Transcript of the BREAKFAST PROGRAM on 2CC Radio   

CALLER JACK SAYS THAT HE HEARD WHAT LIEUTENANT GENERAL GILLESPIE WAS SAYING AND HE STATES THAT HE IS A CURRENT SERVING RESERVIST AND HE ADDS THAT HE HAS SERVED OVERSEAS. HE STATES THAT WHAT GILLESPIE SAID ABOUT CUT BACKS IS A PACK OF LIES. HE MENTIONS THAT HIS RESERVIST UNIT HAS HAD SIGNIFICANT FINANCIAL CUT BACKS.

INTERVIEWEES: CALLER JACK

At 08:21AM on 05/01/2010

MIKE FRAME:        G'day Jack.

CALLER JACK:      G'day how you going?

MIKE FRAME:        Good mate.

CALLER JACK:      Good. Just a couple of things on that - what that General was saying.

MIKE FRAME:        Yeah, Lieutenant General Ken Gillespie yes.

CALLER JACK:      Yeah. Yeah. As you know I haven't given my real name but I'm a current serving reservist.

MIKE FRAME:        Right yes.

CALLER JACK:      And I've been deployed overseas and many of the members of my unit have been deployed overseas. If you've got a skill the army needs they do use reservists.

MIKE FRAME:        Yep, and that's something I wasn't aware of until I spoke to the General either Jack, so...

CALLER JACK:      Yeah, well that's fine. But what he said about cut backs is the greatest pack of lies I've every heard.

MIKE FRAME:        Right.

CALLER JACK:      I mean there's lies and there's statistics as they say I suppose. And he's quoting the statistics. The cut backs that our reserve unit for example has had to endure in the last six months is bordering the ridiculous.

I mean the management of the unit are pulling their hair out wondering how the hell they're going to achieve minimum training standards because of the cut backs.

MIKE FRAME:        So you're saying there have been some significant financial cut backs to the...

CALLER JACK:      [Interrupts] Oh they something like a 40 per cent slashing of their budget this year. Our unit is - reservists are allowed up to 150 days a year service...

MIKE FRAME:        Right.

CALLER JACK:      Ours have been put on a maximum of 50 days for example.

MIKE FRAME:        See this is the information that my other half was giving me last night when I was talking to her and she was saying that you know the parades, as the General calls them, was saying that you know from doing say five a year they've been cut back to two. And this is what you're confirming is it?

CALLER JACK:      Oh we've been cut back too. We were told in December last year at the last parade we won't be having annual field exercise because they're not going to have the money for it. I'll give a slight hint here; I'm in an engineering unit and every year for the last 10 or more years the eng...army engineers have gone out as part of the ACAP program which is the Army Aboriginal Community Assistance Program.

I mean you've got builders and plant operators and whatever else. They go out, they build roads, do airports, building houses, whatever else. They're doing that this year but we've already been told next year you can mostly forget it. There will be no money. They'll be cutting it back. It's - there's been massive cut backs in the budget of our unit and I know of others.

MIKE FRAME:        And - but the General, he's telling me something entirely different.

CALLER JACK:      That was an absolute pack of lies. I mean that's not what is happening at the rock face. I mean I don't know where he gets his facts and figures from but they're fairy land. The cut backs in our unit has been - has almost made it unviable. I mean, yeah, I was absolutely staggered when he came out with those statistics.

MIKE FRAME:        So the thing...

CALLER JACK:      [Interrupts] They the only thing they're talking about in my unit towards the last few months of last year was how they're going to cope because they're just arbitrary cut backs.

MIKE FRAME:        And what's this doing for morale Jack? For blokes like yourself, like mate you're upset about it and the things that I'm reading and I'm hearing about these - the guys in the reserve are saying mate I'd like to move on and mate I don't want to be part of it anymore.

CALLER JACK:      Well that's right. Well I'm a member of a very successful unit. I mean I'm virtually giving - the army's going to know which unit I'm talking about by the fact of what I'm about to say, we got average length of service more than 20 years for our members.

I mean the average length of the service in reserves is only about four years I think for most other units. But yeah, it's just - the, yeah, it's just ridiculous for him to say there hasn't been cut backs. There's been massive cut backs.

MIKE FRAME:        Jack, what I'm going to do, I'm going to follow this through and see if we can find a little bit more information. I'm just going to put you back to Matt and he just might get some details off you.

CALLER JACK:      Yeah that's all right, I've got no worries about that as long as I'm not over the air because I shouldn't be ringing about this or giving the shit over it.

MIKE FRAME:        Oh no, no, oh well the thing is this is one of my things about you know, public services and the whole the people who work for the Government do work for the Government. They've got this bloody secrecy crap that goes on about you can't come outside and say what's going on.

Mate, it's like a bloody secret society and I think the general public and all of us should be entitled to know exactly what's going on in this country because...

CALLER JACK:      [Interrupts] Well that was absolute garbage to say there hasn't been cut backs and there's been increases. We've had some - like, I don't know exactly but certainly like around anywhere between  40 and 60 per cent cuts in various areas. It's ridiculous.

MIKE FRAME:        Mate, really appreciate your call today and I appreciate your time. Don't go away, I'm just going to put you back to Matt and we'll get some more details. Thanks mate.

CALLER JACK:      Yep.

MIKE FRAME:        There you go. See, who's telling the truth? What's the real story? We'll see if we can find out.