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Perth Pundit
Page 1
CONTENTS
Membership Renewals 3 Sick Bay 3
Area Reports - commence 4 Possible Class Action - DFRDB 8
New DVA travel allowances from July 9 VALE & A little history 10
Issue 2 / 2018 Winter / 2018
From the Desk of the National President
The Newsletter of the
HMAS Perth National Association Incorporated http://www.hmasperth.asn.au
ABN 35 225 281 022
Well members it’s that time again. Election year. How about having a think about nominating for a position on the Executive or Committee.
Anzac Day march in Sydney this year was the usual shambles. Some bright spark that was in charge had the brilliant idea to have serving de-fence force members lead the march leaving WW2 veterans standing around for ages waiting their turn. As most of these people are now in their nineties it was a disgrace.
As for our little group, we were relegated to the rear of the naval contingent along with the other Vietnam gunline ships. From stepping off 40 minutes after the scheduled time I counted six-teen stops along the way. They frequently stopped the march, so the public could cross the road.
Afterwards, some of us gathered at the Masonic Club to enjoy the hospitality and after a bit of whinging we settled down and had a good time.
Other than Anzac Day things have been quiet. Our national treasurer has resigned his post and on behalf of the current Committee wish to thank John for his services over the last four years.
It seems that our Queensland Area president is recovering quite well from his kidney transplant.
Keep healthy,
Lyle Phillips.
ASSOCIATION COMMITTEE ELECTIONS
2018 This year, being an even-numbered year is our election year for a new Committee of Management and Ex-ecutive for the ensuing two years up to the 2020 AGM.
We’ve had very little interest shown from the membership over quite a few years now and the current Committee and especially the Ex-ecutive, have been in their roles for a number of years and some of us would like a bit of a rest.
Please, please give a genuine thought to helping YOUR Associ-ation to continue in the manner it is renowned for by many others in the Navy family, and put “pen to paper” nominating for a Com-mittee or Executive po-sition for at least the next two years.
You may nominate yourself and if you do not have a seconder, one of the current Committee will second your nomination. Indi-cation should be made of the position you are nominating for.
DH
HONOURS
Atlantic Ocean 39-40
Malta Convoys 1941
Matapan 1941
Mediterranean 1941
Greece 1941
Crete 1941
Pacific 1941-42
Sunda Strait 1942
Vietnam 1967-71
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Perth Pundit
Senior RAN Postings and Appointments - recent announce-ments include:
CDRE Lee Goddard CSC RAN to be Commander Mari-time Border Command from March 2019 on promotion to Rear Admiral.
CDRE Mal Wise OAM RAN to be Deputy Commander Border Command from December 2018.
CDRE Michele Miller AM RAN to be Chief of Staff ADF HQ from December 2018.
We congratulate these three former CO’s of PERTH III on their appointments.
Some other announcements include: VADM David Johnston, currently Chief of Joint Opera-
tions, was appointed Vice Chief of the Defence Force. VADM Ray Griggs will retire after a 40-year career -
was Vice Chief of Defence. VADM Tim Barrett, currently Chief of Navy will also re-
tire. RADM Mike Noonan will become the next Chief of Navy.
Lindsey Shaw, a research associate with the Australian Na-tional Maritime Museum (ANMM), has announced that a series of eight banners produced by the ANMM on the story of USS Houston (CA-30) and HMAS Perth (D-29)—Guardians of Sun-da Strait—is currently on display aboard USS Iowa in San Pedro, California until 3 September 2018.
It has recently been brought to our attention that Glendinning’s Menswear in Woolloomooloo has closed.
It is also noted that the Glendinning’s store at CERBERUS has closed. There has been no indication yet if this is a permanent closure nor any indication of the status of the stores or the business.
Of note, some personnel may have medals or ribbons in for mounting or alteration. This scenario may represent a concern for those personnel.
Bob and Cheryl PENDAL have packed up their goods and re-located from Glenhaven in Sydney’s northwest to sunny MOOLOOLABA on the Queensland Sunshine Coast. Bob has very kindly offered to keep organising the printing and mailing of PUNDIT when he and Cheryl aren’t travelling in their cara-van.
When Bob & Cheryl are travel-ling, the PUNDIT printing and mailing is organised by Jack AARON and Peter & Betty EVEILLE in Canberra. Many thanks to both parties.
TitBits
DISCLAIMER The views expressed by contributors are not
necessarily those of the HMAS Perth National Association Inc.
The material used in Pundit is checked for accuracy, and no liability can be assumed for any losses due to the use of any material in
this publication.
COPYRIGHT NOTICE All articles and photographs used in this
Publication are copyright unless otherwise stated. They should not be sold or used in any other publication
without express written permission from the Committee of this Association.
Patron:
Vice Admiral David LEACH AC CBE LVO RAN (Retired)
President: Lyle PHILLIPS
Vice President: Warwick LUTTRELL
Secretary: Darrell HEGARTY 02 6495 1401
Assistant Secretary: Daryl BRIGGS
Treasurer: Vacant
Assistant Treasurer: Vacant
HMAS PERTH Liaison Officer: Ship’s Warrant Officer
HMAS PERTH
Pundit Editor: Darrell HEGARTY 02 6495 1401
E-Mail: [email protected]
Association Postal Address: PO Box 626
MERIMBULA NSW 2548
Committee Members:
Jack AARON OAM
Daryl BRIGGS
Pete JOHNSTON
John LEATE
Trevor RIEKEN
Gordon STEELE OAM
Stephen YOULL OAM
Perth Pundit
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SICK BAY VADM David LEACH is still in care after his stroke last year in August. David’s wife, Pam, visits him every day for a about four hours and he often has visitors from Navy. I had a Doctor’s ap-pointment in Sydney late April and took the opportunity to visit David whilst there. I found him in very good spirits and he was quite happy to see me. Pam was there and we all went up to David’s room for a cuppa. The facility ( at Edgecliff ) is run by St Vincents Hospital and has recently been refur-bished. It is quite a large place and I’m told the staff are excellent.
Trevor RIEKEN is in hospital once again in Brisbane with a vascular problem with his legs. He requires vascular surgery to prevent problems with possible aneurisms. His transplanted kidney is in very good shape so there’s no problem there.
Frank McGOVERN has been hospitalised with his back problem recently. He is now back home but confined to bed.
We wish all in sick bay a very pleasant stay and/or a speedy recovery
A friendly reminder that membership renewals are due on 1 July this (and every) year. I must apol-ogise for my omission in the March PUNDIT, when advising of renewals, I omitted to include ‘how to pay and how much’.
Membership still costs AU$20 per year and may be forwarded in a number of ways as listed in preferential order below. Unfortunately Bpay, PayPal or Credit Cards cannot be accepted.
1. Direct deposit either via Internet banking or in person by cash or cheque payment over-the-counter at any Commonwealth Bank.
2. By a personal cheque or Money Order made out to “HMAS Perth National Association” and mailed to the Membership Secretary.
3. PLEASE DON’T MAIL CASH - it’s too risky.
If you choose to make a direct deposit by either Internet Banking OR in person, please ensure that your Name and/or Membership number is attached to the deposit.
Our Bank details are: Bank: Commonwealth Bank, Narrabeen NSW BSB: 062 208 Account #: 1000 1173 Account Name: HMAS Perth National Association
The mailing address for cheques or Money Orders: Membership Secretary HMAS Perth National Association Inc. PO Box 626 MERIMBULA NSW 2548
If receiving PUNDIT by snail mail, your address label will indicate if you should renew this year. The address label will have the year your next renewal is due. If there is no indication, you are a complimentary recipient or a free member.
Email recipients will have an indication in the email text if their renewal is due now.
If you receive an indication that you should renew now and you’ve recently renewed, please disre-gard the ‘renew now’ as your renewal may have crossed paths with the PUNDIT production. We do apologise if this happens.
Darrell Hegarty
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Perth Pundit
ACT Area Report Weather wise, ANZAC Day 2018 in Canberra was in direct contrast to last year when it was the wet-test in my 34 years’ of residence in the ACT. Unfortunately and, similar to the other contingents marching, our numbers were down with only 13 in the HMAS Perth group. The ACT Area member numbers were bolstered by those who had served in Hobart and Brisbane. Wide coverage was giv-en in the print and visual media to many significant changes in the format of the commemorative ser-vice and to the march. In particular, constraints placed on the marchers were most unwelcome and unnecessary. I do not intend to use Pundit as a forum for venting my concerns as they, plus many others, were reflected in letters to the editor and in the media coverage.
Members will be advised in November of the annual pre-Christmas lunch at the Star Buffet, Kambah. In closing, the ACT Area extends its best wishes to all shipmates and their loved ones who may not be travelling too well at the moment.
Let’s all keep in touch.
Jack Aaron
ACT Area Committee
Included Pictures
Above: PERTH contingent marching in
the Canberra ANZAC Day march.
Right: View along ANZAC Parade from
the AWM towards Parliament House.
Perth Pundit
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WA Area Report I believe ANZAC DAY was well attended, many thanks to the T.S. PERTH CADETS who carried the banner and flags. ALAN NICHOLSON and myself attended the DAWN SERVICE at HELL FIRE PASS and also the 1100 am service at the KANCHANABURI CEMETERY.
PETER KNIGHT attended the NORTH AMERICAN SERVICE at KINGS PARK on the 30th MAY and PETER also attended the passing out parade for the NAVY CADETS annual camp held at LEEUWIN BARRACKS on behalf of the PERTH ASSOCIATION.
On the sick list is JOHN MAREK, BRIGHAM YOUNG, and SHIRLEY STUBBS. We wish them all a speedy recovery.
Our AGM will be held on SATURDAY 25th AUGUST at the T.S. PERTH HALL.
Many thanks,
Peter Jarvis
The following are two views of a proposed HMAS PERTH I Memorial to be sponsored by the WA Navy League and to be built in Fremantle by the same designers responsible for the National Memo-rial to HMAS SYDNEY II in Geraldton WA and a number of other Western Australian Memorials.
The top view shows the Entrance Title wall and the lower view shows the Wall of Remembrance.
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Perth Pundit
N.S.W. AREA JUNE 2018 This year's ANZAC Day March was similar to last year's - it left a lot to be desired in the organisation department. Apart from the long amount of time spent waiting to start and the constant stopping once we had started left some of the older members cold and with the arthritis starting to take its' toll (I know it did on me) at least it wasn't raining. The Birthday Boy (Ken Heylbut) made it to the end - just. Refreshments afterwards were appreciated.
From memory this photo on the right was taken the day before ANZAC Day and it was a chance for some of our members to tour and have lunch on board the R.A.N.'s latest ship H.M.A.S. Hobart. Frank noticed a slight change between the ham-mock he slept in about 76 years ago and the four and six berth cabins with ensuites.
L-R George Hatfield, Mike Carlton, Frank McGovern, Margret Gee, Brett (Margret's husband) and Captain John Stavridis RAN HMAS Hobart's C.O.
The photo on the left shows the area Presi-dent (Timber) with some of his younger ac-quaintances at the end of the March.
I hope you all had a meaningful ANZAC Day.
Wishing you all the best for the "cool" season.
Cheers
Mike
N.S.W. Sec.
Perth Pundit
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Queensland Report Well ANZAC day gone for another year, here in Brisbane we marched with the Hobart & Brisbane Associations as one group which seemed to work pretty well, a good crowd although being the last to step off this year made for a very late start, around the 1150 mark, next year we are due to be first again so hopefully start at 1000.
Apart from that all going well in the Sunshine State at present, no reports of ill health although our President has a mystery problem with his leg, the Doctors cannot find out the problem.
That's all for now
Regards
Terry McLeod
Sec./ Treasurer Qld area.
Victorian Area Report for June 2018 Up-Comming Events:
Thursday 9th August 2018--Battle of Savo Island & sinking of HMAS Canberra, 1100 Sanctuary, Shrine of Remembrance.
Tuesday 11th September 2018-Bita Paka Wreath Laying, 1100 hrs Sanctuary Shrine of Remem-brance.
President Mal Kirkland passed away on Monday 30th April 2018. Ian Benier attended on behalf of “PERTH”.
A quiet time of the year.
All in all, things are well in Victoria.
Regards
Pete Johnston
Sec/Tres HMAS Perth National Association Victoria Area
RIGHT:
Photo of Mal KIRKLAND’s funeral service
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Perth Pundit
DFRDB COMMUTATION CLASS ACTION from Ken Stone - Naval Shipwright (Retd)
Salient points on how we are affected:
A Class Action case is being considered against the Commonwealth of Australia and the Defence Force Retirement and Death Benefits authority of the Commonwealth Superannuation Commission.
This proposal could potentially involve a Class of some 55,000 Retired Defence Veterans be-longing to the DFRDB Superannuation Scheme.
The majority of these personnel accepted a cash advance by means of a commutation of 4 years of pension benefit on retirement.
This was calculated on the basis of the Notional Life Expectancy of each individual. For many years this was communicated to superannuants ambiguously and without clarity or
honesty. Veterans interpreted this reference to NLE as being the milestone whereby this advance of
benefits would be fully repaid and discharged. In actuality, the Authority and the Commonwealth applied these repayments to veterans for
whole-of-life, and beyond where a veteran is survived by a spouse, until the time of their de-mise.
The quantum of these repayments has been influenced by indexation with original advanced commutation benefits being fully repaid years before the NLE milestone has been met.
These repayments were also biased by the use of outdated Life Expectancy data (~c1961) thereby shortening Life Expectancy and inflating the calculation of the repayment quantum for each individual, had current LE data been used at time of Commutation - in my case 25 years out of date.
The quantum of reimbursements also varies individual-to-individual Veteran, but repayments in the range of $2,000 to $5000 are understood to be common. Accordingly, returns to Consoli-dated Revenue after the commutation debt is expended are massive, with the DFRDB Scheme having been in operation over the period 1972 - 1992 under the provisions of the DFRDB Act.
Any formal notification of the repayment period being applied for life (and then transferable to spouse) was not declared (it is understood) until the late 1980s.
Although the DFRDB Authority provides no information of the progressive amount repaid annu-ally, in my personal case I believe that my advance was fully reimbursed in my 65th year.
My NLE point was 72.25 years. I am currently in my 75th year and estimate my repayments beyond the point of fully expending my original commutation benefit is in the order of $30,000 with the indexation-inflated annual reimbursement now being $3050 and inflating.
The proposed action would seek to impose a cut-off date for reimbursement payments to be at the point where full reimbursement of the commuted advance is fulfilled.
It should be noted that nowhere within the Act does any mention of interest charges applying on the reimbursement of commutation advances, being applied.
Litigants would seek a full reimbursement of all monies collected by the Commonwealth follow-ing the full repayment point of the commutation advance being exceeded and that such monies be refunded in full to the litigants affected by these overpayments.
There are other matters of similar ilk applying to DFRDB Superannuants that would potentially require to be dealt with within the primary case. These matters involve imposts made on indi-viduals who did not take up the commutation benefit available but still suffered monetary disad-vantage, as well as imposts levied on a surviving spouse.
IF YOU ARE CONCERNED ABOUT THIS ISSUE AND WISH TO REGISTER AN EXPRESSION OF INTEREST IN THIS MATTER, PLEASE CONTACT THE WRITER BY EMAIL DIRECT at
Please spread the word to your colleagues and associates. –
Ken Stone
Perth Pundit
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NEW DVA TRAVEL ALLOWANCES FROM 1 JULY The following table outlines the proposed allowances payable under the RTS. These allowances are effective from 1 July 2018 to 30 June 2019.
* A meal allowance is not paid on a day when an accommodation allowance is paid.
MEMBER’S BRUSH WITH DISASTER One of our members, Garry, who lives in Tasmania has suffered from PTSD for many years and ended up in a “battle” with the Veterans’ Review Board over a pension claim, which had him at wit’s end.
He was about to take a whole bottle of sleeping pills to end it all when his dog, Canem, came up and put his foot up on Garry’s leg which made Garry think “Why am I doing this”? He then threw the sleeping pills in the rubbish bin and he’s now still here today, thanks to a loving pet dog, Canem.
The full story was published in the Examiner on May 22 2016 and is available online at https://www.examiner.com.au/story/3919870/a-veterans-best-mate/ if you’re interested in reading it.
Sadly, Canem crossed the bar while on the operating table on 23 March last, just 2 months short of his 11th birthday. Garry is totally shattered to lose his very much loved dog after enjoying his company for so many years.
Type of Allowance Measure Allowance from
1 July 2018 Travel with medically
required attendant
Private vehicle Per km 35.5 cents X1
Public, Community or Air Actual fare Actual fare X2
Taxi transport Actual fare Actual fare X1
Commercial accommodation non-capital city - single * Per night $ 146.60 X2
Commercial accommodation capital city - single * Per night $ 174.20 X2
Entitled person and medically required attendant sharing com-mercial accommodation - shared *
Per night $ 238.50 X1
Subsidised accommodation - single * Per night $ 91.60 X2
Private accommodation - single * Per night $ 45.80 X2
Meal allowance - treatment location more than 50km but less than or equal to 200km from your residence
Per day $ 14.60 X2
Meal allowance - treatment location more than 200km from your residence
Per day $ 29.60 x2
Garry with his best mate, Canem
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Perth Pundit
A LITTLE INTERESTING HISTORY IN PICTURES
Two pictures of Garden Island, Sydney. The picture below was taken in 1927 when Garden Is-land was actually an island, long before the dry dock was built during WW2, and the picture to the right shows the island with the completed dry dock as well as the huge hammerhead crane.
Pictures courtesy of Bob Mummery.
The building of the Captain Cook dry dock took place during WW2, with work continu-ing 24/7 as completion was quite urgent for the War effort. The dry dock was ablaze with floodlighting every night while the rest of Sydney was blacked out because of pos-sible air raids.
A very interesting time . . . .
VALE Malcolm W KIRKLAND (WOFC) R48648 14-Aug-1933 - 30-Apr-2018 Aged 84
Mal passed away after a short illness in hospital. He joined the RAN in July 1966 and served for 20 years until July 1986, being promoted along the way to Warrant Officer. Mal was the President
of the Victorian Area and had been so for many years.
He had 16 postings during his time in the RAN, including a short one to HMS TERROR, the RN base in Singapore, where he actually joined the RAN before posting to HMAS DERWENT.
Ronald J JELLY (POQMG) R58245 24-Apr-1943 - 12-Mar-2018 Aged 74
Ron was posted to PERTH in April 1970 as a POQMG and made the third deployment to Vietnam under the command of CAPT Ian BURNSIDE.
Ron’s passing was notified by his daughter, Jacquelin. Ron passed from a stroke but had also bat-tled cancer for eight years.
May they both have fair winds and following seas.
Perth Pundit
Page 11
Rabbits Available for sale
PLEASE NOTE
All orders for rabbits are to be forwarded to:
The Secretary
HMAS Perth National Association PO Box 626
MERIMBULA NSW 2548
Murphy has surfaced again - the polo shirts we previously had are no longer in production and we’ve now selected another model, 100% polyester, available this time in six colours: Aqua blue / white (pictured); Silver / white; White / black; Navy / white; Black / white & Pistachio (Lt green) / navy.
Available in: (Approx chest size in cm)
Mens: S(104), M(110), L(116), XL(124), 2XL(130), 3XL(142) & 5XL(158).
Ladies: 8(93), 10(98), 12(103), 14(108), 16(113), 18(118), 20(124), 22(130) & 24(136).
These polo shirts are available, embroidered with either the ‘DDG ship’ crest (far right) or the PERTH III crest (right). When ordering please state colour, size and crest desired.
We have official copies of a Navy Video on DVD, made in 1965 (as a film) of the commissioning of HMAS PERTH. The video is titled “The New Ship” and is selling for $15 including p&p. This PERTH II DVD, contains THE NEW SHIP (1965), ON THE GUNLINE (1968), PERTH TRIBUTE (1999) and an extra short film. These films were made by Navy during PERTH II’s life and have been recorded to DVD for the Association.
We also have a DVD, containing videos of dives on PERTH I (2009) and HMS EXETER (2008), as well as a slide show of some pictures of PERTH I crew, by Dr Andrew FOCK of the Al-fred Hospital in Melbourne. This DVD also has video of the PERTH I Commissioning ceremony and PERTH I sailing into Sydney.
We can arrange for a name badge to be made to order similar to the one in the photograph at the right. The badge is coloured White with black lettering and the cost of $18.00 includes post-age. This is a new design replacing the older navy blue badge and is available with either a pin clasp or magnetic holder. Please specify the holder you require when ordering. The badge is 3” x 1” or 75mm x 25mm.
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Postage and packing is additional to most of the prices quoted above, except where mentioned and would generally cost $8.50 for one to three items.
These are just some of the rabbits we have available for sale to Members. Further photographs will be featured in future issues of Pundit to give you an idea of the total range of items we have for sale. We will hopefully be adding to our range from time to time, so watch this space for future releases.
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Perth Pundit Perth Pundit
THINKING OF CONTRIBUTING ?
We would be very happy to accept your articles for publication in any issue of PUNDIT
Contributions should preferably be typed with a good quality of print for scanning or presented on a CD-R or CD-RW - returnable if requested. Disk contributions should preferably be in plain ASCII text without any formatting - save them from your word processor as “ASCII (DOS) text”.
Handwritten articles will also be accepted, although they may take a little longer to appear in print, as they will need to be re-typed.
Photographs supplied for the article should be either glossy prints or good quality JPEG files. Photos will be returned after scanning if requested. Please DO NOT send photographs embedded in an MS Word or ‘PDF’ document.
Please send your contribution to:
The PUNDIT Editor HMAS Perth National Assn Inc PO Box 626 MERIMBULA NSW 2548
Your contributions may also be sent via e-mail to:
ADDRESS or PERSONAL DETAILS CHANGE Please use this form only for an alteration to your personal details such as mailing address, email address, telephone or mobile number. You should include your membership number to ensure we change the correct database entry. If you wish to join our Association, please use the application form available from our website.
SURNAME: ....................................... FIRST NAME: .............................. INITIALS: ................. STREET: ....................................................................... SUBURB: .............................................. STATE: .............................. P/CODE: ................... PHONE NO: .............................................. Membership #: ................. E-MAIL: …………………………………………………..…………
I wish to have the capitation of $7.50 to go to ..…….. Area (Insert State / Area or leave blank) If no choice is made above, the capitation will go to the Area Committee of your residence.
Either email this information to [email protected] or detach or copy, and mail to the Membership Secretary, PO Box 626 MERIMBULA NSW 2548
Association Products for sale
HMAS Perth Association Blazer Pocket (dk blue) ...... $20.00
DVD - The New Ship 1965, On the Gunline & PERTH Tribute 1999 - (inc postage) ................................................ $15.00
DVD - Dive video of PERTH I and HMS EXETER by Dr An-drew FOCK - (inc postage) ....................................... $5.00
HMAS Perth II decommissioning mug ....................... $12.00
HMAS Perth Polo shirt - see previous page for colours - order only (including postage in Oz) ...................... $45.00
The Mediterranean Diary by Jim NELSON Reprinted for Association (inc postage in Oz) ......... $22.50
All Lapel Badges ( “We were winning”, White Ensign or Navy Anchor) ......................................................................... $5.00
Association name badge - white, order, with Magnetic or Pin attachment (please specify) .............. $18.00
Keyrings – Navy Anchor ............................................... $5.00
Vietnam Service cloth Badges ...................................... $5.00
PERTH (1) wall plaque ............................................. $???. (plus $8.50 postage - NONE left)
PERTH (2) wall plaque ............................................. $???. (plus $8.50 postage - NONE left) Most items above include p&p unless stated otherwise. All orders
to Secretary, PO Box 626 MERIMBULA NSW 2548
