Bourke fire damage

Helping Lodge Central Australia

Brethren, please note that the devastating Bourke fire destroyed the meeting rooms of Lodge Central Australia 88, with the old RSL meetings rooms, now called ‘Diggers on the Darling’, and all of the priceless original memorabilia relating to the service of country veterans in Central Australia.

Since then I have been in regular contact with the Chairman of the Board and Grand Master MW Bro Les Hicks, Chairman of Operations RW Bro John Jacobson, the PDGIW and member of Lodge Central Australia 88 RW Bro Dr Rob Finlay, and the Grand Treasurer RW Bro Richard Collins, with the view to return Lodge Central Australia to some normality as soon as possible. There is no doubt that the brethren of Lodge Central Australia are experiencing feelings of total loss, and it is important that we were in touch as early as possible to restore some confidence to the members.

We have already identified replacement furniture and fittings such as the tessellated pavement and tracing boards, which will be of enormous benefit to the lodge. The United Grand Lodge of Queensland has also offered to assist where necessary.

Our Grand Lodge will also help, and, as I have mentioned before, there are many old Volumes of the Sacred Law available for distribution from the Grand Lodge Library, courtesy of the past Grand Lodge Librarian. There are other items too, but these are under the control of the Museum of Freemasonry and will require management and permissions by the Deputy Grand Secretary. This destruction is a major masonic event, and it should be managed by the Board of Management (BOM). The BOM manages the operation of all our lodges, contributes to the overall governance and safe working practices within our lodges, and is the appropriate body as it has specific and identified funding to cover such emergencies.

I suggest that, until an appropriate venue is identified as a regular meeting place, we refrain from collecting furniture etc. until an accurate assessment of need can be established by the BOM. I am aware that the lodge had been considering a move from their old ‘Diggers on the Darling’ venue for some time, but as often happens in Freemasonry, decision-making takes time. I understand that, for at least the short term, the lodge might consider utilising the local CWA rooms until they can identify an appropriate alternative.

For now, we should concentrate on the well-being of the lodge members. The lodge was due to hold their installation and I know that they, and many visitors including the Grand Master, were looking forward to attending this occasion. That stalwart of the lodge, RW Bro Neville Simpson, qualified for his 70-year jewel on 17 September and that too was to be a significant milestone and celebration for the lodge (and for his wonderful wife, Pam). It is important that we keep all our personal friendships in mind and contact each other to ensure that the tenets and principles of the Craft are not lost. We are ‘all of one company’ and we all need support from time to time.

I thank everyone for their kind thoughts and offers of assistance and ask that you hold back at this stage until the BOM has finalised its plan to reinvent this most important lodge – Lodge Central Australia 88.

The fire raging in Bourke