RAA LIAISON LETTER 2025 – 2026 EDITION CANNONBALL SUPPLEMENT 119 CAN YOU HELP Heath Trophy remain elusive. This was for ‘attendance’ which today can be interpreted as recruiting / retention. The Heath Trophy was won by the 18 Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment in 1955-56 and again in 1958-59. The unit was also runner up in 1957-58. The 18 Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment again won the trophy in 1961 and it was also won by R Battery in 1963 for the fourth time. Eventually the trophy was given to the Regiment in perpetuity. The trophy stayed with the Regiment until it was disbanded in 1974. The trophy is missing and is possibly either at a 9th Regiment Sydney based battery, School of Artillery or HQ 2 Division. The Chief of Staff at HQ 2nd Division, Colonel D A Smith was contacted on 11th June 2002, but he was not able to find the trophy after a long search. The method of judging the competition was to keep pace with changing military requirements. The honour of winning the Trophy was a spur to improve technical and tactical training and administrative efficiency in the CMF. The Heath Trophy was in the form of a soldier holding an Owen gun ready to fire. It was a very impressive trophy. The competition has now lapsed, and the RC retains ownership of the trophy in perpetuity. Location is unconfirmed. If any reader knows the whereabouts of these trophies be part of reinvigorating our heritage and advise HOR staff. Contact Major DT (Terry) Brennan ADF veterans warn selloff of 60 historic defence properties will take a decade and cost billions RSL, federal opposition and local MPs cast doubt on the plan, which Labor says will result in about $3bn for defence Tom McIlroy and Penry Buckley, The Guardian Thu 5 Feb 2026 Veterans say the government’s planned sell-off of more than 60 defence properties will take at least a decade and cost billions, urging Labor not to repeat the mistakes of previous divestment drives. The RSL, the federal opposition and local MPs expressed doubts about the plan announced on Wednesday, set to raise as much as $1.8bn from the sale of properties including training sites, bases, warehouses and disused land, all deemed to offer no strategic value. Among sites set to be sold are the historic Victoria Barracks in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane as well as prime sites on Sydney Harbour and a major munitions site at Maribyrnong, in Melbourne’s west. A multi-year review recommended 68 sites be sold, including HMAS Penguin in Sydney’s Mosman, Spectacle Island on Sydney Harbour and RAAF Williams at Melbourne’s Point Cook. The defence minister, Richard Marles, said all funds from the sale of about $3bn in property holdings would be returned to defence, insisting the government had a “laser focus” on value for money. New housing is not a priority for sale process, though Labor expects to carefully consider appropriate use once each site has been transferred to the department of finance. The RSL national president, Peter Tinley, said the organisation supported modernising defence infrastructure but careful consideration was needed, including on the sale of heritage sites. He pointed to previous asset sales in Sydney’s North Head and Portsea in Victoria as failed processes. “The Defence Strategic Review made clear we need to reorient toward our northern approaches,” Tinley said. “But these aren’t empty paddocks on a spreadsheet. “Some of these sales will take a decade and cost a fortune in remediation. The $1.8bn/$3b headline figure may look very different when the final accounting is done.” The shadow defence minister, Angus Taylor, accused the government of mounting a “fire sale” and called for careful scrutiny of each location. “Australia is facing the most dangerous strategic environment in generations,” he said. “We must not sell off assets that directly support the recruitment, training and retention of ADF personnel just to cover up Labor’s failures on housing.” The New South Wales premier, Chris Minns, called for heritage to be protected at Sydney’s Victoria Barracks, established in 1840 and originally occupied by the British army. “The heritage value of Victoria barracks is very important, not just to those that care about culturally significant buildings but also for the
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