Christmas Care Package's

A Christmas Care Package Aussie Soldiers Overseas plan is being developed by the National Welfare Coordination Centre. They can be contacted on telephone 1800 801 026.

They will release details for a specific Armed Forces Post Office (AFPO) address for such parcels to be sent to in order to reach the soldiers.
Once this address has been released (I phoned the NWCC today and they have not yet released the AFPO address) then we will have until 15 Dec to submit our parcels to that address.

In the meantime, if a family has a specific person they wish to send a small parcel to, then the individual address details are, for Operation ASTUTE in Timor Leste:


PMKeys Number, Rank, Name
AFPO 05
Australian Defence Forces
NSW 2890

and for Operation SLIPPER at Tarin Kowt Afghanistan:

PMKeys Number, Rank, Name
AFPO 13
Australian Defence Forces
NSW 2890

I hope this is of some assistance.

Best regards,


Stuart Smith
Brigadier
Commander 3 Brigade
(currently deploy on Exercise HAMEL)

Ex-Servicemen and Womens campsite in WA

Hi Folks, This may not interest everybody.The Veteran Community in WA ,largely through the tireless efforts of Norm Whitburn ( ex POFC) have obtained a abandoned cattle station in the Northwest from the State Government and Department of Environmental Protection...

This is to be set up as a Veterans Retreat with facilities for camping etc...The only one real drawback for some people will be its isolation...It is approx. 80 klms off the Port Hedland-Marble bar road on the Woody Woody Mine road which I think is Rio Tinto owned....

Norm has canvassed the big miners out there as well as the Marble Bar shire, interested Government departments and he has been impressed by the support offered...

The station is the old Meentheena Cattle Run of some 700.000 Acres which has been disused for some time , it has the Nullagine river passing through it and fairly good roads to and from the proposed camp area...We have been out that way and it is probably a good 3 hour drive from Port Hedland...

As of early next year the setting up of the camp will begin in earnest and any body who is passing that way is more than welcome to drop in and crack a tinny with fellow ex servicemen and women..

Norms Email is nwhitburn@bigpond.com and he can fill you in on the details if you are interested....

Could you please pass this on to any other interested parties...There may be a need for volunteer workers in the initial stages so I told Norm I would pass on the information.....He has done a great job and it would be a pityif he was not supported ..I believe that Norms wife is going to be setting up a web page so all will be kept up to date as it develops...

Kindest regards to all Shang and Marlene.....