Newsletter August 2015

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NEWSLETTER AUGUST 11 2015

NEWSLETTER AUGUST 11TH 2015

WELCOME

Senior Vice President Eamon Veaney welcomed 51 members and our guest speaker Dr Andrew Remenyi. The formal matters were dealt with by Secretary Wolf Damschitz and those present then enjoyed catching up with ANZ friends and colleagues. Members not seen for some time included Neil Gladstone, Teresa Goldsbrough, Dan Kirtley , Stan Lancaster, Elina Law, Jack Lepedjian, Rodney Manser, Ron Phillips and Ron Wilkinson while it was great to see Cedric Coxsedge back recovered after a bout of ill health.

The numbers attending were slightly higher than our August meeting of 2014 but still well below the average numbers attending in the years 2010/2013 albeit the level of apologies received from members on the sick list or travelling interstate and overseas at this time of year was again particularly high.

The Committee is currently reviewing our list of guest speakers and any suggestions for guest speakers from members could be passed on to Secretary Wolf at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

The Committee would also like feedback from members on whether you feel you are getting value from your membership and is there any interest in participating in such outings as movie nights, attending theatres for plays and musical shows, visits to art galleries, group outings, more country meetings and again you can let Wolf know your thoughts at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or mention your ideas to any of the committee members.

Photos taken at the luncheon by Eamon Veaney are already posted on our Website and Facebook pages.

APOLOGIES

Graham Ainscough, John Brown, Diane Carew, Robin Cates, Ken Crawford, Don Davy, Mike Devlin, John Duke, Phil Dunstan, Col Edwards, Nola Forsyth, Stan Halbish, Elaine Haw, John Hawkins, Sheryl Heard, Darrell Hodges, Don Jeffrey, Graeme King, Harry Loucas, Gary Mason, John McPhee, Joan Nathan, Terry Parks, Glynn Parry-Jones, Anton Ponnampalam, Peter Pritchard, Graeme Randall, Bruce Sanderson, John Vanselow, Doug Watson, Glenda White, Julie Wilkins, David Woods .

NEW MEMBERS

No new members to be welcomed this month but if members are aware of ex ANZers who might be interested in joining up with us let the committee know as it seems that word of mouth will be the most suitable way of recruiting future members to ANZROC.

BEREAVEMENTS

No deaths of ANZROC members reported for July but several tributes to recently passed members follow:

Hobbs J.H. 98 years 6/7/2015

The celebration of John’s life was attended by about 240 family, local parishioners and friends. The story unfolded of John’s life with him joining the Union Bank of Australasia in New Zealand and his 42 years in the bank with the last 22 years in Melbourne. John retired as Chief Manager Organization and Personnel in ANZ and that included managing the merger of ANZ and ES&A in 1970. In 1941 John enlisted in the New Zealand Army and served in Syria and North African campaigns when he was injured and captured and spent 3 years as a Prisoner of War. He spent some months in hospitals in Italy and then was held in Italian camps until their surrender and then had to march 600 kilometres to a stalag in Germany. John kept a detailed diary of his experiences and the original has been donated to the Australian War Memorial in Canberra and a copy is in the Andrew Turnbull Library in Wellington. In retirement John was invited to be CEO of the Queen Elizabeth Trust for young Australians where he spent 7 years meeting the Royals on their trips to Australia. John was deeply religious and involved at all lay levels of the Anglican Church in Ashburton and Mount Waverley for more than 50 years and his great love was singing in the choir .He was an expert carpenter making many items of furniture for family and the Church in Mount Waverley. He also enjoyed lawn bowls, Probus and was a prolific traveller firstly with his wife and later after her passing had trips to the Milford Sound at 67 years of age, a trip to South America and the Antarctic at 85 and at 89 flew to Perth, Exmouth, and Christmas Island in one day to meet his friends from the Church. The ministerial team at the church and the family eulogies painted a picture of a man who will be sorely missed. I spoke with ANZROC members at the service that included John’s son in law Mike Vallence with wife Dorothy, Harry and Beryl Carrodus, Brian and Noelle Christensen, Muriel and Bill Drummond, Ray Gill, John McPhee, Fay and Gerry McPherson, Kevin Mitchell, Gordon and Sonia Paulett and John and Lois Vanselow.

Terence Talbot emailing from Evandale in Tasmania said that he read with sorrow of the death of our honorary member Wyn Greenwood. Terence worked with him at The E.S.and A Office in Hobart in the 50’s and 60’s.

Bob Maughan was saddened to learn about the death of Graeme Hockey. Bob knew he had not been well for some time but Graeme would have been the last person to dwell upon his own circumstances. Over Bob’s working life he has been blessed to have worked with and known a great many good people. Graeme was a gentleman in every respect and one of the most genuine, honest, reliable human beings you could wish to meet. Bob had the honour and pleasure of working with him on several occasions. The first contact was during his period as the Esanda officer at 351 Collins Street when Graeme was often the person to whom Bob had to submit applications for approval. He always made himself available to assist with the upmost patience.

Eventually Bob had worked under Graeme at Esanda Head Office 55 Collins Street when Bob was the Senior Manager Dealer finance and where Graeme was in charge of a small team of specialist lenders. Whilst they worked hard it was also a time of great fun and entertainment. The MD had a lovely loyal secretary Dorothy Jenkins who made certain they were reasonably well behaved.

On a regular basis Dorothy would visit the team near the end of the day to remind them to put out the lights before going home. Apparently the ANZ MD of the day used to go past the building on the way home and thought it not only a waste of money to leave lights on but not a good look if some were on and others not! Some years later Bob again worked with Graeme at Esanda 85 Spring Street and he cannot express strongly enough how he came to rely upon his support.

He never spoke ill of anyone and everyone liked him. After retirement with other friends they enjoyed regular ' Board Luncheons" usually organised by another great lady Therese Barwick.

Since Bob and wife Joan moved to Perth to be close to their family contact was limited to Christmas time but Graeme was often in Bob’s thoughts. The Maughans’ cherish the happy memories of the many occasions when they were able to socialise with Graeme and his lovely wife Val be it at “Australian Pops Orchestra” or other social events. Bob and Joan wish Val and family their deepest sympathies at this time.

Kevin Mitchell advised that Graham Maley passed away on 31/7/2015 in Rossdale. Graham was 79 years of age and retired in Rossdale after retirement. He had also been manager of Fish Creek and well known in the Gippsland area. Graham would be remembered by many ANZROC members.

WELFARE UPDATE FOR AUGUST

Neville Pearson and Wal McGillivray visited Ron Cashin at Broughton Lea on 31 July and enjoyed lunch at the Broughton Lea facility with quite a few laughs and memories. Ron passes on his best wishes to all members

HONORARY BIRTHDAYS

The following Honorary members will be enjoying a birthday during August 2015

and we pass on Congratulations from our members for your birthdays: Alistair Abernathy (82),

Henry Barker (86), Rick Dickson (80), Frank Donovan (93), Muriel Drummond, Frank Edwards

(87), Neville Elvish (80), Ken Fitzgerald (87), John Glasson (93), June Hoskin, Ian Ince (82),

Peter Jones (83), Bruce Kells (83), Mike Kennedy (86), Stan Lancaster (81), Ken Lee (86), Doug

Long (91), Cathie Mackiggan, Reg Nicolson (84), Peter O’Dwyer (83), Roy Peake (80),

Mary Ryan, Jack Stewart (80), Alwyn Ward (91), Tony Watt (86).

INTEREST RATES

From 1/8/2015

Less than $20,000 1.30%

Greater than $20,000 1.67%

BIRDIES TWITTER

BALLARAT HERE WE COME

David Knuckey, Noel and Jeannette Beanland and Cheryl and Neville Pearson caught the 10.17am “Velocity” train from Spencer Street arriving in Ballarat at 11.54am on Wednesday 15th July to investigate options for our ANZROC 8th October country meeting in Ballarat. The new Velocity trains servicing Ballarat have very comfortable seats with generous leg room and a quiet and smooth ride .Our mandate was to find a venue in Ballarat that was within our normal budget range, an easy walk from and to the station and provides good food, reasonable privacy and a pleasant atmosphere. And by george we found that. “The George Hotel” was the stand out venue scoring highly in every category. The renovations that were being carried out at our previous luncheon in the same Hotel in September 2012 have been completed and we will have the privacy of this room for our luncheon. It is approx 300 metres from the station

We, with our usual thoroughness, tested the beer, wine and food and all got the thumbs up. But to be sure we tested the beer again and again!!!

We caught the 14.21pm return Velocity train that arrived back at Southern Cross station at 15.40pm. A most pleasant journey of approx 1 hour 20 minutes in a very comfortable seat with ample leg room and of course great company

We have made a booking at The George for the luncheon and they will provide a two course meal for $19 per head

A great plus for the venue and timing is that the Ballarat Art Gallery directly opposite The George Hotel is the exclusive Victorian Venue for the 2015 Archibald Prize, which is a touring exhibition of the Art Gallery of NSW. The exhibition will run from Friday 2nd October to Sunday 15 November. Admission Adult $10, Concession $8 . Timed entry every half hour, 10.00am – 4pm .There is a multitude of places to visit in and around Ballarat and staying a night or two in the town is worth our members considering particularly for art and heritage lovers. Or just lovers!!

BIRDIES TWITTER (2)

“MELBOURNE WINTER MASTERPIESES”, CATHERINE THE GREAT EXHIBITION NOW SHOWING UNTIL NOVEMBER 8 AT NATIONAL GALLERY OF VIC (ngv) - INTERNATIONAL STKILDA ROAD

No matter how hard I try, I cannot find the words that do justice and suit

The Aussie Dictionary may simply well say: Fair Dinkum, Ripper and Beaut

If you are not the lover of great art kind

Then this “Catherine The Great” exhibition will change your mind

400 plus masterpieces from the artists of old

Plus jewellery, trinkets, furniture, vases, silver and gold

Two and a half hours was inadequate, I must say

But any longer and a parking metre fine I would have to pay

The concession cost of entry was $22 dollars 50

Affordable to even the uttermost thrifty

I did not take my camera, as I presumed they were banned

However they advised photos without flash, would be quite grand

I will return, before the exhibition closes on eighth of November

With camera in hand and coins, which I hope I remember

In view of such a strong recommendation and as Secretary Wolf Damschitz is a Volunteer at the National Gallery of Victoria he will be discussing with the Gallery the possibility of arranging a private visit by members to view the paintings . In the meantime members can contact Wolf on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and let him know if you would be interested in attending the exhibition.

Depending on the level of interest shown the committee will then go ahead and organise a visit to the Heritage Collection at the Gallery.

GUEST SPEAKER

Dr Andrew Remenyi’s agenda for the day included discussions about his career, the concept of the nature of psychology, his work in occupational rehabilitation and clinical psychology ,what he offers for treatment and intervention strategies and a quick look at the concerns that affect retired bank officers. Andrew was for 7 years an educational psychologist in the Psychology and Guidance Branch of the State Government before spending 20 years in academia conducting the Postgraduate Diploma in Rehabilitation studies. An invited speaker at many national and international rehabilitation conferences he has over 75 professional publications. He has provided substantial lecture programs in several tertiary teaching institutions on counselling, cognitive behaviour therapy, chronic pain management, rehabilitation and abnormal psychology. Dr Remenyi has provided organisational consultancy services such as training, mediation, seminars to organisations including TAC, Commonwealth Rehab, Worksafe and many more. Now in private practice he has also been involved as a provider with Comcare, Worksafe, TAC and specialises in the clinical psychology areas of anxiety, pain, self management for a healthy lifestyle and rehabilitation.

He was also posted to PNG in 1969 at the height of the Vietnam War. Here is an excerpt from the Sydney Morning Herald :" At the height of the Vietnam War, with Saigon battered by the Tet Offensive, and the punch-drunk state of South Vietnam reeling in its aftermath, Australia sent scores of highly educated national servicemen - most of them teachers, or "chalkies" - to Papua and New Guinea. The men who served were an extraordinary, talented group of people whose ranks have supplied school principals throughout Australia, as well as our first deputy chief censor and an ambassador to Russia. And, almost by accident, they helped build the emerging nation of PNG."

This was an informative and topical presentation that was appreciated by the audience and Andrew stayed after the closure of the formalities to answer many questions from interested members.

Presidents’ Pen

Our Banking History… events of the past 180 years.

The Bank of Adelaide. The early years.

o Established in 1865

o Opened in Adelaide in rented premises on 11 December 1865 at the corner of King William and Gresham Street comprising four rooms on the ground floor and five above at a rental of 240 pounds per annum.

o The first manager was John Souttar with J H Wesley, Teller at 250 pounds per annum, J H Luxmore, Ledger Keeper at 200 pounds per annum and P E Loessel, Junior Clerk at 100 pounds per annum and a messenger at 47 shillings per week.

o The first day of opening was busy with 21 credits accepted, 11 cheques paid and one draft on Sydney sold. By the end of the week, Mr. Souttar was able to report to the Board that 57 current accounts had been opened with a total balance of 25,400 pounds and 22 bills discounted.

Next Month we will look at the Union Bank in Fiji and Papua and New Guinea.

LETTERS

Ian Anderson wrote to thank Kathy Trace and ANZROC Committee for his recent birthday card. The last year has been rather chaotic due to Ian and wife Margaret’s change of lifestyle. They moved into an over 55’s retirement village and fortunately it adjoins a golf course. Hopefully they will not have to move again in the near future.

Ian Bell emailed from Bendigo to thank Kathy Trace for birthday wishes which arrived on time as usual. The past year has dragged on a bit with some medical issues, but Ian is still upright and positive about the future. It is always good to hear stories of old work mates.

Bob Burgess emailed to pass on his thanks to the Committee and particularly Kathy Trace for the receipt of yet another Birthday Card. As has been the case with all the other cards received over the years, the timing was impeccable and Kathy does a marvellous job. The proposed changes to the postal service will test her but he is sure she will have it under control.

Bob and wife Marlene, also an ex-banker, are well and preparing for a short break in Fiji to escape the bitter Melbourne weather. They have done a bit of travelling in Bob’s “Troop Carrier" throughout Central and Northern Australia. They also toured Britain with stays in Paris and Rome this time last year and are visiting India and New Zealand in the next 8 months or so.

As with everyone, the newsletter is always awaited with interest and it is great to read the names and adventures of those former workmates with whom one spent the best years of our lives.

Bob will try and get to a meeting in the near future.

David Christie emailed greetings from Wodonga and conveyed his thanks to Kathy Trace and Committee for the recent birthday wishes . The day was spent with family and friends on a pretty informal basis, with a visit to wineries at Rutherglen followed up with visit to Corowa Chocolate factory. All in all a great time was had by all. In the coming week together with wife Imelda they will be spending 10 days in Bendigo helping their daughter moving home, and then attending granddaughter's Deb Ball. Then it will be home for a few days before heading to Gold Coast for a deserved break of 4 weeks. David and Imelda will be home mid September in readiness for another season of pennant bowls and then will be looking forward to attending the Christmas luncheon in December.

John Drummond wrote to thank Secretary Wolf Damschitz and the Committee for the best wishes extended to him on his birthday. He also thanked Kathy Trace for her good work in getting the card to him on the day. John is another member that likes to receive and keep up to date with the newsletter.

Frank Edwards emailed that it's happened again. Yet another birthday and another spot-on performance from Kathy Trace. Many thanks to her and the committee for all of the hard work and also to Eamon for his great work on the Newsletter. The new format is terrific. It's good to be able to keep up with the doings of former colleagues and to think back to those days when we were in the work force - such a long time ago. Good memories.

Teresa Goldsbrough emailed her sincere thanks for the June birthday card which she caught up with on her return from touring Turkey, Croatia, and walking in Austria and Dolomites, Italy.

Don Hoffmann emailed to thank the Committee for the birthday card and best wishes on his 81st. The newsletter is a great point for keeping up with information of old workmates.

John Hudgson emailed a great big thank you to Kathy Trace, the committee and members of ANZROC for his 70th birthday wishes which are greatly appreciated. John had a wonderful day culminating in a most enjoyable dinner with family and friends. It is now over 12 years since he last attended work at ANZ and it really does not feel that long. John is still playing golf at least twice a week and enjoying it. John and wife Ann have made a few short trips around Victoria and into NSW over the past twelve months and attended a number of functions in Charlton (his home town) where it all began with ANZ on 31/1/61.

Mike McKernan emailed his thanks for the birthday card wishing him a happy birthday. It was a great day with the family and grand children especially getting them all together. Seeing the grand children playing together was good fun. Mike and his wife are off to sunny Qld (Trinity Beach) for a few weeks to get away from cold old Melbourne.

Godfrey Mills emailed his thanks to Kathy Trace for her kind words re his 80th birthday. The day was celebrated with wife Nancy and nineteen other immediate family members. Following a splendid seafood lunch they all adjourned to "base camp" in Vermont. After a short recovery period it was announced that a “Piñata" had been set up on the clothesline. It took the form of a one metre reinforced cardboard crocodile filled with sweets. Godfrey was given a flimsy coloured stick to beat it up. The said weapon was ill conceived and totally inadequate for the purpose for which it was designed. To rectify matters he cast it aside. Godfrey then shot the crocodile 3 times with a daisy air gun - an operational relic from his misspent youth. This was a ceremonial rather than effective move so a change of plan was called for. From his cache of illicit explosives he inserted a large “penny bunger" into the croc's mouth. Bingo! the croc exploded scattering lollies all over the place. Universal applause! The remains of the croc were now lying forlornly on the lawn so he felt the need to administer the coup de gras by stabbing it with his cavalry sword and stalking off with the croc firmly impaled and the blade swinging in the breeze. One hopes that D'Artagnan would have been pleased. With demise of "crocodilis pintarus", things calmed down to frenzy and the day ultimately ended on a high note.

Peter Omond emailed his thanks for the birthday card which arrived on the last working day before the birthday. It was a marvellous effort given the postal issues.

Trevor Richards emailed his thanks to ANZROC President, Committee and Kathy Trace for the birthday greetings on the occasion of his 70th birthday.

Barry Reid emailed from Miners Rest to thank the ANZROC committee once again for his Birthday Card and their good wishes with special thanks to Kathy Trace. Bruce, wife Shirley together with their 14 year old Shiatsu Maltese were holidaying in their caravan at Merimbula for 4 weeks and enjoying the sunshine. They will then travel onto Shepparton to catch up with family and friends for a couple of weeks.

Ian Roberts wrote to thank Kathy Trace and the committee for the timely arrival of another welcome birthday card. This gesture is appreciated by all ROC members. The last twelve months in their lives has been quite active with many visits to the Yarrawonga cabin and involvement in a few tennis tournaments. The highlight was their trip to Japan in May for the Japan Seniors Tennis Championships. To pick up some brownie points in June, they went on a leisurely cruise from Sydney to Singapore with family friends; had a couple of extra days in Singapore so the girls could undertake some retail therapy in Orchard Road. This year Ian is hoping to get to the Christmas luncheon and catch up with old friends and in the meantime he’ll enjoy the news in the monthly newsletter.

Reg Roberts emailed to Kathy Trace his sincere thanks for the ON TIME Birthday greetings for 18/6/15. It was a very prestigious Day this year, 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo.

Roy Sloggett sent his sincere thanks for the birthday card he received on the occasion of his 83rd birthday.

Graham Smyth emailed to thank Kathy for her kind wishes on behalf of the Club on his recent birthday. They are much appreciated.

Mark Stankovich wrote to thank ANZROC for best wishes for his birthday and to Kathy Trace for ensuring the greetings arrived on time. Mark spent the afternoon watching his beloved Collingwood beating the Blues in daylight,a rare occasion these days. The next day the whole Stankovich family gathered to celebrate Mark’s birthday in style.

Keith Taylor wrote to say many thanks for the Presidents message passing on good wishes for his 87th birthday. Keith enjoys reading the newsletters as it keeps him in touch with old friends and colleagues and he is interested in the members travel experiences.

Jim Trimble wrote to thank the Club and especially Kathy Trace for his birthday card as usual arriving on the day. Life at 87 and with wife Mona a few years older they live a quiet life but with family help they are still able to live in the family home.

Norm Wood emailed to thank the committee very much for the best wishes expressed in the card for his 89th birthday received through the good offices of the remarkably reliable Kathy Trace. Norm trusts that the Committee and membership also continue to enjoy good health and fellowship throughout the coming year and beyond.

AND Roger Brown, Barbara Bruce, Bob Delahoy, Margaret Hall, Ken Lee, Serge McIntyre, Kevin O’Neill, Glen Twidale,ANZROC QSLD, NSW, SA, TAS, WA

MATTERS OF INTEREST

WEBSITE AND NEW FORMAT FOR NEWSLETTER

Eamon Veaney and partner Anne Wee have been working on a new format for the newsletter which will be posted on the ANZROC website this month for those members receiving the newsletter and other items by direct link. There will be no change to the current procedures for those members receiving the newsletter by post or for those members receiving the monthly newsletter electronically but we will include the links to the new formatted newsletter which we feel is worth a look.

Eamon also announced that the ANZROC web-site has now reached more than 100,000 hits and the ANZROC Facebook page has attracted 145 'likes' in it’s 5 YEARS OF OPERATION.

COMMITTEE CHANGES

Elaine Haw has retired from the Committee as she has moved to Echuca and we thank Elaine for her support while on the Committee and we will see her from time to time when visiting Melbourne. We have been pleased to co-opt Carl Garley to the committee and he will be assisting Eamon Veaney in the management of our web site. We have also co-opted Ken Pattison to organise our Autumn Golf Day as this has been missing from our annual program for the last two years so we welcome both Carl and Ken on to our team.

SUBSCRIPTIONS

Next month we will be including the renewal for subscriptions for 2015/2016 but John Brown advises that he has received two amounts for subscriptions which he can not allocate :

$20 on 19 Sept 2014

$10 on 26 Feb 2015

and if you feel that you may have made either of these payments please contact John on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

GOLF DAY AT ROSEBUD COUNTRY CLUB FRIDAY 27TH NOVEMBER 2015

Huck Bourke has again secured Rosebud Country Club for Friday 27th November 2015 for this year’s ANZROC golf day

Full details of this event will be included in Newsletters closer to the date.

PROGRAM SCHEDULE FOR 2015….

October 8th: visit Ballarat at George Hotel and view Archibald Prize entrants at Ballarat Art Gallery for those interested.

November 12th: 34/100 Queen Street….AGM and Past President Neville Pearson will be our guest speaker…”Around the world on a shoestring”.

December 10th: Melbourne Art Centre..ANZ Pavilion for Christmas lunch.

NEXT MEETING

Thursday 10TH SEPTEMBER 2015 will be held in the MELBOURNE ROOM ON 34TH FLOOR ANZ 100 QUEEN STREET at 12 NOON

Our guest speaker will be Ian Bock from the Melbourne Camera Club. He will talk about the operations of the Camera Club and give members a few pointers on taking the best photos. This should be a topical meeting for the overseas travellers who have been known to take a lot of photos on their trips so we look forward to seeing you at the meeting.

Carers accompanying members are welcome to attend this meeting of ANZROC .

If you intend to come to this meeting will you let Ron Adams know by Phone 98210444 /0408136100 , e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or by mail on the attached acceptance notice to Ron Adams PO Box 579, Malvern, 3144 by Friday 4th September 2015 to meet ANZ catering requirements and so that a list of attendees can be provided to the ANZ Reception Desk.

A reminder that the luncheon fee of $10.00 will be collected at the door to partially cover the cost of catering

Ron Adams

Newsletter Editor.

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ACCEPTANCE THURSDAY LUNCHEON 10th SEPTEMBER 2015 FROM 12 NOON MELBOURNE ROOM 34TH FLOOR ANZ HEAD OFFICE 100 QUEEN STREET

To RON ADAMS

PO BOX 579, MALVERN, VIC 3144 Phone 9821 0444 / 0408136100 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

I/we will be attending the Luncheon function

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