Perth Voice Interactive

THE organisation representing surviving Nashos – men called up for mandatory national service in the 1960s and 70s – has been forced to restructure as a company in order to keep up the fight to access additional free healthcare.

Fair Go Nasho had been operating as an incorporated association based in Victoria since 2022, but that put it at odds with Consumer Affairs Victoria’s rules which said it couldn’t receive memberships from people in other states.

Fair Go Nasho WA organiser David Butterfield told a gathering of Nashos and their wives at the RAAFA Club in Bull Creek last week that the national body was working furiously to get the paperwork sorted.

Gold Card

“So they’re pushing ahead with that and they are also working on their public relations plans; getting interviews on various media outlets to try and gain more support for NFG’s aim of gaining more benefits for us through the DVD gold card,” Mr Butterfield said.

Despite undergoing rigorous and often demeaning army training, and living under the cloud of being sent to the front lines of the Vietnam War at any time, the Nashos’ lack of active combat denies them a veteran’s “Gold Card” which would cover all their medical expenses.

Mr Butterfield told the Voice the Nashos were fed up with arbitrary decisions about what qualified under the white card they do receive, and delays in getting applications approved that have in some cases stretched into years.

He said army training was tough on their bodies and minds, but the Nashos were made to feel like malingerers if they sought help at the base’s medical post and their attempts at self-care are now coming back to haunt them now they’re heading into their 80s and 90s.

“I remember when I first went in Puckapunyal, we used to a lot of marching and running in the old bloody hobnail boots,” Mr Butterfield said.

“I don’t know, I might have one foot bigger than the other, but around the achilles area it was just red raw.

“Now, in city life I’d have maybe not taken a day off, but maybe put on some other footwear of something.

“But they’d just maybe give you a bandage and that was about it.”

Mr Butterfield said they’d also like to increase the prominence of National Service Day on February 14, and may hold annual luncheons in future years to get it on the radar.

During the lunch RSLWA acting CEO Allison Stephens promised to throw the league’s support behind the Nashos’ campaign.

Ms Stephens outlined the major changes the organisation has undergone in the last couple of years, particularly moving into its newish home at Anzac House, overlooking Government House gardens.

“The idea of it was to really have that one stop shop, where not only could we deliver our services and support, but other providers could also operate out of there,” she said.

Support dogs

“Not only is RSL there, but we have psychiatric and counselling services.”

Ms Stephens said an on-site dentist was an expert in finding the links between dental problems and defence services, while the Department of Veterans Affairs had support officers.

RSLWA was also recently successful to expand the new Rockingham Veterans and Families hub to build eco-cabins that can be used by ex-Defence families, who will have access to medical and allied health services.

The league has also just taken four puppies which are going to be trained up as psychiatric support dogs for a three-year trial.

Ms Stephens said support dogs had been successfully used with veterans over east, but there had been no capability in WA to train them up, leading former veterans issues minister Paul Papalia to pledge funds towards the $30,000 price tag.

“The funding for these will never be 100 per cent covered by the government, we will continue to fundraise to find the money as well to support programs like this because they’re really important for contemporary veterans and their needs for mental health,” Ms Stephens said.

by STEVE GRANT