Radschool Association Magazine - Vol 43

Page 19

Privacy Policy  |  Editorial Policy  |  Profit Policy  |  Join the Association  |  List of Members  |  Contact us  |  Index  |  Links  

Merchandise    |    Print this page

 Your Say!

Back     Go to page:  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12  13  14  15  16  17  18  19  20     Forward

The RAM does not necessarily endorse the content of this page.

Any views expressed herein are solely those of the author

and do not necessarily reflect those of the RAM.

Jack Campion.

Rick Campion, Jack’s son, saw our mention of Jack in our last issue. He wrote:  “Howdy, I was talking with Mum the other day, and she remembered quite a few of the blokes that dad used to teach as he used to bring the troops home for a bit of socialising, mainly on Friday nights.  I was only young then but do remember they were quite rowdy, with all manner of competitions going on, one of the favourites being to see who could pee over the fence and into the neighbour's yard. I remember the cheering that went on when someone achieved the objective! She said he had been an Instructor at both Ballarat and Laverton, but had no idea of how many courses he had been involved in, other than it was many.

As an aside, after Dad passed (March 2011) I had his service medals mounted and the box made to keep them in. He always kept them in a shoe box, stuffed in the cupboard. Maybe some members of the Assoc. might be interested in getting one made for themselves. They are from Western Australia, made of Jarrah and are laser etched, and look fantastic. You can get them from here - www.medalbox.com.au/ .

John Cridland.

John saw our story in Vol 42 where David Edwards was looking for confirmation that blokes and blokettes passed out having to send/receive Morse at the rate of 37 WPM. John says:  “The pass out speed for Morse was 25 wpm even though it is known that individuals did achieve higher speeds.”

Agent Orange.

Mick Morrissy got in touch, he says:  “Thank you for including the USVA Agent Orange warning for Ubon in your latest newsletter. A follow up to that, I did write to the Repatriation Medical Authority and warn them of the USVA warning. Several RMA letters later it became clear that they intended "NO ACTION" on their part unless I could come up with "Sound Medical and Scientific Evidence" that RAAF personnel who had served at Ubon had been subjected to increased risk to their health by the exposure to Agent Orange. Really what they were requesting was that I provide proof that Agent Orange had been used! The RMA also remarked that there are 14 known diseases associated with exposure to Agent Orange.

Well mate at 74 this year, there isn’t enough time left to be pissing about with Government Agencies. The warning will just have to do.

I have attached two pdf files about Ubon (Get one HERE and the other HERE). I am not sure if the Government notifies people as to decisions that affect their DVA entitlements, probably not, my guess would be the information comes from mates. So all the guys effected by the information in these DVA decisions will be entitled to a Gold Card at age 70, even if they have never made a claim for compensation. There are also a couple of medals attached to the DVA decisions. Maybe you would have the space in the next newsletter to pass on the information. It is a wondrous thing that after 40 to 50 years, some recognition should come to these guys from a reluctant government.

It is funny you know, in your newsletter there is a photo of blokes at a reunion and I recognized the name and mug of a bloke I have never met! Gene Fisk, a Ubon first in bloke who wrote and recorded a song about Ubon years ago. Wonder if he is still alive?”

Fred Robinson.

Fred says:  “The National Disability Insurance Scheme which we are all paying for is going before Parliament at present. I was listening to a panel discussion recently and was curious as to why the CEO of Disability Services Australia was less than enthusiastic about the Scheme in its present form. It was pointed out that anyone 65 years or older would not be covered by the scheme, the reason being it would make the scheme cost prohibitive (given an aging population etc). If you have a disability at the time you reach 65 years of age you will be covered for the benefits of the scheme when you pass age 65. If you become disabled at age 65 or over you will not be covered and there is no other safety net scheme to provide support and services other than present State and private Health Insurance product/services.

The Disability Services representative on the panel pointed out that a large number of disability cases in the community affect elderly people who by misfortune have a stroke leading to partial or greater permanent disability, folk with bone degenerative disease, osteoporosis etc, other degenerative disease- Dementia, Parkinson’s and the like, plus serious accidental- broken hips, etc. From age 65 and older none of these people are covered and as was pointed out the impact of this exclusion would include large numbers of baby boomers, parents and grandparents of the current 25-40 year olds. I have not heard one mention of this exclusion from any of the Politicians from both sides. What was mentioned from a legal participant in last Friday’s panel discussion was that the Federal Government tinkered carefully with the title of NDIS, so as to have a loop hole against future litigation for discriminating against a section of the Australian population with a Nationally funded program. Apparently the trick is in the use of the word “Insurance” in the scheme.

From a Western Australian perspective, I can also understand Colin Barnett’s reticence to sign up to the scheme. Our current state run disability scheme offers more comprehensive and superior services to that of the services proposed by the NDIS and there are no age exclusions. It was pointed out that with the present proposal if we are part of the NDIS our level of services will decrease.

My own view is that while the concept of an NDIS is laudable, I question why in main younger 30-40 year olds are paying an increased Medicare levy to fund a scheme that would not cover their parents and elderly dear ones, in the event of disability. In the age 30 to 40 group young people are career focussed, have a lot of cost in their lives, getting established with a house, raising young children etc, so the scheme should be funded from consolidated revenue and not yet another levy. They also mentioned in the panel discussion that around 1000 Commonwealth Public Service FTE’s would be required to administer the Scheme from Canberra, again I have great concern about the efficiency of this, given the present Federal Governments track record with the Home Insulation Program, Better Schools Program, management of Australian border protection and the like.

Insurance - what a joke!

Ernie Gimm wrote:  “Every afternoon there are dozens of Funeral Insurance ads from numerous companies aimed at the Boomers. I often wondered just how many of them are the same company under different guises, now we know, my suspicion was correct.

·       IAG own both CGU and NRMA being the largest insurer of Australians

·       SUNCORP own SUNCORP, GIO, VERO, AAMI, Shannon’s, APIA, the 2nd largest insurer of Australians

·       QBE may well be the largest Australian insurer but over 69% of their business is overseas business

·       YOUi is owned by a South African insurer called Outsurance.

·       Budget Direct is owned by a South African Insurer called Auto & General

·       Real is owned by a South African Insurer called Hollard

·       Progressive is owned by an American insurer I believe to be the largest motor insurer in Chicago

It’s called brand separation. Suncorp have 15 different brands and that way they get your money whichever way you turn.

If you want scandal, try iselect They claim to provide choice but in effect they provide 9 brands underwritten by the 1 insurer Auto & General and have "as a comparing insurer", Dawes which is owned by Calliden which specializes in the prestige end of the market and won't even write the business that Auto& General will write so there is no true comparison of insurers, only comparison of brands.

Don't worry about a duopoly market in Australia as it can never happen, worry about questionable marketing practices that lure people in under false pretences.

So, while we hear the public MOAN about Woolworth's and Coles holding such a large market share, what about Insurance Companies??..

But, don’t be scared…. The ACCC is there keeping watch for all of us.

Reg Wood

“I recently visited Fighter World after not seeing the base at Williamtown since 1971 when I was discharged,  it brought back quite a few memories which were all good and thoughts about friends not seen since so I decided to do a bit of research and found the Radschool site with Frank Alley’s articles.

Frank mentioned that 55 Radmechs course was the one that he taught for the first time at Laverton. He was a great lecturer and had the gift of keeping us all interested and entertained in what was being taught at the time.”

We agree Reg – tb 

Phil Patterson.

Phil sent us this pic, he said:

This pic is of the final Radschool muster parade of the year in '83. I've got a couple of others from the same parade, including one of the WOD taking the parade in a leprechaun suit, with someone in a gorilla suit standing behind him (if I remember correctly). Let me know if you want them.

YES please Phil!!! – tb    (can you provide names???)

Roger Bailey

I looked at the "recent" aerial photo of Laverton and there are a couple of errors with the labels showing old (1960s) building locations.  The 1960s cinema was on the corner, where the new Airmen’s mess is located. I assume the building you marked as the old cinema is a 'very' old cinema because it seems to be of stone but the one in the 1960s was made of wood.  Also, the gymnasium used to be located behind the Airmen’s mess and I assume it was beside the very old cinema.  The gym and the Airmen’s mess probably got atomised at the same time - along with the white building that was the other end of the mess (for 6 months or so I used to live in that 2 story white building)  The WRAAF quarters used to be 2 or 3 two story wooden buildings located between the Airmen’s mess and the main gate. 

Back     Go to page:  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12  13  14  15  16  17  18  19  20     Forward

Back to top