The Annual Raffle for this year will be a Voucher of your choice:
Bunnings, Myer, Kmart, David Jones etc 1st prize a Voucher for $100.00
2nd prize a Voucher for $50.00

The cost of the tickets in our next raffle will be $1-00 each and will ~ be drawn at our July General meeting 2008.

The news of the hour is certainly the locating of H.M.A.S. SYDNEY

We know that when soldiers are involved in a conflict, there are geographical markers to indicate their positions. It follows that the airmen are usually involved in conflicts above these markers. The problem arises when every inch of sea in every different ocean looks exactly the same.

I will never forget the first time I sailed over the resting place of H.M.A.S. Voyager and thought of the friend r had lost and whose loss was the reason I enlisted.

Many times, during my service, we had a minutes silence and cast a wreath onto the waves when we sailed by.

It is fitting that there is now a marker for those 645 soles and to know that there will, in future, be due homage paid for their sacrifice.

Our next assembly will be 25th April for Anzac Day and r should imagine that there will be some extra focus on us by the media so 'have a hair-cut, clean your shoes and knock their sox off.'Together then, together again.

Casey.

VALE

The President and Members of the VLSVA Qld would like : to pass on our deepest sympathy to the Family of the Late  Mrs Kate McNaught (widow of the past member Don McNaught deceased) who passed away on the 12 th March 2008

WELFARE OFFICER

Welfare Officer's Report April 2008

Welfare Officer's Course

The changes were noticeable almost immediately. The last Welfare Officers Course was for one day. The recent one was for 3 days. The venue for the course was the Ipswich RSL Club. This was very handy for me as it was close and easy to get to. I did the course as a member of Legacy.

Veterans Affairs has been having a look at the way Welfare Officers work ~ as compared to Pensions Officers. The Welfare Officer is quite often the first point of contact for veterans who need assistance. To that end they have made some changes and additions to the "tool kit". The best part came on line last week. We now have an "on line Tool Kit" still known as CLIK which has been updated to contain versions of the (rather bulky) Welfare and Pension Officers Hand Books. It will make the job so much easier. Some times it takes quite a while to locate details required to work out the best way to apply assistance.

Sickbay Report

The only report I have to date is myself. Several skin cancer cells had to be removed when I had my recent check up. Taking care when out in the sun is a! i good idea but these things can still occur. It's worth having a check with an approved operator. The well-run centres will remind you when your next check up is due.

Glasses

Transition glasses are now covered by Veterans Affairs. This now means that you no longer need to get "covers" for your glasses to keep out the glare. ,These glasses are available of both bi-focal and graduated lenses.

Interstate and Overseas Travel.When travelling overseas and interstate, it is worth considering travel in-surance. With the way air travel is these days you could well be stranded. The conditions of travel don't give you much in the way of help in these situations.Cost of re-ticketing and other expenses can be reimbursed by good insurance companies. Your local travel agent or insurance company can advise you on the various packages.

Regards

Rocky Rankin LM

Welfare Officer

Report of the Review into Military Superannuation Arrangements

Though the Report was completed and handed to the previous Minister, The Hon Bruce Bilson MP, at the end of July 2007 is was not released by him before or during the election period.

The current Minister for Defence Science and Personnel, The Hon Warren Snowden MP, released the  Report on 24 December 2007.

I should start my comments by saying how disappointing is the report by the Military Superannuation I Review Team. Reading and re-reading the report I can see the fingerprints of Brian Paule, the current : Director General, Military Superannuation Branch, Defence Personnel Executive (DPE) and Secretary : of the Review Team, all over it, which I suspected would be the case.

I also feel my public questioning of the independence and integrity of the team and their ability to i fairly and accurately review the conditions and retirement benefits of the current Military superannuation schemes has been vindicated by the release of this most questionable report, which is full of errors, omissions and false assumptions.

 Previously I have not questioned the integrity of the Military Member of the Review Team, Air Commodore Lee Roberts, but I can no longer continue to give immunity. I have come to the conclusion that : he has been seduced by the other members of the Review Team and Brian Paule. There was ample opportunity for him to express a dissenting (contrary) view in a number of the areas the report has ad: dressed and also to make mention of matters that were not addressed in the report, but raised by most  ESO's and many individuals. He has failed to do this and therefore has failed in his duty.

In June 2007, after the closing date for submissions to the Review, I indicated in the VLSVA Qld : Newsletter the major anomalies and omissions that most ESO's and individuals wanted addressed by I the Review Team. I repeat them here to refresh your memory:

1. Limiting the application of the notional retirement age 'penalty' to the period between actual: retirement and the notional retirement age or removing it all together,
2. Indexation of Military pensions to include a MA TWE factor as well as the CPI factor,  
3. Removing the five - and three - year rules applying to DFRDB superannuants who marry after they are turning 60 years of age,
4. Review the reversionary rules for surviving spouse or defacto partner of Military superannuants,  
5. Limiting the reduction of DFRDB benefits resulting from commutation to the period taken to repay  the amount commuted on separation from the services,
 6. Review the relevance of contemporary life tables to DFRDB Benefits,
The proposed tax treatment of DFRDB benefits under the new Simpler Superannuation legislation,
8. The disparity of DFRDB retired pay benefits between males and females,9. The taxing difference of invalidity pensions paid by the DVA and MRCS,
10. Portability of accumulated MSBS superannuation funds on leaving the ADF.

I am sad to report that:
1. Did not get a mention,
2. Did not get a strong recommendation. Change recommended only for those pensioners over 55  (partial), with full indexation for pensioners over 65. This, the team said, would save the government money and to give full indexation to under 65's was far too generous,
3. Did not rate a mention,
4. Did not rate a mention,
5. Did rate a mention that suggested the current arrangements were generous and that if anything the repayment amount should be increased and the repayment period shortened,
6.Did rate a mention with the recommendation that there should be no change to the Life Expectancy Tables at Schedule 3 of the DFRDB Act
7. Did not rate a mention as it was considered a tax matter and therefore outside the Terms of Reference (TOR) of the Review,
8. Surprisingly this did not rate a mention. A review of this disparity was foremost in I many of the ESO's and individual submissions. The VLSVA submission rated this  anomaly 2nd only to a fairer indexation of superannuation pensions.  
9. This did not rate a mention as it was considered a tax matter and therefore outside the  
TOR of the Review,  
10. This did rate a mention with optional recommendations (7 & 8) for MSBS members on  separation from the ADF to transfer their accrued superannuation benefit (taxed at 15%) to a new employer accumulation fund. 

As can be seen from the above the Review Team has paid scant attention to the 'bread & butter' issues that have dogged the DFRB, DFRDB and the MSBS for years.

It all seemed a bit too difficult for the Review Team as their major recommendation was for the establishment of yet another Military Superannuation Scheme. No nuts and bolts detail just some vague and sweeping statements that the new scheme should be an accumulation superannuation fund where the contributor shares some of the accumulation risk and that it complies with the Superannuation Act and be operated and managed on similar lines to private superannuation funds.

There is no doubt that Military Superannuation contributors and recipients have been duded by this Review Team who have ignored most of the major anomalies and only paid lip service to others and have clearly stated their concern for the cost to government of any changes. Never mind the righting of any wrongs or correcting any anomalies that have saved millions for the government over the years at a terrible cost to the living standards of military superannuation recipients.

The Review Team's consistent claim that the current Military Superannuation Schemes are very generous for pensioners is beyond comprehension and completely without foundation.

I am currently making arrangement to speak with Peter Dutton MP, who had responsibility for superannuation and superannuation taxing arrangements in the previous government, on the matters raised in 7 & 9 above hoping that he will support a submission to the new Finance Minister.

If you have a particular Military Superannuation or Pension problem and you would like to I find out fit rated a mention in the Report please give me a ring on (07) 3219 2239.

Rodney Nott

KINDRED ORGANISATION COMMITTEE
QUEENSLAND
FACTS SHEET

That the Government change the method of indexation of Military Superannuation retired pay and preserved benefits from CPI to male total average weekly earnings (MTAWE), whichever is the greater.

The Problem

The loss of value of DFRB/DFRDB/MSBS military superannuation pensions caused by the Government's inequitable indexation formula.

Background

In 1997 the Government recognised Australia's standard of living was improving and wages had been for many years rising faster than the cost of living. However, government pensions were indexed so that they increased only in line with the consumer price index (CPI), which is a measure of inflation, not cost of living. This meant pensioner were not sharing in Australia's improving standard of living with their payments losing value compared with rising community incomes.

Recognising this, the Howard government adjusted the indexation of the Age, Wife, Disability Support, and Widow's Pensions, the Parenting and Carer Payments, Service, Partner Service, Income Support and the War Widow's Pensions so that these would increase by at least the CPI but also reflects increases in living standards and not falls below a certain percentage of the average wage.

DFRDB/MSBS scheme military retirement pensions, which were also indexed by (CPI), did not share in the benefit of this change to the indexation method. Instead, they were left to languish; losing value compared with those other government pensions and falling further and further behind Australia's rising standard of living.

It is well understood within the superannuated ADF community that the CPI does not adequately reflect cost of living changes much less the improvements to living standards being enjoyed by the wider Australian community, the stated reason to adjust the indexation methodology for the range of payments listed above. This failure to re-index military superannuation pensions when the government reindexed so many of its other pensions has left military superannuates thousands of dollars out of pocket and has created an inequitable position for military and other government employees where their relative cost of living and quality of life is being eroded.

More recently the inequity was further enlarged with the recent change for retired politician's pension's indexation to the wage of a current backbencher: 7% in 2006 and 6.7% in 2007.

The Government has refused to provide equity on the basis that the cost of an indexation change to MTAWE is cost prohibitive. Our analysis of the cost of implementing this change is $18.6M in the first year, a figure well short of the oft quoted but in our eyes discredited $500M Treasury figures which have been

used by Government Ministers to dismiss the proposal. That amount would be reached until the 17th year.

The 2001 Senate Select Committee Report on Superannuation and Financial Services reported on the adequacy of CPI as an index from information of The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) who judged the index as perfectly adequate to gauge the rise in costs of particular items in the basket of goods over a period of assessment. However, 'to the extent that that fixed basket of goods and services becomes less and less representative of an overall living standard then the CPI will not pick it. ~ because, 'The CPI is not a measure of the cost of living. It is a measure of inflation and there are differences between the two things'

The ABS concluded that if the purpose was to maintain a relative standard of living with other groups in the community then 'an earnings measure of some sort' would be a more appropriate vehicle for indexation'

The Senate Committee also recorded the 1972 Jess Committee's references to indexation of retired pay:

In Recommendation No 6 of its report, the Joint Select Committee determined that the pension, now termed retirement or invalid pay, should be 'expressed as a percentage of final pay and be adjusted annually so that the relativity with average weekly earnings is maintained~ The recommendation also advised that: ~ possible method of achieving this would be to maintain the relativity of benefits to current pay for the rank held on retirement'.

The Report expressed concerns that inequities may arise using the proportion of salary method, and that it would be cumbersome to administer. At the same time, the Report rejected the use of the CPI, which it observed 'does not fairly represent changes in genera/community standards'.

The Joint Select Committee concluded that regular rather than ad hoc indexation of the benefit should take place, and that this should be related to average weekly earnings as this will ensure that "the man in retirement will be able to maintain his position in relation to rising community standards and that he will obtain those increases when they are needed. '

Contact Person: Lieutenant Colonel John Graham (Retd) Telephone RSL Brisbane 07 3634 9444

MEETINGS FOR 2008

Meetings will be held at the Kedron Wavell Services Club

Commencing at 1100 Hrs

Sunday 18 May - 08

Sunday 20July - 08

Sunday 21 Sept - 08 (Includes the AGM)

Sunday 16 Nov - 08

THE SECRETARY VLSVA QLD INC

Email - vlsvaqld@bigpond.net.au

BIRTHDAY'S FOR March - April 2008

The Riverside Centre in New Farm will be the venue for the after march get together for the VLSVA the venue will be open from 1230. Buses will be running from the end of the march to the centre and returning at 1500, buses will depart from the Cnr of Creek and Elizabeth Sts.

Beer with be at Bar Prices and the food will be a carvery style for approx $15.00 per person which includes a sweet and coffee and tea.

Following a recent gathering of ex Junior Recruits, discussions have raised the issue of some form of memorial to the Junior Recruit Scheme at the site of the previous HMAS Leeuwin.

The consultations extended from these discussions to include a number I of people including ex Divisional Staff, the Senior Naval Officer West Australia and the Officer Commanding Leeuwin Barracks. 

These discussions have led us to form the view that the proposal has merit and should be further investigated.  The consultations also indicated that your views and involvement should be considered -before we progressed the matter further.

Contact for further details  Ken Dobbie

Email ken.dobbie@bigpond.com 

75 Lovett St Devonport Tas 7310

RAN STEAM REUNION

Townsville 5th to the 8th September 2008

Contact Rod Groombridge (07) 4779 6044 or 0402 224 917

WRANS REUNION

22nd to the 26th April 2009 in Adelaide

For further information Email: jean Hudson

wrans.reunion2009@yahoo.com.au

16th Intake JRTE July 1966

It is intended to hold a reunion at the Gold Coast QLD 10 th to 12th July 2008

For further information contact Hayden Ah Gee (07) 5526 2421

or Paul Cobb (07) 3865 1815