With the 100th anniversary of World War I and the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Long Tan this year, along with a number of other annual and one-off events, there is an unprecedented number of highly significant commemorative services that are set to take place during the remainder of this year and the next few years.
Recently many of us have had a lot to do with our RSLs. Indeed that has been the case with me, and recently I met with the Torquay RSL after we had provided a grant for $10 000. They explained that the financial challenges associated with all these additional commemorative services are testing their organisations, and a number of other smaller RSLs are indicating that with their declining membership they do not have much of a base to fulfil the financial needs associated with planning for these additional services.
My question is: what funding streams and assurances can be given to small rural and larger regional RSL organisations in my electorate to meet the costs of an unprecedented number of commemorations that will be taking place over the next few years?