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After months of fevered internal lobbying by a group of vocal Paddington RSL club executives and board directors, the RSL’s 1700 members are set to vote on Sunday on a merger that could threaten the future of the club dividing the club’s concerned community. On Wednesday the chairman of a third Sydney community club, North Bondi RSL, sensationally branded the proposal from Coogee Diggers “an asset grab” and revealed Paddington RSL’s board had been presented with an alternative rescue plan from the North Bondi club that had seemingly not been disclosed to members. North Bondi chairman Josh Farquhar said his club presented Paddington RSL with a rescue plan earlier this year following an approach from concerned former armed services veterans attached to the Paddington RSL sub-branch. That plan, he said, would guarantee the independence of the club, return the club to profitability through financial and practical support, preserve the RSL veteran’s Paddington/Woollahra sub-branch and not threaten the club’s primary asset, the club building located in Oxford Street Paddington. The North Bondi pitch also does not propose a merger. In contrast, the Coogee Diggers’ bid, according to a 31-page memorandum of understanding (MOU) issued to Paddington club members in April, will see “all the assets … transferred to Coogee”, the dissolution of Paddington RSL following amalgamation with the Diggers, Coogee’s CEO Peter Gallagher become CEO and approved secretary of the amalgamated club and the board of Coogee Diggers installed as directors. Both offers extend a financial lifeline to the rundown and loss-making Paddington RSL – once a thriving music venue that attracted bands such as INXS, Yothu Yindi and Hunters & Collectors – as well providing staff and resources to return the club to profitability. One key difference between the proposals concerns returned servicemen and women who are members of the club’s RSL sub-branch. North Bondi is committed to veteran welfare – Mr Farquhar himself is a veteran of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars – while Coogee Diggers, under CEO Gallagher, cut ties with the RSL in 2020 when it amended the club’s constitution though kept the evocative and marketable Diggers’ name. Mr Farquhar believes the offer from North Bondi was at no time presented to the Paddington membership prompting him to go public this week and calling for Sunday’s vote to be postponed. “With the right leadership, there’s no reason Paddington RSL can’t thrive as a stand-alone club,” Mr Farquhar said on Wednesday. “We’ve offered to provide both financial and practical support to help Paddo regain its footing and continue serving the community as an independent club.” North Bondi RSL has asked the Paddington club board to answer key questions about how it reached its amalgamation agreement with the Coogee Diggers club. He also wants decisions concerning the future of the community asset to be open, fair and “on the table”. “Our concern is simple. The amalgamation won’t secure Paddington RSL’s future. Rather it would take the club out of local community hands, surrender its independence and end a vital connection for local veterans,” Mr Farquhar said. One concerned Paddington club member who spoke to news.com.au claimed that while the Coogee Diggers’ MOU appears to guarantee the Paddington Club’s operation for 20 years, under the actual terms, the Diggers would be entitled, within a few years, to close the Paddington club, sell its premises and keep the proceeds. According to Paddington RSL’s most recent annual report of December 2024, the Oxford Street premises is worth $3.8 million. That figure seems a gross undervaluation given the club sits on a prominent and large 1550 sqm central corner site within the Woollahra local government area and is opposite the Paddington Town Hall, parkland and Victoria Barracks which according to a recent report is in developer’s sights. This week one local developer suggested the property could be in fact be worth upwards of $20 million. At Paddington RSL’s fiery AGM meeting in July some 30 members in attendance were told the amalgamation with Coogee Diggers had to proceed because if it did not the Paddington club would be forced into liquidation. Although the proposed amalgamation was not listed on the agenda, Coogee Diggers’ CEO Peter Gallagher addressed the room portraying himself as Paddington’s benefactor who had been “paying the bills”. A text message sent to club members this week urging them to vote for the amalgamation included a note of thanks “to Coogee Diggers for their generous $350,000 support” in 2025. When a club member questioned directors’ claims made at the AGM that Paddington had “no option” but to merge with Coogee Diggers, one director allegedly replied: “We (directors) take on all the risk here. It’s our job to consider the offers. Members don’t have the right to know about offers. We’re elected to these positions to do it. We are not required to tell members anything.” At a committee meeting on Monday, Paddington’s Chamber of Commerce passed a motion to support North Bondi RSL’s initiative and a community campaign aligned to it. “The Paddington Chamber of Commerce passed a motion at its AGM on Monday supporting the initiative from North Bondi RSL and the SavePaddoRSL Alliance to preserve Paddington RSL Club as a vital local community and business asset within our area,” Paddington Chamber of Commerce president Erin Hawken told news.com.au. “We were surprised to learn that the club has not given proper consideration to the proposed rescue package from North Bondi RSL and that new member applications are reportedly not being accepted.” News.com.au has spoken to a member of the public who last week was turned away after trying to join the club. “They said they were not accepting new members before the vote,” Derek Probert said. Ms Hawken said the club’s future “should be determined transparently and with the properly informed participation of its members”. She encouraged members to attend the club’s general meeting on November 9 at 2pm at Paddington Public School. News.com.au has approached Paddington RSL president Terry Farley and club directors for comment.
