Exclusive: Sub-branches also debate benefit of poker machines and services to veterans amid financial concerns. Victorian RSL clubs have held a “crisis meeting” to discuss a bitter fight over gambling revenue, with some warning they may close due to financial pressures and others calling for the charity to stop funding the state’s largest Anzac Day service. Detailed minutes from the 2 February meeting to discuss the organisation’s future, involving nearly 50 RSL sub-branch representatives, reveal some clubs were uncertain they would survive.
One was “homeless and going from place to place”, according to the minutes subsequently shared with all sub-branches and seen by Guardian Australia. The financial strain, caused in part by the RSL’s dwindling membership base, has led several branches to demand local and state governments start paying a bigger share of Anzac Day costs. “If they want to come, they should be funding it,” one sub-branch representative was recorded as saying.
One club reportedly complained about a sub-branch spending almost $70,000 last year on Anzac Day services, without any support from government. “We fund Anzac Day at the Shrine and Melbourne City. We spend a huge amount on that, with a big focus on the RSL leading the march,” said one representative, according to the minutes. Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email. “Why don’t we start saying to government: ‘No, we’re not going to do that for you. You fund it’.
“We can instead start a campaign to push people to their local sub-branches, instead of spending huge amounts of our limited budget on something that should be outside our financial focus.”. However, there was no resolution on the future funding for such events. In response to questions from Guardian Australia, the RSL Victoria’s chief executive, Sue Cattermole, said: “the RSL would never consider walking away from Anzac Day services at the Shrine of Remembrance that the public treasure so much.
“But we are seeking alternative ways to fund it that would free up funds to help us cope with the increased demand for veteran assistance.”. One person who attended the event, who declined to be named, described it to Guardian Australia as a “crisis meeting”, while another said it was “a fight for the soul of the RSL”. The minutes also show that a long running dispute over how the organisation divides revenue from its poker machines continues.
Some clubs with poker machines have threatened to withhold money from the state executive due to concerns not enough is being spent on veterans and a perceived lack of transparency. “It’s members’ money and we’re responsible for it,” one sub-branch representative was recorded as saying. “We’ve got to be able to front up to our members and say we’re doing the right thing with their money”.
“If we don’t contribute, there is no Anzac House,” another reportedly said. “They’ll have to close up”. Sub-branches without pokies, which complained about their buildings falling apart, accused clubs with the gaming machines of spending gambling revenue on non-veteran community initiatives while they struggled. “That hurts, because where is our share?” one sub-branch official reportedly said.
One club criticised a “misrepresentation that poker machines are preying on people”, the minutes said. It also called an academic study showing only 1.5% of money lost to pokies went to improving veteran welfare as “a beat-up”. That view was supported by Cattermole, who on Thursday said the study “grossly understated” the RSL’s community contributions. “Substantial amounts are contributed to veterans’ needs through volunteer hours and other non-gaming fundraising activities as part of broader sub-branch operations,” Cattermole said.
But meeting minutes reveal some sub-branches remain concerned about how the state executive is spending gambling revenue. “We don’t know what welfare really is,” one representative reportedly said. “A lot are putting different things in as welfare”. “We are a not-for-profit and this should all be transparent to everyone,” another was quoted as saying. “[We’ve been told] that $19m goes to veteran welfare but we don’t know because there is no audit.”.
