RSL to ramp up fight for millions Club battles for survival
THE Townsville RSL has taken its insurance fight to the ombudsman as renovations had to be put on hold after the club ran out of money.
President Bill Whitburn said the club suffered a significant damage bill worth $15 million after the devastating 2019 floods.
Insurers have since paid out $5 million, with the RSL using about $5-6 million of its own money, but it was still short the same amount to complete the refurbishments.
“We’ve had to use our own funds to enable us to do these renovations and we’ve run out of funds,” Mr Whitburn said.
“We’ve actually got two matters before the ombudsman so we can try to squeeze more money out of the insurance claim.”
New escalators in the reception area and an outdoor area where patrons can enjoy their meals and drinks are part of the renovation plans.
“I don’t mean to ridicule the other businesses in the hospitality industry or get them all up in arms, but we had to stop trading for 106 days,” Mr Whitburn said.
“We’ve had to put our fulland part-time staff on JobKeeper … we won’t open until at least 50-100 people are being allowed to go into your facility.
“It’s not viable for us to open for less than 100 people.”
He called on 9000 of the club’s 25,000-strong member base who didn’t return to the club following the floods to return once it reopened after the coronavirus shutdown.
“We need those people to come back and remain committed to the RSL for us to be viable into the future,” Mr Whitburn said.
“The RSL is vitally important and part of the fabric of the community …. we’ve got our welfare people still doing hospital visits and advocates doing claims.
“The younger, contemporary veterans don’t like the gaming machines, neither do I, (but) they allow us to make funds that can be put towards assisting veterans and their families.”