MID-AFTERNOON Friday, a deep rumble rattles the windows of the South Coast Register as four motorcycles pull up on Kinghorne Street.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The riders are members of the South Coast chapter of the Veterans Motorcycle Club and they are on a mission. They want the community to know they are not being allowed into some local RSL clubs in their Veterans MC colours while other clubs, schools, cafes, community groups and the navy bases welcome them in their full regalia.
They say they are welcome in their colours at the Milton-Ulladulla Ex-Servos Club, the St Georges Basin Country Club, the Bomaderry RSL Club; Club Husky (the Huskisson Bowling Club), the Warilla Bowls and Recreation Club and the White Ensign Club at HMAS Albatross. However, they say they are not allowed at Club Jervis Bay, the Sussex Inlet RSL Club or the Shoalhaven Ex-Servicemen’s Club.
These four members have a proud record of military service – Malaya, Vietnam, Afghanistan, multiple tours. They have a proud record, too, of community service, raising funds for charities, helping out individuals in need, especially other veterans, and sharing their stories with wide-eyed schoolchildren.
“These colours are our uniforms,” explains South Coast chapter president Danny ‘DK’ Kennedy from Worrigee, who served in Vietnam in 1971.
“They represent who we are and what we did. We ride for those Diggers who can’t. We wear our medals on our colours.
“The only thing that is similar between our colours and those of outlaw clubs is the three-piece patch on the back,” explains DK.
“Our colours actually tell our stories,” offers chapter sergeant at arms and secretary Glenn ‘Dingo’ Chamberlain from Sanctuary Point, who served in Afghanistan in 2010. He points out the patch that says where he served and the chevrons that were his rank.
The most conspicuous difference is the Veterans’ colours do not carry the 1 per cent patch of the outlaws.
“We are not outlaws, we are certainly not criminals,” says DK.
“We are ex-military so we are very disciplined and we obey the letter of the law. We have three former military police in our chapter.”
“We’ve been told the public is terrified of bikies, as if we’re the same as the Comanchero,” says DK, who says members are often approached in the street and thanked for their service. “We’ve also been told we can’t come in because of the licensing laws but if that’s the case, why do some clubs let us in while others don’t?”
Told of their plight, Kiama MP Gareth Ward has undertaken to write to the clubs concerned to clear up their understanding of the legislation.
“It’s there to capture the criminal element not veterans proudly displaying their colours,” he said.