‘No guarantees’ — Albany RSL calls on City of Albany to increase funding support for Anzac Day events

There can be “no guarantees” about the standard of next year’s Anzac Day services without extra funding from the City of Albany, according to Albany RSL service director Michael Tugwell. Mr Tugwell made an impassioned presentation at last week’s council meeting in which he argued that the current funding model for Albany’s Anzac Day commemorations, which relied on six months of fundraising by the RSL, was “unreasonable and unsustainable”. He told the Advertiser he wanted the council to realise that funding commemorative services was not the role of the RSL. “We’ve been getting dragged further and further into it, but it’s not our department — it’s theirs,” he said. “We don’t have people to write grants, we don’t have backgrounds in grant writing. “It’s a mismatch — the City has professional people down there putting in for grants all the time.” During his presentation to council, Mr Tugwell said it cost $235,000 annually to run the Anzac Day commemorations. He said the 2022 funding consisted of $55,000 from Lotterywest, $36,000 raised from donations to the RSL and $14,000 from the City of Albany and — as well as in-kind support of $80,000 from the RSL and $50,000 from the City. “We’re not just sitting here with our hand out saying, ‘give us money,’” Mr Tugwell told the Advertiser. “This year, for example, I started on Anzac 2023 in early June.. It’s a very big workload for just a few of us over an extended period of time. “Volunteer hours quickly add up to $80,000 a year, conservatively.” City chief executive Andrew Sharpe said the City had a long-standing relationship with the Albany RSL and a memorandum of understanding to work together to ensure Anzac Day services in Albany were fitting and sustainable. “The City has provided cash and in-kind support to the RSL over an extended period to assist with the delivery of Anzac Day commemorative services and will continue to do so,” he said. “Currently, we provide the RSL with a sponsorship package of $29,000, made up of $14,000 in direct cash and $15,000 in-kind in addition to resource support for the planning and delivery of the services. “We understand the unique link Albany has to the Anzacs and the funding challenges the RSL has with Anzac Day, and will continue to have conversations with them about this and how we can continue to support them to recognise this day of national remembrance.” Mr Tugwell said the standard of next year’s service would “have to decline” if more funding was not made available by the City. He said the first things to go would be tents and a raised dais. “If it rains, we get wet. But if it’s good enough for those on the parade to get wet, it is good enough for everybody, in my opinion,” he said. “The audio-visual would then be trimmed down somewhat — although that is an easy target and I know it plays as an important role, making sure everyone feels involved in the service even if they’re not right at the front. “In 2019, there was an uproar when we didn’t have the screens. Having said that we’ve already negotiated a $10,000 reduction in the cost for this year, and we might be able to get that down further.” Mr Tugwell said he believed there was strong support from ratepayers to put more pressure on Federal and State governments to help with service costs in Albany. He said beyond the commemorative aspect of the services, there was also a commercial aspect that benefited the wider region. “This is Australia’s ‘Home of Anzac’ so there should be an onus at both the Federal and State levels to step up to the mark,” he said. “Secondly, the fact is that there is a commercial opportunity from Anzac Day as there is for any other iconic event held down here. “The modelling suggests 4000 visitors staying overnight for one day would generate close to $2 million. “If you take it up to 7000 or 10,000 for two or three days you realise its several million dollars going back into the regional economy.”