President Update ANZAC Day and Building Upgrades

President Update 2nd April 2021

Dear Members,

As we move into April your Board and Staff of the Cairns RSL Sub Branch have been working behind the scenes to get the ANZAC Dawn Service and the March organised. It’s humbling to know that the Cairns RSL Sub Branch was the first in Qld to announce and maintain our position that ANZAC Day 2021 was to go ahead as we have traditionally known it, and that the State Government and others followed our lead. Your Board stood fast that the tradition of physical attendance at the Cenotaph and March to commemorate and remember those who have so much for protect our way of life was to continue.

I have on 01/04/21 received an email from the Club Chairperson confirming my previous Update, that the Club will be trading on ANZAC Day, therefore as per the Club Solicitors advice to us, the Club will not be ceasing to trade and not going into Voluntary Liquidation on the 14th of April. I am also pleased to see the Club advertising on their Facebook page that they will be open on the 9th of May 2021 to hold a Mothers Day Luncheon.

It has been sad that for a number of decades that the RSL Building on the Esplanade, the Spiritual Home of all Veterans in Cairns, has been neglected and left in disrepair In 2020 your Board undertook a solemn ongoing commitment in ensuring that the RSL Building was returned its proper condition and presentation, as it should be.

In 2020 your Board spent over $80,000 on well overdue maintenance and repairs and at the recent March 2021 meeting, your Board committed another $51,000 to continue the maintenance repairs and upgrades to the exterior of the building, including returning it to its original bright white exterior. A shining beacon on the Cairns Foreshore that will be seen by all sailing into the Port of Cairns, and once again becoming a landmark of Cairns in memory of all Veterans whom have served our Country.

Best regards,

Peter Hayton

President

Caring For Our Defence Family