Send three and fourpence, we're going to a dance…
Robin Klitscher, President, RNZRSA
Veterans’ Affairs New Zealand was established in 1999. This, its first newsletter, is published ten years later. We might ask why so long; but that won’t take us anywhere helpful. What matters is that it is now being done, and we are delighted.
We can trust the answers a system creates only if the system itself is trusted. The key to trust is understanding. The key to understanding is communication. Up to now the methods of communication available to VANZ have been limited. There is the web site of course, and information sheets for specific cases. Both of these are useful, but with limitations. Otherwise it has been largely cleft stick, word of mouth, and the ‘wild west’ of internet discussion groups and e-mail lists where speculation, rumour and misunderstandings roam freely.
A story goes that in World War I, after whispered relay down the trenches, the message “Send reinforcements, we’re going to advance” was mangled to come out as the headline above. This kind of miscommunication is exactly what we need to overcome.
There have also been the pages of RSA Review. These too are useful, even essential. When they carry messages from VANZ, however, it is not always clear who is speaking.
Most assuredly, VANZ and the RNZRSA both have common purposes in serving the veteran community. But they have different roles. One is regulator, the other is advocate; and it is important in a healthy system that there is no confusion between the two.
They complement each other – or, in another view, they keep each other honest. If the RSA Review is the only channel of its kind available, these lines can become blurred and the effectiveness of both agencies can be blunted.
For all of these reasons, and more, we of the RNZRSA greatly applaud the appearance of a regular VANZ newsletter. And we look forward to its influence as we advance.