Once Australia’s premier veterans’ advocacy organisation, the Returned and Services League is in rapid if not terminal decline. Its leadership is failing the broad membership, which continues to provide support at local sub-branch level. The RSL national leadership has failed the challenge of the 21st century as sub-branches close, local leadership ages and resists change. Young […]

“Obama declines to bomb an ISIS convoy because burning trucks will boost CO2 emissions … Australia’s defence wallahs fret about rising seas and drowning air bases … alarmist ratbaggery distorts strategy and budgets. Military effectiveness has a new enemy: the climate-scam crowd.” This 31 December 2016 essay by Tony Thomas is highly recommended. It looks […]

HISTORY sometimes has a strange way of repeating. Each of Townsville’s three infantry battalions has spent time in their formative years in what was historically referred to as the “Far East”, though it was “near west” from an Australian perspective. All served in Malaya during the Emergency and later as part of Australia’s military contribution […]

The ex-service organisations (ESOs) that currently endeavour to represent the interests of the serving and former serving members of the ADF are in turmoil over direction and leadership. Kel Ryan’s  current  research  “Pathways for the effective representation of the Australian Defence community (ADC)” seeks to address that question. Check it out here and add your comments Biography […]

Experience now tells us all military combat veterans sit in that identified high risk group, and we all despair as we try to identify causes, triggers and determine how we can prevent that. HERE’S a must attend event for your diaries if you are in Sydney on October 13 — a Thursday as it happens, […]

Last week the Defence Dysfunctionettes who run the ADF media and PR organisation scored an unusual orchestrated coup. ROSS EASTGATE, Townsville Bulletin – 22 September 2016 BUDDHISTS believe karma is the sum of one’s actions in thought, word or deed in successive states, which decide one’s fate in the next. Put another way, bad karma […]

A senate farce is not the answer. PAUL Keating derisively dismissed the Senate as “unrepresentative swill” but he may well have added “unaccountably irresponsible”. Rogue senator Jacqui Lambie has successfully moved to establish an independent inquiry and investigation into the performance of the Department of Veterans’ Affairs – especially in relation to crisis (sic) in […]

ROSS EASTGATE, Townsville Bulletin September 8, 2016 OCCASIONALLY words used inadvisably come back to bite you. The Australian Malaria Institute, an Australian Army unit says on its website, “Mefloquine is a safe and effective medication suitable for use as malaria prophylaxis.” Abraham Lincoln said: “You can fool all the people some of the time, and […]

Much has been written about wars, conflicts and battles. But how many historians, authors or commentators, drill down into the engine room of any conflict that is the lot of the soldier, airman or sailor? That lot is not only the engine room, but is at the heart and soul of a unit – one, that […]

As prophesied last week defence and veterans matters as discrete political issues have failed to inspire the Australian electorate. While the final election tally is still far from clear, veteran-based special interest group candidates have polled abysmally. Perhaps the most dismal performance was by the Australian Liberty Alliance which strongly identified with the wider defence community. […]