Gippsland veterans retreat at risk of closure after RSL funding rejection

A SANCTUARY for returned Diggers is at risk of closure, after the RSL rejected requests for cash to stay afloat.

A SANCTUARY for returned Diggers is at risk of closure, after the RSL rejected requests for cash to stay afloat.

More than 300 former service ­personnel have stayed at the Cockatoo Rise retreat, near Bairnsdale in Gippsland, since it opened in 2006.

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Vietnam vet Tony Gill has been visiting the Cockatoo Rise Retreat for returned servicemen and women for years. Picture: Rob Leeson.

Vietnam veteran Greg Carter, 69, and his wife Anne, 66, work tirelessly to keep the 21ha property’s ­museum, vegie garden, golf course and grounds in shape for visitors.

Returned veterans can stay and use the facilities for as long as they need without charge, finding solace in sharing their stories with others who served, while sitting by the open fire.

The retreat runs on miscellaneous donations totalling up to $5000 each year. But as more Diggers find out about the property, that shoestring budget is being overwhelmed.

Tony Gill on patrol.

Despite applying for funding multiple times, the retreat has been deemed ineligible for assistance by RSL Victoria chiefs.

Mr Carter said Diggers from different wars have come and bonded over mutual experiences in a way they could not do anywhere else.

“Sitting around a campfire, you’d be surprised what kind of information comes out, knowing the people they are talking to have gone through something similar,” he said.

“Sometimes they have what they call a ‘black dog day’ and they head out the back and lie under the stars.”

Tony Gill at the Amberley RAAF base.

The RSL has told the Carters that to secure funding they would have to provide a detailed summary for each individual visitor, which Mr Carter says would be impractical and in some cases impossible. Some ex-Diggers wished to remain anonymous.

Vietnam veteran and post-traumatic stress disorder sufferer Tony Gill, 71, has been visiting the retreat for five years.

“Veterans become isolated and anti-social and they don’t discuss things but when they get somewhere like Cockatoo Rise, the boys will talk about their experiences and we know what we’ve been through,” he said.

“What Greg has got set up there is a fantastic place to go with a few mates and to sit down and reflect on old times, particularly in Vietnam.”

The Wallan man said it was a uniquely peaceful and restorative space, and needed to be saved to continue to serve young veterans.

“We can provide mentoring to the younger veterans who are confused and lost with what is going on,” he said. “If he was to close down there, it would be yet another option taken away from veterans — it would be a great loss.”

The RSL did not respond to ­requests for comment.

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