North Bondi RSL is calling for NSW RSL President Mick Bainbridge and the organisation’s entire board to be removed or stood down at the veterans group’s annual congress starting in Newcastle today.
In an email to other eastern suburbs sub-branches asking for their support, North Bondi secretary Josh Farquhar wrote that leadership failure had put veterans’ lives at risk.
The move follows revelations by the Herald’s Harriet Alexander that the RSL NSW is in crisis.
RSL chair Sophie Ray resigned from the board last week after an internal complaint that she filed against Bainbridge was leaked to the Herald. The District Presidents’ Council has called on her to resign.
Sophie Ray and Mick Bainbridge.
On Saturday, Farquhar wrote that irrespective of the facts behind the “allegations” and irrespective of “what actions might or might not have been taken by any party”, the articles published by the Herald had publicly revealed the RSL NSW Board was dysfunctional.
“All together, these failings are particularly inexcusable in the context of the findings of the Royal Commission into Veteran Suicide, which poignantly illustrated the need for effective leadership among veteran organisations.”
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Under parliamentary privilege, independent senator Jacqui Lambie accused Bainbridge’s law firm, Operational Legal Australia, and a director, Paul-Raymond James, of exploiting veterans by overcharging them for legal advice. She told the Senate that they were “unethical cowboys” who had charged huge fees for incompetently delivered services. They have denied all allegations.
Lambi told the Senate that, “in the wake of the royal commission, we need stronger regulations and oversight of businesses that market themselves as veteran friendly or veteran owned.”
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