By Goya Dmytryshchak
Williamstown RSL could become the first in Victoria to be resurrected after being dissolved, with a new generation of veterans stepping up to form a Friends of Williamstown RSL group.
The sub-branch was dissolved after its club was last year forced to close due to a multi-million dollar debt.
The club was subsequently placed in voluntary administration before its premises were sold to a childcare centre developer to recoup the $3.5million debt.
Shannon Beckman, a 36-year-old veteran from the Solomon Islands, East Timor and Afghanistan, is part of the friends group.
“As known from the past … no one really wants to see anyone falling through the cracks because of the veterans being unsure of where to get support or because the right type of support isn’t available to them to access,” he said.
“Obviously, because of the way it all went down with the Williamstown RSL, the Victorian RSL have their genuine concerns, which is rightly so.
“So they have steered us in to starting a friends of an RSL to show the Victoria sub-branch that we can fulfil the needs and requirements to then take that next step into re-establishing an RSL in Williamstown.”
Williamstown MP Wade Noonan, who has been instrumental in helping veterans, said the establishment of the group was important.
“The loss of the RSL has left a void that really hasn’t gone away for the Williamstown community,” he said. “The Williamstown community is a strong and fighting community and they really value their institutions.”
Mr Noonan said next year would mark 100 years since the Red Cross Society gifted the land to the Williamstown veterans to establish the RSL back in 1919.
“So there’d be a sense of romance, if you like, in relation to establishing a sub-branch 100 years on to mark that wonderful act of generosity,” he said
Hobsons Bay Yacht Club, where the past two Anzac Day gunfire breakfasts have been held following the Williamstown RSL Club’s closure, will be the friends’ headquarters.
Commodore Tony Dawson said the yacht club had offered its support to ensure the local RSL presence continued.
