RSL WODEN VALLEY SUB-BRANCH E-NEWS E-Newsletter August 2018

VISITING THE DELIGHTFUL WVRSL Submission to Veterans’ Advo- cacy and Support Services Scoping MRS ETHEL MULLER Study on our website

One of our newest members is also our oldest. Mrs Ethel Muller at Pines Living in Farrer will be 102yo in December. Ethel is closely followed by Jean Next volunteer info session will be held McAlister at 100 and Gordon Holyland at 99. on Wednesday 12 September from 10am-noon

Coffee catch-up held at Holder every Friday at 10.30. Come for the cup of tea or coffee and the conversation.

Next Burrangiri visit scheduled for 20 September with singer Bev Stokes— book with Rani.kalimeris @rslwoden.org.au or call us on 62851931

In This Issue

 Mrs Ethel Muller

 Farewell VLO Carmen Webb

 Burrangiri visit photo

 Volunteers needed

 Aged Care Forum

 DFRB update

 WVRSL Submission to Vet- erans’ Advocacy and Sup- port Services Coping Study on our website:

www.rslwoden.org.au Secretary Greg Kennett with 101yo Sub-Branch member Ethel Muller at Pines Liv- ing, Farrer

1 LONG TERM VLO AND RSL WV SUB-BRANCH MEMBER CARMEN WEBB (PICTURED ABOVE, RIGHT) WAS FAREWELLED ON HER RETIREMENT AT OUR REGULAR SUB-BRANCH COFFEE CATCH-UP. Pictured above from left, Peter Eveille, Brooke Thorpe, Bob Cremer, Florence Sofield and Carmen Webb.

REPRESENTATIVES FROM NATIONAL OFFICE RENEE MILLS AND JAN ORMEROD JOINED OUR REGULAR FRIDAY COFFEE-CATCH UP TO BID CARMEN FAREWELL. Pictured above from left, Renee Mills, Jan Ormer- od, Jacqui Thorpe, Lynnda Livesey and President Jim Gilchrist. Enjoying a day out at Burrangiri this month were (above from left) Michael Davies, Ian Prior (front row, from left) Barry Seedsman, Dorothy Seedsman, Ed Bell and George Harris.

The next Burrangiri visit will be held on 20 September with singer Bev Stokes— book with Rani on 62851931

A conversation could change a life! A lunchtime forum presented by Canberra Mental Health Forum, U3A and COTA 12.30pm to 1.45pm Tuesday 28 Au- gust 2018 | Main Hall, Hughes Com- This is a great opportunity to hear guest speaker Matt Blundell, Community Am- munity Centre, Wisdom Street, bassador for RU OK? talk about the difficult but important issue of suicide preven- tion. There will be a Q & A session following the Hughes ACT presentation. Cost: $2 Sub-Branch welfare staff Florence Sofield and Rani Kalimeria joined the family of Sub-Branch mem- ber Jean McAlister to celebrate her 100th birthday this month, this time with champagne at Goodwin Monash. Congratulations Jean. We have one other Sub-Branch member turning 100 next year , Mr Gordon Holyland.

HOT OFF THE PRESSES: READ OUR WVRSL SUBMISSION TO THE DVA VETERANS’ADVOCACY AND SUPPORT SERVICES SCOPING STUDY ON OUR WEBSITE AT www.rslwoden.org.au, then click on NEWS

4 Woden Valley RSL Sub-Branch and Veterans Contact Us Support Centre Invite all volunteers and potential volunteers to: Give us a call for more an Information Session with guest speakers information about our services or to volunteer Kate Lehmensich from Capital Health Network to discuss ‘My Health Record’ 14/27 Mulley Street HOLDER ACT 2611 and David O'Toole from Illawarra Retirement Trust Phone 62851931 to outline their aged care services [email protected]

Morning Tea will be provided Visit us on the web at Wednesday 12th September 2018 www.rslwoden.org.au 10am to 12pm Grant Cameron Community Centre E-News and The 27 Mulley Street, HOLDER ACT 2611 Serviceman are also available on our website SESSION HELD IN COMMON CONFERENCE ROOM (Enter the main building through the front, past the lift, through the glass doors, turn left and down the hall to room G04) Please RSVP by Friday 7th September 2018 to [email protected] or call Rani on 02 62851931

Korean vets Did you know? You can tune into the Life on the Line podcast with 's Michael Kelly: The . Website: https://www.lifeonthelinepodcast.com/podcast/2018/7/20/ the-korean-war-with-michael-kelly

For the first time, living recipients of the Cross met in Australia for their bi- ennial meet. recipients from Australia, New Zealand, Nepal and the United Kingdom normally only meet biennially with the Queen in London.

(From ABC News 31 July 2018) British Sergeant , was awarded the Victoria Cross in 2005 for valour during the campaign, for carrying out two acts of bravery. He is the only living recipient of the Victoria Cross from the . Joining Sergeant Beharry and was New Zealand's only living Victoria Cross recipient, , and the last living Nepalese Ghurka, Rambahadur Limbui. All five of Cross of Valour recipients, Darrel Tree, Victor Boscoe, Allan Sparkes, Tim Britten and Richard Joyes, also attended, along with Michael Pratt, the last living George Cross recipient. The Cross of Valour is the highest honour available for civilians in the Australian honours system.

To commemorate the centenary of the Armistice that ended the First World War:

a creative public program will run at the Australian War Memorial for a five week period from 5 October to Remem- brance Day, 11 November 2018.

On 11 November 2018, the will conduct a National Commemora- tive service for the Centenary of the First World War Armistice at the Australian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux in France. For more information please visit DVA Web- site or register for an attendance pass. 6 CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS

This year there are a range of exciting new positions for volunteers providing many more ways that you can get in- volved depending on your interests and skills including:

Artist Liaison Event Office - Admin Event Office - Admin Supervisor Floriade Ambassadors Floriade Garden Site Operations - Control room Site Operations - Runner Stage Assistants Stage Managers Venue and Site Decoration Volunteer Team Leader Welcome Team Welcome Team - Supervisor

For more detail on each team read the Information on the positions available for Floriade 2018

Volunteer commitment

Floriade 2018 will be held from Saturday 15 September through to Sunday 14 October open from 9:30am - 5:30pm daily. NightFest will be back again for 5 nights from Wednesday 26 September though to Sunday 30 Septem- ber, 6:30pm- 10:30pm. Apply online to volunteer at Floriade 2018. or email [email protected]

SPEAKING OF VOLUNTEERS…

Our hardworking Treasurer, Jan Properjohn, still needs more volun- teers for poppy selling for our fundraising effort from 5-11 November this year at both Woden and Weston outlets. Contact [email protected] or call us on 62851931

7

A UNIQUE NEW SENIOR LIVING COMPLEX FOR TUGGERANONG

The six vacant DSS buildings next to the Vikings Club in Tuggeranong are being reborn into a unique seniors living complex that may be of interest to our members and clients considering downsizing or just moving into a managed environment.

The complex will offer a genuine alternative for seniors looking to move into a vibrant, private state of the art village providing a genuine continuum of care where couples stay together and pets are welcome. Nearly all of the facilities needed by our seniors like pharmacy, medical, dental, theatre, club and bar as well as extensive parking will be provided within the complex.

Paul Browne, the Managing Director of developer LDK Healthcare, who has over 20 years’ experience, is giving free two hour information sessions at Vikings Town Centre on how to plan your ageing journey, starting at the end of August through to September.

The Sessions will be hosted by Paul and LDK Healthcare’s CEO Byron Cannon and will cover:

What’s happening in the Retirement Living and Aged Care Industry? What’s happening with Government Funding for Aged Care? What accommodation and care options are available in the seniors living and aged care industry? What’s happening at the old DSS building at Greenway in Tuggeranong, where LDK Healthcare are building a unique village arrangement for whole of life care

LDK Healthcare’s unique and innovative Community Membership, is available to all Australians over the age of 70. These free membership arrangements deliver peace of mind to seniors and their families by providing a wide range of valuable benefits both within the complex and the outside community.

A complementary two-course meal will be provided at the end of each session.

Call 1300 535 000 or go online at www.ldk.com.au to find out more or to register

(LDK kindly donated furniture, including fridges and office chairs, to RSL Woden Valley Sub-Branch and other not-for-profit groups in Canberra.)

8

DFRDB UPDATE – JULY 2018 A widely disseminated email supplied by WV SB Member Jack Aaron

Introduction In our June 2018 Update we signalled our intent to explore redress through the Courts and set out to: • Continue to build our case and to determine its viability. • Substantially increase the awareness of our cause. • Create a register of DFRDB recipients and their benefit details.

Meeting with Senator Jim Molan On 17 July 2018, Herb met with Senator Jim Molan, who advised that he had forwarded the concerns expressed in Herb’s Youtube Presentation to the Minister, but had not received a response. Herb’s impression was that there was not much the Senator could do. We anticipate that the response Senator Molan will receive from the Minister will not differ from the response Senator Canavan recently received to a similar approach. The final sentence in that response states; “no further changes to the structure of the DFRB and DFRDB schemes are intended.”

Meeting with Industrial Barrister Ralph Warren On 18 July 2018, Herb met with Ralph Warren, an Industrial Barrister. Also at the meeting were; Ron Haack (WgCdr retired), Treasurer of the Fighter Squadrons Branch of the RAAF Association and Alan Wylie (WgCdr retired). An Accredited Specialist in Commercial Litigation, Alan was a solicitor in a legal practice from 1988 to 2016. The outcome of the 3 hour meeting was not encouraging. In short, the advice was that; “Regardless of the outcome of a provision in the Act, if the plain words in that provision are able to be understood and effected literally and are in keeping with the general object of the Act, extrinsic (other) evidence is not admissible.” In essence, that eliminates the likes of; the Jess Report, speeches in the Parliament, explanatory notes to the Cabinet and the Parliament on provisions in the Act and our empirical data which illustrates the inequitable outcome of the legislation. All of which are integral to the case we are putting forward. With regard to that meeting, our sincere thanks go to: • Ralph Warren for giving his time and the benefit of his experience, pro bono. • Alan Wylie for his time and the benefit of his experience. • Ron and Lizzie Haack for providing the venue for the meeting and their gracious hospitality in accommodating Herb. • The Fighter Squadrons Branch of RAAFA for meeting Herb’s return travel costs from Rutherglen to Port Stevens.

The Initiative for a Class Action Those of you who registered your support of Wing Commander (retired) Ken Stone’s initiative for a Class Action to redress the inequity in the DFRDB Commutation arrangement already know that a Class Action is not viable. Mainly, because in the end there is no pot of gold for a Class Action Law Firm. A Class Action was never our intent, but we don’t own this issue. Ken Stone was fully within his rights to pursue that course of action. It is imperative however, that from now on we all pull in the same direction. What Now?

9 The bureaucrats who drafted the DFRDB Act and its amendments were very clever. They knew that if they could just get the devious and insidious sections which defined the commutation arrangement and the automatic adjustment of benefits through the Parliament, they would be safeguarded by one of the oldest pieces of Commonwealth legislation, the Acts Interpretation Act, 1901. But we are still pursuing other lines of enquiry and will not give up on seeking redress through the Courts until we have fully examined all avenues. If legal action proves to be viable, we will form an incorporated Association, through which we will raise the necessary funding and mount the legal action. If it does not, we will return to seeking a political solution, with a better campaign that is hopefully better supported by the members affected and their Ex-Service Organizations (ESO). We are still gathering more Evidence A gap still exists in our chain of evidence from the Jess Report to the passage of the legislation through the Parliament and that is Cabinet approval. We are now in the process of locating and acquiring, from the National Archives, the drafts DFRDB Bills which underlie all our concerns and the Departmental Notes which explain the provisions in those Bills to the Cabinets of the day which approved them. We believe these documents are important and already, we have discovered a significant piece of evidence of which we were not previously aware. Unfortunately, most of these records exist only as hard copies, so there is a substantial lead time for obtaining copies.

Identifying the Surviving Members of the DFRB and DFRDB Schemes Since Herb posted his DFRDB Presentation on YouTube, it has attracted more than 7,400 views, but that is not overly significant given there are more than 50,000 DFRDB recipients alone. It is essential that we reach as many DFRB/DFRDB recipients as possible and ensure they are aware of how they are affected by the legislation. We are relying on you to make every effort to forward this Update to every DFRB/DFRDB recipient or serving DFRDB member you know and to every ESO you think a DFRB/DFRDB recipient may belong to and to ask those ESOs to forward this to their members. Facebook and the like are also very effective.

We now have a Web Site https://www.adfra.org/ The current indirect method of communicating with many in our audience is not satisfactory so we have now created a web site https://www.adfra.org/ the acronym ADFRA standing for Retirees Association. On this site DFRDB recipients and contributing members and DFRB recipients can register their contact details, allowing us to communicate directly with each individual. Again, our thanks go to the Fighter Squadrons Branch of the RAAF Association for meeting a substantial part of the web site development costs. This web site also allows DFRDB recipients, once registered, to record the details of their retirement benefits, thereby providing us with a statistically valid number of case studies with which we can properly demonstrate the effect of the DFRDB legislation. The web site incorporates state of the art security to safeguard your personal details. Your case studies will be used to create a profile of the DFRB/DFRDB recipient population and a composite view of the effect of the DFRDB legislation. Some of your individual case studies may be helpful in expressing our message to the public but no individual case study will be used without your express approval. If you don’t already have a record of your DFRDB retirement benefits, from the time of your retirement, then please ask for it. The web site shows how you can get the required details. Please do this. The workload it will create will send an immediate message, at least to the Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation, that we are not going away. 10 Jim and Herb - Jim Hislop and Herb Ellerbock can be contacted on [email protected]