportunity to do so at our last meeting. I thank the members who patiently listened to the comments of these three members. The outcome of the meeting was that all members agreed that enough had been said on the opinions of these three and that the Association should leave this behind it and move on with the aims of the Association in mind. I thank all members who showed their support for our Association at this meeting. We now look forward to a strong and happy year ahead for all.

I would like to thank our Advocacy Team in Leeuwin for all their hard work and continuing support for people seeking assistance with claims and pensions. Thanks, also to the extra helpers that are now involved in our Leeuwin Office. We are in need of new volunteers to be trained as Advocates. For new advocates I recommend that following training you be placed on roster at Leeuwin one day per fortnight to gain experience under the supervision of other advocates. Once you feel comfortable in your role you can choose how much involvement you want at the office. I am also seeking to train one or two of our experienced Advocates in Veterans’ Review Board tasks so we can have a stronger network to help the veteran community. So please give it a try, after all we are Navy trained with initiative and CDF.

The Welfare Association is looking for a team of workers to set up a licensed raffle once per year. The prizes could be obtained through approach to businesses for donation of services or products. For example a trailer full of goodies. The raffle tickets could then be sold more generally than we have in the past. Monetary donations for the Association have slowed as many of our successful pension applicants have thought our Advocate office at Leeuwin was Government funded. We are not funded in any way or form so we can only keep helping the veteran community through financial donations. Please help out as we have helped you.

Nominations are now seeking for Honorary Chairman, committees members and voluntary coordinators for the year 2002/2003. Please give your support to the Welfare Association.

ANVVWA

CHAIRMAN’S WELFARE REPORT… OCT 2001 – JAN 2002.

I am very pleased at the number of donations that have been made to our Welfare Association over the break and would like to thank all involved. It is only through donations that we are able to financially help veterans, widows and families. If you have not yet donated please consider this worthy cause. Our advocate office at Leeuwin has been running very smoothly thanks to the help of our hardy band of volunteers and advocates. I would like to thank each of you and also to ask if there are any more members who would like to consider training for advocacy work. We would like to ask for any persons willing to assist at Leeuwin by answering phone calls while we are assisting a serving or past serving member of the ADF. You don’t need any training for this; you just need to be willing to help. It would be much appreciated.

It is with pleasure I report the Welfare Association was able to financially contribute towards the Xmas presents for children and also towards the Xmas Banyan for VLSVA. The Xmas presents are always favourably received by the children and their families. Let us hope we can continue this great work.

It is sad to report a number of funerals over the break and I would like to thank members who showed their support by attending the funerals. We need to give our assistance to widows and one way of doing this is by the busy bees so efficiently run by Tony Samiotis. We need more helpers for these so if you can help on any occasions in any way please contact Tony. That way the workload can be spread and all get to enjoy the ‘socialising’ afterwards.

Through the kind donation of a hand made quilt by Mrs. Samiotis we will run a raffle in order to raise much needed funds for the Welfare Association. Our thanks to Mrs. Samiotis for this wonderful prize. Can anyone with ideas for fundraising please contact me. I urge all members to support this fundraiser by donating prizes or just selling tickets.

On a brighter note I wish you and your families all the best for the coming year. If any member has an idea for improving the Welfare Association please contact me at Leeuwin on 93112719 as this Association is for everyone. If you disagree with any decision or action by the Welfare Association please also contact me directly so we can do something about it. Let us continue to help and support each other.

HONORARY CHAIRMAN'S REPORT ...... 2001

Welcome to our third annual Newsletter, MATESHIP, of the Australian Navy in Vietnam Veterans’ Welfare Association Of Western Australia (Inc.). Well another year has passed and looking back the Welfare Association has achieved a great deal. This would not have been possible without the help of our coordinators and the support of their partners. This is truly a reflection of how much our Association has grown and the mateship of our members. Well done to everyone. I would like to praise all members for their hard work and involvement over the last year. And I would like to give special thanks to those members who took on extra work by joining one of our many committees. I thank you all. Each year we are getting stronger and reaching more veterans. Let us continue to do this in the coming year. I wish to acknowledge the patrons of the Vietnam Logistic Support Veterans Association (VLSVA) and the Australian Navy in Vietnam Veterans’ Welfare Association Of Western Australia.

Commander Vince Di Pietro RAN has been patron of the Welfare Association for the last two years. Oh by the way, congratulations are in order. “No it’s not another baby!” Commander has been promoted to Captain. Congratulations. As patron Commander Di Pietro has always been helpful, answering queries and giving assistance and advice, It is sad for us that Commander’s promotion also means a change in posting, We will miss him and hope he will encourage his relief to become our patron, even if he has to tell a few white lies and say we are a good bunch of fellas. We all wish Commander Di Pietro and his lovely wife Sandy and family safe journey and keep in touch.

As well as being very energetic and enthusiastic in his commitment as patron of VLSVA, Admiral Phil Kennedy AO RAN has contributed significantly to the successful progress of the Welfare Association. He has attended many functions and carried out many ‘out of hours’ duties. He has opened many new channels of communication with important contacts for us. We sincerely hope he will continue with his ongoing support of the Welfare Association in the New Year.

The Welfare Association has shown respect in the passing of members by attending the funeral, helping with the funeral service and providing a white ensign for the service. I believe this is a very important part of the Association as members have served their country well. Through the help of the Navy we have also been able to arrange for the ashes to be scattered at sea. Our support for widows continues long past the funeral. Thanks to the work of Ken Larson more contact and support has been made with our widows and I hope this will continue to grow.

Anzac Day march was again well attended, as was Vietnam Day. We are achieving greater recognition and this will be improved through the joint VLSVA Welfare Association 'Memorial Project’. The project will place a memorial Fremantle to acknowledge the RAN in Vietnam. I am pleased to see how warmly settled Sydney II members are to our ranks. We are also very happy to be able to benefit from their experience and knowledge. I encourage all Sydney II members to make every effort to join our functions and meetings. Should you require transport please contact us.

A pleasing change I have seen in the Association over the last couple of years is the greater involvement of families on committees and attending functions. I hope many of you will be bringing family and friends to our Xmas barbeque on16th December at the Leeuwin foreshore (see flyer attached). Again we are fortunate to be able to deliver Xmas presents to members children and grandchildren just prior to Xmas. As in previous years I request all members wishing to have Xmas presents for children or grandchildren to please send me a letter (I need it in writing) stating names, ages and sex of children for presents. These will be delivered to your home in the week prior to Xmas.

The Welfare Association has seen many positive changes throughout the year. The volunteer advocate office at Leeuwin has expanded with larger premises thanks to the army, more volunteers for the office tasks and more advocates being trained. Thank you to everyone who has helped at Leeuwin. This means we are able to help more veterans and serving members with less delay. Our services include veterans from the Eastern States, An enormous achievement for the Welfare the establishment of our website, thanks to Tic Toc. There has been much positive feedback for this. Already this website has helped veterans obtain their entitlements.

The Welfare Association has always endeavoured to reach more and more veterans. I believe we continue to do so. As a result of this, I received an invitation from the ‘Republic of Vietnam Veterans Association of WA’ to a remembrance dinner on Friday 2nd November 2001 at the Jade Dynasty Restaurant. It was a pleasure and an honour to represent navy Vietnam veterans on this occasion.

I would like to thank all members and their families for supporting the Association over the last 12 months. And I like to thank my Honey Bunny for her support with my work and I will always love her for that. It has been an honour to hold the position of Chairman and it is to the credit of many members that we have flourished and strengthened over the past year. May we continue to do so and may we continue to be supportive to each other. It is great to see that mateship is still there. I have been truly honoured to be Chairman of the Welfare Association and have thoroughly enjoyed my work. It’s great to be working alongside your mates and helping each other. I firmly believe the Association is very strong and that there are many more positive achievements in the future for us. I would truly welcome the opportunity to continue to help and guide the Association as it grows. In the last year many members have willingly and ably assisted with busy bees for veterans, war widows and their families. This has been greatly appreciated by all. The words of thanks received from those assisted shows what a valuable Association we have and the dedication of the Association and its members assures a long and strong future. In this Mateship you will find a run down of the events of the past year. Once again I thank you all and urge everyone to come to our functions. If you are unable to get there yourself please ask for assistance. If you are not doing so well please just phone and let us know where you are. It is important we look after each other.

Wishing you a safe and happy Xmas and New Year, I believe our Association has a strong future.

ANVVWA CHAIRMAN'S REPORTS

CHAIRMAN’S REPORT ...... May 2007

CHAIRMAN’S REPORT ….. June 2006