Australian army vetoes plans for black-tie dinner at men's club in Perth
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Version 0 of 1. Senior members of the Australian army have vetoed plans for a black-tie dinner in Perth, Western Australia, because the venue chosen by local officers is a club that does not allow female members. The Perth-based 13th Brigade was scheduled to hold its annual dinner this month at the Weld Club, a 145-year-old institution that only permits men to become members. Women, be they army officers or partners of army officers, would have been granted entry for the purpose of the function. But complaints to the Australian army command in Canberra led to the event being scrapped. “The Australian army’s Perth-based 13th Brigade reconsidered their arrangements for an end-of-year function after local concerns were raised to the chain of command regarding the membership practices of the Weld Club,” an Australian defence force spokesman said. According to the West Australian, the club was chosen as a venue after the Irwin barracks in Karrakatta, where the function is usually held, was deemed unsuitable because they army had increased alcohol prices in the mess in an attempt to crack down on drinking within the ranks. The Weld Club was founded in 1871 and named for Sir Frederick Weld, then governor and the club’s first patron, who no doubt found its location on the corner of the Esplanade and Barrack streets, opposite Government House, extremely convenient. Its earlier days appeared devoted to drumming up cricket teams. An 1892 report in the Western Mail described a match “between the members of the Weld Club and the World, the latter being principally members of the [Melbourne Cricket Club]” in which the latter won decisively. Now it is a place where suitably respectable men may be invited to go through a rigorous application process for the privilege of paying $1,200 a year to dine in the company of other similarly vetted men. The club prides itself on privacy and exclusivity – even its website is member’s only. According to the Australian Financial Review, which smuggled a journalist across club lines in 2011, non-members seeking entry must give both the name of a member and the password to be granted access to its hallowed halls. (Once inside, the report noted, the names of secret club officials could be found on a list pinned to a noticeboard.) Men’s only clubs remain a surprisingly common choice for formal functions in Australia, although membership is reportedly dwindling. A decision in July to host the St Vincent’s surgical forum dinner at the Melbourne Club, one of the oldest men’s only clubs in the country, was criticised as tone-deaf given frequent reports of sexism lobbed against surgical departments. In 2015 the women’s group of the Queensland Liberal National party was criticised for plans to hold its International Women’s Day event at a men’s only club called Tattersalls in Brisbane. The opposition defence spokeswoman, Gai Brodtmann, said hosting an Australian army function at a men’s only club was “clearly incompatible” with the defence white paper’s goal of “promoting diversity and inclusion”. Male-exclusive clubs are clearly incompatible with Defence White Paper's goal of "promoting diversity & inclusion". https://t.co/lH79GUoTHm The Australian defence force has made high-profile efforts to make the army a more gender-inclusive place and has introduced targets for female recruitment. The former head of the army, David Morrison, was named Australian of the Year in 2016 for his efforts to promote gender equality and combat sexism and sexual assault in the armed forces. |