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The Naval Association

of Australia

VICTORIAN SECTION CONFERENCE - BENDIGO, VIC - 11 - 12 FEBRUARY, 2011

What a magnificent conference the Victorian Section organised and conducted at Bendigo over the weekend 11 - 12 February, 2011.

Congratulations to the Victorian Section President, Russell Pettis and his lovely wife Deb - and thank you for a great weekend.

From the Meet & Greet at the Bendigo RSL which everybody enjoyed, to the wonderful reception and assistance given by LEUT Mark Pritchard, ANC, CO of the ANC Unit - TS BENDIGO AND the superb cadets who sparkled in everything they did and who were an absolute credit to themselves in the manner in which they turned out and paraded. They were magic. The hospitality of the Cadet Unit when they entertained all delegates and guests at TS Bendigo on the Friday evening inviting all to a huge spread was exemplary. Their pride in their Training Ship and the activities they were undertaking was evident. CONGRATULATIONS.

The conference itself that commenced on the Saturday morning with the National President, Les Dwyer opening the conference.

Guest speakers who came along and gave exceptional presentations were:-

CAPTAIN Mark Hill, the Commanding Officer of HMAS CERBERUS. Mark is a Mine Warfare Specialist and PWO and he provided an excellent briefing on the current state of the Navy and vast amount of information concerning the activities and achievements of the Navy's major training establishment, HMAS CERBERUS.
Mike O'Meara, the Deputy Commissioner for DVA in Victoria - his round-up of all veterans matters was very interesting;
LEUT Mark Pritchard, the CO of TS BENDIGO gave a very good account of the progress being made at TS BENDIGO. His presentation and the optimism of the cadets shone through all weekend.
LCDR Chris le Marshall, RANR spoke about all things to do with running Patrol Boats and his presentation was a good insight into their operations, and finally:
Doctor Roger O'Neill from the Defence Science and Technology Organisation who showed slides and gave a terrific talk on the search for and current situation with regard to Submarine AE2.

John O'Shea from the Bendigo Ex-Navalman's Association was also asked to speak about the activities of his group locally. Naturally, the were invited to Join the Naval Association and participate in the many benefits that would accrue to them by doing so.

The RSL Sub Branch President, Mr Cliff Richard attempted to sell a used Bofors gun to the National President. Apart from that his help with the conference and participation was welcomed. Cliff showed great pride in the development of a collection of tanks and other military equipment they have undertaken.

The Mayor of Greater Bendigo (I was looking for the ordinary Bendigo all weekend - but never found it) Clr Rod Fyffe made everybody welcome and he also participated in the Memorial Service following the Conference.

The conference dinner was a great success. The food was brilliant and the number of people who turned up was truly amazing.

South West President Ian Kellett could not resist himself at the end of the dinner and gave a lovely imprompty speech which was matched by SEction VP Harry Kime.

Mary Tanner another VP made a significant contribution - and congratulations are in order for a personal progression that Mary has made in a fraternal order she belongs to.

Lee (Dutchy) Andrews was 'ever present' with his camera and his cheerful attitude was effervescent.

Graham Don the Section Secretary went to an extraordinary amount of effort to ensure the success of the conference and was roundly applauded by everyone for his efforts.

It was good to see the National Secretary, Roger Tozer and his boss Carolyn attending - they both enjoyed themselves immensely.

The ladies thoroughly enjoyed the bus trip which was an extended shopping trip and tour of the local area. (Thank you everybody for organising this - I'll be paying off the credit card for months!)

What can I say - a wonderful weekend was had by all who attended and I am convinced that whoever runs the Victorian Section Conference next year will have big shoes to fill to beat this one, which was without doubt a must to attend.

Thank you to the Victorian Section delegates for a job well done and to all of the members of the Victorian Section who in some cases had travelled long distances to be in Bendigo...you made a wonderful contribution to the success of the weekend.

Some photos from the weekend are under:- (With apologies - unfortunately the website is playing up and the photos are not in their usual format.)

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