Editorial: Lest we forget? Not likely

OPINION: Ah, the poppies. Of course. Now it gets interesting.

For the past few months, the stoush between the Crow brothers and the RSA, and the tragic end to the association's New Plymouth clubrooms, has made for sad, but compelling, reading.

Many have followed the sorry saga, but many of you without a strong connection to the association or its former base would have taken little more than a voyeuristic interest, like the rubber-necker who can't help slowing down at the car accident before speeding on to leave others to deal with the misery.

But the ongoing dispute over the RSA's welfare fund has widened the scope of interest and threatens to impact on a traditional form of fundraising that is probably even more well known and respected than the RSA itself – the Poppy Day appeal.

Not all of us will make Anzac Day's dawn parade or even the one that follows a few short hours later.

But if we are not standing shoulder to shoulder with the veterans and their families, many of us still like to show our allegiance with the purchase of a poppy, believing that we are not only demonstrating that we too will not forget but also that we are contributing directly to the welfare of the ex-servicemen and women in our area.

Until now, that is.

A fair chunk of the $736,000 owed by the RSA club to its welfare fund would have been donated by the public through the purchase of poppies, and not on the proviso that it be spent on propping up a poorly run entertainment club. But the reality is that that is where much of the money has gone, leaving men like Ra Penn and many others scrambling to help the genuine diggers with the little money that is left for regular hospital visits and food deliveries.

That is the real shocker, the real story within the story. Not that the Crows may have outstayed their welcome or that the club itself was run into the ground by incompetence, arrogance and stubbornness.

At the heart of this story is an organisation that lost sight of its core responsi-bilities and was cruelly dis-tracted from its most important values.

Mr Penn believes the association's national body booted Barry Henderson and Teresa Cousins off the RSA executive to get its hands on the welfare trust's chequebook and the paltry $4000 that remains. Given what has taken place so far, it's not hard to agree with him.

In the end, just like in war, it all comes down to a battle by opposing forces for control of a vital asset – in this case money. Which leaves the people at the centre of the melee – the diggers – to fend for themselves.

Mr Penn and others are resigning from the RSA in disgust, and we don't blame them.

At the very least, the organisation needs to make it clear just where our money will be going when we pay for our poppies next month, and who will be controlling it.

Because we will not forget; forgive maybe but not forget.

- © Fairfax NZ News