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Thursday, 12th February 1998
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Day by day reports on the Constitutional Conventional reports by Peter Mackay

International:

The conspiracy of financial silence between big business and the major parties.

We disclosed a few days ago the financial relationship between the major parties and the multinational companies. The massive funding of the Liberal Party and the Australian Labor Party. Now the Australian Financial Review reveals that a secret new foundation is using a loophole in the rules of disclosure of political funding - with the Liberal Party being the beneficiary of a Au$4,650,000 loan.

 The lender - the Greenfields Foundation has strong links with the Liberal Party's funding vehicle, the Free Enterprise Foundation which was caught in the 1995 crackdown of the disclosure law.

Up until 1995 the Free Enterprise Foundation had donated an enormous amount of money to the Coalition without revealing its sources. But because the Greenfields Foundation has lent, rather than donated the money, it maintains that it is not obliged to provide any information to the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC).

The postal address of the Greenfields Foundation is the same as the Free Enterprise Foundation for a company which the Liberal Party simply record as a "debtor" on its papers filed at the AEC. Inquiries by the AEC to the Greenfield Foundation have been responded to by Tony Bandle who has been a trustee of the Free Enterprise Foundation since 1981.

The Au$4,650,000 loan from Greenfields makes up more than 90% of the party's debts - amounting to less than  Au$5 million. Total receipts to the party are just Au$6,561,394 (including this loan).

The AEC's director of funding, Brad Edgman, said "We have no powers to oblige Greenfields to provide us with details such as the terms and conditions of any loan or where the funds are raised."

One thing we can be sure of is that big money comes from big business, and big business is today run by multinationals with the MAI about to be signed there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that the Liberal Party and, for that matter, the ALP have sold their souls to these greedy all-consuming corporations without a single thought for the voters who secure their lifestyle and their corruption.

Makes President Suharto look like a beginner when you see what these career politicians are up to.

How big is your 'oops'... really?

In Australia our career politicians suffer from a malaise called "foot-in-mouth".

Whether it be Kim Beazley, Cheryl Kernot, Alexander Downer, John Howard or Pauline Hanson they all seem to share these awkward moments best known as an 'oops'...

However, these 'oops' come indifferent shapes and sizes, big ones, small ones, insignificant ones and media inspired ones. The catalyst on the size of an 'oops' is the media's obsession in making something of it.

Thus when Pauline Hanson had to ask her interviewer to 'please explain' what xenophobia meant (I can tell you that I didn't know and I don't mind owning up to that fact) the Australian press had a field day with the 'please explain' 'oops' becoming a Hanson classic.

It is still referred to by News Limited and Packer journalists with the nudge-nudge, wink-wink mentality of exposing someone who is stupid. Well, that makes a good portion of Australians stupid - if that is the yardstick, and I am happy to be counted with them.

Let us have a look at some more important and life-threatening 'oops' that have occurred just this week. Both the Prime Minister, John Howard and Kim Beazley are guilty for telling the world, including Iraq, that our highly regarded and skilled Special Air Service (SAS) troops will be working behind enemy lines if war breaks out retrieving US pilots shot down.

Now how big is that 'oops' in a scale of one to ten? I would rate Pauline's as a 1 and the Howard/Beazley effort as a 9 and 1/2 (at least).

However history is a funny thing, you see history is moulded by the media, and while the please explain 'oops' will continue to be explored and analysed with mind-dumbing regularity the SAS 'oops' will be forgotten by Friday.

Today it is big news with the small team of SAS members horrified that the Prime Minister would be so stupid to spell out their counter intelligence roles behind enemy lines. 250 Australians SAS troops have been committed to fight in the Americans war, saving the odd American skin while the rest fly safely overhead away from any real danger.

Yesterday security around SAS headquarters in Perth was tightened because of the 'oops' of Beazley and Howard.

To make matters worse a spokesman for John Howard defended the 'oops' saying, "It is true we don't discuss operational matters about the SAS, but the fact that they have been deployed to a particular zone is not necessarily confidential."

What a callous disrespect of human life - if SAS officers are killed in Iraq because of these 'oops' the Australian media will probably blame the dangers inherent with their role while Howard and Beazley will shake their heads sadly, (Beazley might even use the onion in the handkerchief trick again to shed a few tears - remember his performance in Parliament over the 'stolen children'?), and history will record that the SAS victims were heroes playing out their role.

The stupid, earth shattering 'oops' is best brought into perspective by an SAS officer who said, "The element of surprise is our biggest asset."

Now that is gone.

2GB Maquarie Radio afternoon drive presenter defames me on air.

Yesterday afternoon I received an email from one of my Sydney contacts who was driving home and overheard Mike Jeffries make allegations about me over air. This incident followed an interview that I had with him yesterday afternoon regarding the "I'm so sorry Pauline" web page.

Following the receipt of the email, part of which is seen below,

Dear Scott,

I was listening to 2GB this afternoon in the traffic and heard reference to your interview yesterday.

The announcer then referred to a fax he had received concerning you. He gave a website address: I pulled some of the stuff off it for you:

Here it is:
Subject: Re: ATTENTION! ATTENTION! Dirt Dossier #1
(Deleted)

I contacted Mike Jeffries at 2GB during a newsbreak on his talkback show and demanded to know how he could read unsubstantiated defamatory material about me from a fax sent to him anonymously without bothering to contact me for comment.

During our discussion Jeffries confirmed that he had read on air parts of the fax which included a large number of outright lies, distortions and misrepresentations about myself after re-playing part of the previous day's interview.

For readers who might have overheard this part of the drive show here are a few of the distortions and the facts.

Claim:

They (Balson and Bryce) spent about $13 million on a new library facility (Global Info-Links - GIL) and had grand visions of an information industry developing in Ipswich around this facility.

Fact:

Balson and Bryce were part of a ten man project team (seen left). Balson co-ordinated the project while Bryce Chaired it. Nearly Au$12 million of the Au$13 million was spent building the new library which can be seen right above. Neither of us had anything to do with the development of this building. About Au$1 million was allocated to getting GIL going during the 1994/95 financial year.

Claim:

Balson was a fierce critic of GIL after being fired, but has since become a strong supporter again and now hosts his GWB pages there.

Facts:

Balson was never fired by GIL. In fact Balson was never even employed by GIL. Balson's company, Interactive Presentations Pty Ltd, had a contract with the Ipswich City Council to develop GIL to a commercial stage. Balson was employed by his company.

This project by Interactive Presentations Pty Ltd was completed in June 1995 when the contract ended - it was not terminated.

Balson was and remains a critic of the loss of vision once the new Ipswich councillors were elected soon after GIL was launched in March 1995. Balson remains furious that a councillor, Paul Pisasale, used his position to upstage and replace the project's Chairman, Mal Bryce, for his own ends. It goes without saying that GIL has lost direction since the departure of Mal Bryce from his steering role in the project in 1995.

GWB's web pages are hosted by Pronet. They have not been on GIL for nearly a year now. 

Jeffries refused to offer a retraction on air.

Northern Land Council Chairman, Galarrwuy Yunupingu, could be jailed for assault tomorrow.

A few days ago we referred to Yunupingu's upcoming court case over the alleged assault of a wedding photographer Michael McRostle after he refused to pay Au$50 for photographing a group of Aborigines in the tiny town of Nhulunbuy 650km east of Darwin.

What is of particular interest to me is that whenever a high profile Aborigine is to appear in court a barrister of plain lawyer is not good enough to defend them. No, typically, in Yunupingu's case, it is a Queen's Counsel, Malcolm Ramage - the most expensive legal aid you can get all paid for by the Aboriginal Legal Service (or make that Australian tax payers). Now if Yunupingu had been white he would have had to pay his own legal costs and I doubt whether a QC would have been involved.

If he is found guilty he will probably face jail under the Northern Territory's new law that if you are found guilty of criminal damage, no matter how small, you must be jailed for at least 14 days.

The hearing before Magistrate Anthony Gillies is expected to be concluded this week.

Muslim radical, Farrakhan (64), granted a visa to visit Australia.

Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock yesterday said that radical Muslim leader Louis Farrakhan had had his visa application approved but with strict conditions attached.

Farrakhan was non-committal about whether he would now come to Australia because of those conditions which include the demand that he does not sow racial discord in Australia.

A representative for Farrakhan said yesterday, "We want to make sure the document does not infringe on our rights as human beings or attempt to muzzle us like a dog."

Ruddock had earlier told the media, "These (visa) conditions are that he agrees to be counselled on the laws, values and nature of our tolerant and diverse multicultural society. Provided Mr Farrakhan understands and accepts these conditions, he will be granted a visa."

Here are some of Farrakhan's thoughts:

On Jews:

• German Jews financed Hitler right here in America - international bankers financed Hitler and poor Jews died while big Jews were at the root of what you call the Holocaust.
• Little Jews dying while big Jews made money. Little Jews being turned into soap while big Jews washed themselves with it. Jews playing violins, Jews playing music while other Jews were marched into gas chambers.

On Judaism: a gutter religion.
On Hitler: A very great man.
On whites: Sub-human. Murder and lying comes easily for white people.

Let us remember that both Charlie Perkins and Mick Dodson have welcomed Farrakhan into Australia.

US Congress to debate the MAI -
while in Australia it is foregone conclusion that it will be adopted.

MAI Congressional Hearing

While the MAI is being debated in the parliaments of the USA and Canada here in Australia those wimps we call leaders of the major political parties have said that it will be good for Australia and then said that it will be debated in Parliament before it is ratified by Australia.

Now if both the leaders of the Australian Labor party and the Coalition say that it is good for Australia where the heck is the debate going to be heard? Through one voice, Pauline Hanson, representing the overwhelming majority of Australians - even if many of these Australians they are uninformed in this matter because of the News Limited media block out.

In the US there is a Congressional hearing planned on the MAI entitled "The MAI: Win, Lose, or Draw for the U.S.?" To be held on Wednesday, February 25th at 1:00pm in Room 2172 of the Rayburn House Office Building. The hearing is being held by the House Committee on International Relations, Subcommittee on International Economic Policy and Trade.

All Americans who can are invited to attend the hearing and bring a friend. A large presence at the hearing will demonstrate to the Congress and the Administration the great level of concern that exists regarding the MAI.

If you have any questions about the hearing (in the US), contact the Committee directly at 202-225-3345.

Targeting the cheapest labour in Asia.

With globalisation cheap labour will be a commodity much sought after by the multinationals, and with MAI, their greediest desires will become reality - at the expense of all Australian workers.

The loss of jobs through the Asian currency crisis is just part of the softening up process.

Here is an extract from a Washington Post article about Asia's cheapest labour:

"But even with Beijing's helpful economic policy commitments, China remains more a looming threat to the region's economies than their saviour, many analysts say. Even without devaluing its currency, China has a troubled banking system, towering stockpiles of inexpensive consumer goods, huge exports, a voracious appetite for foreign investment and a virtually endless supply of what is still the cheapest labor in Asia.

"The absolute wage level is still cheaper in China," said Ken H. Chan, regional economist for Nikko Securities Research Center. "Even in the coastal region, the wage level is at most parallel with Thailand and the Philippines. But in other areas there are very, very low wages."

"The number of destitute Chinese peasants expected to migrate to cities in search of low-paid work during China's current five-year plan exceeds the entire labor force of Indonesia. China sucks in one-third more investment than Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand combined, and much of that investment has been in fixed plants that will not be picked up and moved out of the country. For the moment, China's Communist government also appears to be more stable than some of its neighbours."

The voting system, which I outlined yesterday, is to be conducted in a series of rounds, one model being eliminated at each stage. Each delegate may vote for a republican model or abstain. The status quo does not become an option until the penultimate round.

Four models had been lodged for consideration by the deadline on Wednesday afternoon:

• Bill Hayden's Direct Election model,
• The compromise model of the Direct Election Group
• The "three wise men" McGarvie Model, and
• Malcolm Turnbull's new brainchild, the grandly titled "Bi-Partisan Appointment of the President" model (which was promptly renamed "Unity and Diversity" by Mary Delahunty).

Kerry has indicated an intention to abstain at each round until the status quo becomes an option. By so doing, she is squandering her chance to have an input into the final result. Without the support of herself and ACM, the McGarvie Model is bound to be eliminated in one of the early voting rounds.

Once eliminated, it will not re-emerge.

The figures are plain. The two major blocs, the ARM and the Direct Election Group, control around 35 votes each, according to the list of supporters attached to each model. Bill Hayden's model and the McGarvie Model have ten supporters each, the bare minimum required for consideration. The status quo has about 35 votes as well, leaving around thirty more or less undeclared delegates, who have indicated preferences for the whole range of options.

If Kerry and her ACM followers abstain at each round, then the two models with the fewest supporters will fall first. Bill Hayden's Direct Election model will probably be the first to go, as those in favour of direct election will tend to favour the more popular DPEG model, and the total number of delegates favouring direct election number around 50, going by the voting patterns observed so far.

Next to go will be the McGarvie Model, as Hayden's supporters back the remaining direct election model and ACM continues to abstain.

The two remaining models will be those of the DPEG and the ARM. At this stage the status quo will be an option and the 35 votes will be registered, leaving around 50 votes each for the two republican models.

The monarchy will then be sidelined into the wastebasket of history and the direct election and parliamentary appointment models will fight it out for supremacy. Those who might have supported the McGarvie Model will support the ARM's appointment model as the lesser of two evils and Malcolm Turnbull will dance a jig on his way to a triumphant press conference.

I don't believe that the ARM model will be approved at a referendum first time up, but the moral victory will be plain and the powerlessness of ACM made evident.

This could change if Kerry Jones and ACM agree to support the McGarvie Model as the "least worst" of the republican models. By so doing, no principles will be compromised, as the question is not one of supporting a model, but of supporting the model to be put to the people IF a referendum is conducted. That "IF" is important to the monarchists who hope that no referendum will be held.

Let's imagine that monarchist support for the McGarvie Model is maintained for all stages except Round 4A, where the status quo becomes an option.

Once again, Bill Hayden's model is tipped out first. In the second round, the McGarvie Model has its ten supporters, the 35 monarchists and a few others, notably some of the Government ministers -- Peter Costello has indicated his preference, and he is by no means alone. With fifty odd votes out of 152, the McGarvie Model will remain in the running until the final round, as there will not be enough votes out of the remaining hundred for both DPEG and ARM to prevail. One or the other will be eliminated.

So the final round will be between McGarvie and one of the others. At this stage, the supporters of the model last eliminated may either abstain, vote for McGarvie, or join their hated enemy.

I tend to think that the McGarvie Model would win such a vote. I have noticed that whenever Richard McGarvie rises to speak, he is heard in silence, an honour accorded to very few people in such a diverse body. His is the model most likely to win a referendum, simply because it is the least complex and embodies the least change.

Whether the monarchists opt to put their defacto support behind a more controversial model by withdrawing into abstention, or keep their acknowledged "least worst" model alive is up to them.

The organisation of the Australian Republican Movement has been obvious to all. They have uniformity of thought and action, the most rigid discipline of any bloc, and the advantage of seven years of preparation. I find it astonishing that any other group could even contemplate triumphing over such an organisation by pursuing a lackadaisical, "she'll be right" approach.

Now is the time for the rulebook to be brought out and pored over to find the best means to achieve success. I'm not sure that Kerry Jones even knows where it is.

Whatever happens, Thursday will be a historic day, full of drama, emotion and movement. I'll be the one nailed to my seat in the press gallery, wearing gumboots.

Part II: The Father of Disaster

A few days ago, long-serving Brisbane Lord Mayor, now a bit rickety on his pins but still nimble on his wits, called ARM leader Malcolm Turnbull "Not the father of the republic, but the mother of destruction".

The climax of the Constitutional Convention is yet to come, and it looks like Malcolm Turnbull is about to give birth to something. Maybe it will be the "Trojan camel" predicted by monarchist Julian Leeser at a press conference yesterday, but whatever it is, it will be a bastard.

"It's five minutes to midnight." intoned republican Mary Delahunty a few minutes later, glancing at her watch. It certainly seemed that way to some after a marathon sitting, concluding just after ten last night, when even Ian Sinclair's crusty demeanour was looking a little crustier in response to Bruce Ruxton's latest interjection.

Everyone is tired, cranky, living on nerves and conscious of the importance of their job. Today is the day of birth for the republican model. We'll see what it looks like this afternoon, we'll lick it into shape and see if it lives tomorrow, and the people will decide if they want to claim ownership at a referendum next year. Whether it has legs and can fly remains to be seen.

It's not looking good from where I stand, nailed to my perch in the press gallery. There are quadruplets in the womb, four republican models, but only one will emerge into the light of day, and Malcolm Turnbull's is the front-runner.

A far cry from the ARM's original long-standing proposal, whereby a two-thirds majority of a joint sitting of both Houses of Parliament both appointed and dismissed a Head of State. Turnbull has abandoned the dismissal process and now the Head of State may be removed on the Prime Minister's say-so.

The fact that the Prime Minister does not get a mention in the Constitution seems to have escaped Turnbull. His model requires that appointment and dismissal procedures for two positions, not one, be inserted in the Constitution. And it had better be correct, in case we ever have a re-run of the 1975 crisis, where Sir John Kerr and Gough Whitlam joked that it was a matter of who could get to the telephone first.

In Turnbull's model, it is a matter of who can scribble out a dismissal notice first.

The major concession to practicality has been in the interest of gathering support from the direct election group. Fully half of the model's length is devoted to describing a "Community Consultation Committee", which includes representatives from State and Territory parliaments, local government, community organisations and members of the public. This group shall reflect gender, race, age and geographic considerations. Only the lack of a homosexual delegate prevented Turnbull from trying to appeal to him or her for a vote.

Having consulted and prepared a short list of candidates, this committee presents the result of its expensive deliberations to the Prime Minister, who will be obliged to "take it into account" before ignoring it and nominating his own selection, seconded by the Leader of the Opposition (another post to be inserted into the Constitution) to a joint sitting for two-thirds approval without debate.

Presumably the appointment without debate is to eliminate controversy and prevent reputations being savaged in Parliament. A moot point, really, as the diverse Community Consultation Committee will have already demolished scores of reputations in its diverse debate, presumably to be transparent and open to public scrutiny. How they expect to get by without attracting a lawsuit from every person involved is beyond me.

The ARM's revised model looks like a piece of crap to me, and I think that the people will dismiss it at a referendum after the monarchist groups and constitutional lawyers point out its more and less obvious flaws.

But whatever the drawbacks, today is the day that the Constitutional Convention is designed to shudder and emit a lump of a model. I will watch from a safe distance as Turnbull tries to lick it into shape and breath life into it.

You say:

Subject: Sign the Sorry books for the stolen generation

I urge all One Nation supporters to go and sign their local sorry book for the stolen generation. I will probably sign mine and I will annotate it as follows:

To the members of the stolen generation, I am sorry for the help we gave you. I am sorry for the love and attention we lavished upon you.

I am sorry for the clothes and shoes that we forced you to wear. I am sorry for the food and medical care, the schooling and the books you received. I am sorry that you had the opportunity to rise to be lawyers, accountants, heads of departments and senators so that we have to endure your rude, greedy, grasping, uncooperative, divisive, arrogant, selfish mouths day after day in every section of the media that we look at. I am sorry now that we didn't leave you in your stone age culture to die of malnutrition or to exist with maggots in your ears and snot running out of your nose or to suffer the indignity of "droit seigneur". For all these things I am sorry for you are truly a pain in the arse.

Please sign your nearest book and make up your own sorry statement.

Gordon Briggs

Subject: FW: New Site

Top page Scott, An excellent idea.

Your Jim Soorley quote really demonstrates the double standards that we see so often from the politically correct.

Regards
Adrian McElligott

Subject: You Say 11Feb98, Subject: Iraq

Dear Editor,

Your writer, 'Wags" asked "......who made the Americans the World's Police Force?" It is a perfectly valid question, Wags, that many of us Americans are also asking .

Sadly, we must admit the answer lies within ourselves. By our apathy, we failed to hold our elected officials(now our self-styled politically correct elite), accountable for their campaign promises.

This gave them free reign to line their pockets with perks, generous pensions and visions of retirement luxury, promised by the special interests who they support. Sounds familiar, doesn't it?

Fortunately you Aussies now have a golden opportunity, for returning Australia to 'Government By Consent Of the Governed'!

You may do this by supporting and electing candidates OF YOUR CHOICE, from the ranks of Pauline Hanson's One Nation party!

Who knows, you yourself might become a candidate in the upcoming Queensland State elections, for which candidates are now being selected?.

Best regards but don't fail to keep your powder dry,

john hamilton, entrepreneur
Advocates Individual Liberty, Personal Responsibility and Freedom From Government, USA

We have included the open letter below because it raises some serious concerns about one of Australia's most sacred institutions.

We have no doubt that the author knows exactly what he is talking about.

Editor

Subject: Open Letter to the National President of the RSL

Date: Wed, 11 Feb 1998 09:39:10 -0800

The President
National Headquarters
Returned & Services League of Australia
CANBERRA ACT 2601

Attention: MAJ GEN P. R. Phillips AO MC (Retd)

Dear Sir

RE: CORRUPTION IN THE QLD BRANCH OF THE RSL

As the newly elected National President I believe it is your duty to act in the interests of all members and to ensure that the rights and privileges of those members are not impeded or threatened in any way.

Your predecessors have chosen not only to neglect that duty but have actively defended and protected Qld office bearers directly responsible for the perverted use of authority against ordinary members of the League. The RSL set in motion its own demise when the decision was made to protect these despots in the Federal Court of Australia. It will long be remembered as a monumental error of judgement seen by some as a measure of the degeneration of the RSL under their stewardship.

I remind you that some of those Qld officer bearers the national executive have elected to defend were once declared by the National Appeals Tribunal to be "not fit and proper persons to hold any office in the League". The greatest abuse of power is not to use it, the then national president must be held in contempt for not having the courage to use the powers entrusted to him. He squandered the opportunity to remove the corrupt faction and as a consequence the corruption has spread like a cancer through the Qld Branch.

As a victim of the Qld Branch’s peculiar concept of natural justice, I have repeatedly called on the National HQ to investigate a situation which I regarded as sinister and dangerous and which I claim has the potential to inflict irreparable damage to the League.

To date the national executive has shown no great enthusiasm to instigate an independent inquiry into those claims and at no stage has the National HQ attempted to mediate between conflicting parties in Queensland. I believe this is a sure suggestion that some members of the national executive were actively condoning the corrupt practices of the Qld Branch.

The national executive have repeatedly shirked their fiduciary responsibilities by referring the matter back to the Qld Branch for investigation. The problems in the Qld Branch were allowed to fester for years before it took the courage of the Rockhampton Branch to expose the extent of corruption and take the matter to the Federal Court of Australia.

It is now patently obvious, even to the most naive observer, that my ‘crimes’ had nothing at all to do with the RSL and that I was the victim of a conspiracy to expel me from the League. Since speaking out in 1988 I have been subjected to an unrelenting, orchestrated campaign of condemnation and vilification which is evidently a well-oiled and tried method of destroying any opposition in the Qld Branch.

This whole stinking affair has taken on evil dimensions but there remains two issues central to the corruption in the Qld Branch. Firstly, the takeover or attempted takeover of clubs associated with the RSL since the introduction of poker machines, and secondly the disproportionate number of freemasons, usually senior RSL office bearers, involved in the takeovers. Their modus operandi is consistent, the use (or misuse) of the RSL Articles of Association against any member who was perceived to be a threat to the takeovers.

I am but one of the many RSL members who have become the innocent victims of a cunningly conceived and ruthlessly enforced secret agenda to take over these clubs and other assets associated with the RSL. I maintain the corrupt faction responsible has used the RSL merely as the vehicle for the takeovers.

For your information I will repeat what I was told in January 1989 by a 31st degree freemason. After the debacle at Caloundra he told me that, "with the likely introduction of poker machines in Qld, a faction of RSL freemasons intended to take over as many clubs as possible. He said, as a freemason, he was sickened by what he had seen and that the behaviour of these masons would not have been tolerated in any other lodge".

I have been told that one of the first things taught in freemasonry is to obey rank. This would explain the extraordinary control the worshipful master of the AIF masonic lodge and South Eastern District RSL president has over other RSL freemasons. I have always maintained the SED president is the real power behind the Qld Branch and he alone is the leader of the masonic faction responsible for all the problems in Queensland.

The SED president has been a major player in the Qld Branch’s "Star Chamber" style judicial system. This system allowed the accusers to vilify, condemn and then pass sentence without affording the victim the opportunity to defend himself. This is an evil and corrupt system, a system which includes trickery and a level of cunning and deviousness one would only expect to find in the armoury of the Mafia or some other equally criminal organisation. A perverted system that conceived and gave birth to the meteoric rise of a national president.

The Qld Branch can be likened to a secret society or if you like an "arm of the masonic lodge" where most of the correspondence and minutes are guarded and kept from the members. This was most evident when I requested to view a letter written to the masonic lodge regarding myself. The letter formed part of secret correspondence written to the lodge on or around 5 March 1990 by the masonic executive of the Caloundra sub branch This letter was sent without the knowledge or the permission of the Caloundra sub branch members.

I have attempted to get access to this letter for over seven years and despite numerous requests to National, State and District this letter has remained secret. I was a small business proprietor at the time and I claim the letter was a cowardly and calculated act of character assassination deliberately designed to cause me financial harm.

The ruling cartel of the Qld Branch would have you believe that the takeover of clubs is for the benefit of RSL members. To repudiate their claim I have provided the following details from the financial reports of the Caloundra sub branch since the introduction of poker machines.

From 1992 to 1996 inclusive the Caloundra sub branch has received $669,000.00 in rent from the Caloundra RSL Services Club. Over the same period the sub branch declared a total of $26,871.00 in donations of which a mere $4459.00 was donated to the Qld War Veterans’ Homes. This is despite the sub branch spending at least $4 million on the refurbishment of its club cum poker machine palace.

I have been informed by the Registered & Licensed Clubs Association of Qld that clubs associated with the Qld Branch of the RSL control 4285 poker machines. The Caloundra club’s actual gaming turnover for 90 machines for the year ended 31st December 1996 exceeded $18 million and yielded a net profit of $1,184,465.

While taking a course in journalism I was taught some of the criteria to look for in the takeover of an organisation. Look for a company with an ageing management, one which is rich in reserves of money or other assets or one in an outmoded or sluggish type of business. Two types of companies particularly susceptible to takeovers are those which are either cashed up or rich in under-used assets.

In 1988, before the introduction of poker machines, the RSL sub branches with associated Clubs fitted the above description like a glove. It was so easy, take over the sub branch and you take control of the club. I have often likened it to stealing wheat off blind chooks. The vast majority of members don’t attend AGM’s let alone monthly meetings so it is a simple exercise to take over a sub branch. Of course it helps having the usurpers in a position of power (like the SED president) where they can simply sack the sub branch committee and install their own as was the case in Caloundra.

The next obvious step is to replace the sub branch trustees, again ensuring to install your own kind as in Caloundra’s case, with three freemasons. Not many ordinary members realise that "The Returned Services League of Australia (Queensland Branch) Act 1956-1977" gives the trustees absolute power in regard to RSL property. A trustee "shall be deemed to have the same power of sale, lease, mortgage, and disposition over such property as if they were the absolute owners thereof".

The ordinary members of the Qld Branch have been misled by State Rule 87 (g) which deals with trustees. Few realise that this rule is invalid, it has never received Government approval because it contradicts the absolute powers of trustees conferred by the Act. One would then wonder why the Qld Branch promulgates this rule year after year. I believe it is part of the conspiracy where the ordinary members are expected to abide by State Rule 87 (g) while the masonic faction lay the groundwork for the grand takeover of RSL assets.

It is my understanding the Rockhampton sub branch set a court precedent when they transferred all their RSL property, including a club and valuable real estate, to a separate company to protect it from a takeover from the Central District RSL led by Mr Fred Cowdray. Yes, Mr Cowdray just happens to be a freemason and is also the second respondent in the forth coming Federal Court case.

If you have read this far, Mr President, you should realise that I am in for the long haul. I have seen one member and friend driven to suicide and at least five others, their lives almost certainly shortened, who were sent to their graves with their names blackened in the most cowardly way by the RSL.

There is absolutely no point in any mediation until the leaders of this faction are exposed and expelled from the League. Their uncanny ability to mutate and adjust always puts them one step ahead of any changes made to diminish their corrupt influence. When their arguments do not prevail within the democratic process of the RSL they simply circumvent the rules and then ruthlessly attack those who dare disagree with them.

One case in point was the amendments made to the Articles of Association which should have stopped members being expelled from their sub branch by way of transferring their membership to the State Miscellaneous List. In my case the SED responded by advising the Caloundra sub branch executive who were also the Caloundra club executive to ban me from the Club premises. This effectively expelled me from the sub branch because I am unable to attend sub branch meetings conducted on the premises. This a measure of the deviousness referred to earlier, despite winning all my appeals and despite changes to the Articles of Association I am still prevented from attending RSL meetings.

They did the same thing in Toowoomba. They banned my from the attending sub branch meetings by way of banning me from the club premises which would suggest collusion between the Western District and the South Eastern District RSL. They then expelled me by simply refusing to accept my 1996 associate membership subscription. I claim I was expelled for no other reason than for questioning the dubious administrative and financial practices of the club and sub branch.

The club and sub branch eventually went broke owing creditors $580,000.00. This amount does not include over $200,000.00 of sub branch members funds squandered trying to prop up the club. Included in the $200,000.00 was a War Veterans Homes trust account which I claim was misappropriated and used for purposes other than what it was intended. I sounded the warning bells when the debt was a manageable $40,000.00 yet I got expelled while the members responsible for the losses remain in office to this day. Another example of RSL logic.

I am in the process of constructing a page on the internet where I intend to publish the RSL material I have collected since 1988. At the risk of being branded an iconoclast I intend to expose the thuggery and corruption in the RSL once and for all.

I believe it is a tragedy that those in authority in the Qld Branch have chosen to wilfully disregard the spirit of our Constitution and in the process destroy the goodwill and work of those who have put their trust and faith in them.

These miscreants have committed terrible deeds while hiding behind the skirt of respectability the RSL has afforded them. They have committed a massive betrayal of the very principles the RSL is supposed to represent. If necessary they must be dragged, screaming, into the daylight to be judged and sentenced by the court of Australian public opinion.

Ken Hunter (Badge No 8091)
Caloundra Qld

Subject: The Hate Mail.

Dear Sir,

Please keep that hate mail rolling in the "You say" section. It really makes my day. They are all such deep thinkers. One line of insult and nothing more. I often wonder if they have to sit up all night to write some of these masterpieces. I just received an email in our One Nation mailbox and it is another gem. This guy didn't even go to the trouble of entertaining me with one line....I only got one word in the subject line..SCUMBAGS

Now that is straight to the point, no mucking about social commentary.

Just for the record, this was the only "hate mail" that was received from a 15,000 letter box drop of One Nation leaflets. Draw your own conclusions but it does make you wonder.

Allan W. Doak

Subject: Bradman

Dear Editor

Yesterday a letter-writer to the 'Australian' commented that Sir Donald Bradman was a 'great sportsperson'.

I indignantly replied, "Sir Donald Bradman was not a 'great sportsperson' at all. Sportspersons, like chairpersons and spokespersons, are usually sheilas. Bradman was a great sportsman."

What do readers of the 'Australian News of the Day' think about this?

Antonia Feitz

Personal trivia, from the global office:

Another perfect day in paradise.

Have a good one.

Return to Australian National News of the Day

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