Bundaberg RSL pulls backing of beloved Bargara Anzac Day Gunfire breakfast
A regional RSL’s decision to withdraw its backing of a traditional Anzac Day Gunfire breakfast and two-up game at Bargara, had left organisers with no option but cancel.
Bundaberg
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A beloved community event founded to pay tribute to past and present Diggers has been pulled from the annual Bargara Anzac Day commemoration agenda.
The Bundaberg RSL has removed its financial support of the two-up game and the Gunfire Breakfast which has taken place at the Bargara Hotel after the Bargara Dawn Service on April 25 for the past 27 years.
Due to liquor licensing requirements, the event can not proceed without the backing of a local RSL sub-branch.
Bundaberg councillor Greg Barnes is a key organiser of the event as a member of the Bagara Remembers Committee, and has called the RSL’s decision “un-Australian” and “against the Anzac spirit”.
The RSL said it welcomed a “revised application” from the hotel for its two-up activities on Anzac Day (see full response below).
Mr Barnes said the RSL has called on the committee to share funds raised from the annual event, though no money has ever been charged to attend the event, the breakfast or the games.
Mr Barnes said the RSL had long backed the event, which costs organisers and volunteers roughly $25,000 a year to put on, though it had never offered any financial support.
The sudden decision to pull backing had stunned him, he said. He claimed the RSL offered no reasoning behind the decision other than funding issues.
The committee takes no profit from the event, apart from the gold coin donation offered by event attendees, and any profit made from donations is funnelled into the following year’s event, Mr Barnes said.
“The only thing the RSL has ever said about it is ‘why should we support you when we get nothing out of it?’” he said.
“That has got nothing to do with the spirit of Anzac.”
The free game caters to the hundreds of attendees who make their way to the beaches of Bargara every year in one of the most popular Dawn Services in the region, along with roughly 800 free breakfasts distributed to the community.
Mr Barnes said the committee now had to inform local suppliers they would not need their goods, including a $1000 order of meat from a local butcher.
Bundaberg Rum has also long supported the event, donating dozens of bottles of rum annually in the spirit of the commemorative day.
“Ninety-five per cent of funding raised goes towards the service itself, and the ability to broadcast it to overseas, particularly to France,” Mr Barnes said.
“The event is there to honour the veterans and install integrity and honour and the RSL seemed to be more interested in what they can get out of it than what they can put in it.”
Veterans have expressed their disappointment at the decision and Mr Barnes said the service members he had spoken to were “disgusted” at the change.
The breakfast and games offered a unique opportunity for the community young and old to mingle with Diggers and hear their stories, he said.
The Bargara Remembers committee issued this public statement:
“We don’t intend to sully the Anzac Spirit so close to this year’s event, however a full account of past attempts to hinder the playing of the game at Bargara and even the provision of a complimentary Gunfire Breakfast, will be released following this year’s event.”
Mr Barnes said he hoped the community would continue to support the Anzac Day Dawn Service, despite there not being a Gunfire breakfast or two-up game this year.
The RSL was contacted for comment and a spokesperson said:
“The Bundaberg RSL Sub Branch is fully supportive of all local commemorative activities to recognise and acknowledge service members past and present, including the planned Gunfire Breakfast following the Dawn Anzac Day service, and would be happy to hear from the Bargara Beach Hotel to discuss how they can work together for Two-up activities on Anzac Day, in line with State legislation.
“We know that the historical ties of Two-up have a significant meaning to RSL members and the broader defence community, and would welcome a revised application from the Hotel for its Two-up activities on Anzac Day.”
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