16/06/2026
Definitely worth saving , if you are a member or are thinking about becoming a member , Avondale RSA needs you ,AGM on this Sunday 11am
Our local RSA is considering merging with the New Lynn RSA. That means our Avondale club could close down. We wanted to find out why, so we asked Marcus Amosa (Chair of the Avondale Business Association, a Portage Licensing Trust Trustee, and a financial member of the Avondale RSA) to fill us in:
“The Avondale RSA belongs to this community. It was built by veterans who came home from war and needed a place to belong. It was supported for decades by locals who believed in what it stood for. And the people entrusted with its legacy have run it into the ground.
I am not saying this lightly. The audited financial accounts tell the story in black and white.
Over five consecutive years, the Avondale RSA recorded a net loss every single year. The cumulative total across FY2021 to FY2025 is $1,002,950. More than one million dollars. Not from a single disaster. From five years of losses that compounded while the committee did nothing meaningful to stop them.
In the most recent audited year, the club earned $61,838 in total income. It spent $506,019. Administration wages alone were $227,952 — more than three and a half times everything the club earned. Gaming revenue collapsed 64% over four years. Wages went up 15% over the same period. The Department of Internal Affairs warned the club twice that its gaming operation was financially unsustainable. The gaming licence was surrendered in January 2026. It would have been cancelled if it hadn't been.
Avondale has seen this before. The Avondale Bowling Club — more than a century old — collapsed after years of mismanagement and the loss of its licences. A fraudster exploited the board's trust, pocketed nearly $500,000 in a property deal, and was jailed for his crimes. The board members were found guilty of misconduct and suspended from governance roles. The club is gone.
The Avondale RSA's own committee cannot say it didn't know what was happening on their watch. I raised concerns informally as far back as 2021, offered to help in 2022, and in writing from 2023. Again in 2024. Again in 2025. Nothing changed.
The veterans this club was built to serve deserved better. The members who stayed loyal deserved better. This community deserved better.
I am standing for the Avondale RSA Executive Committee at the AGM on Sunday 21 June at 11am to try to affect a different financial trajectory, and to hold those responsible to account.
If you are a financial member, bring your card on Sunday. If you are not a member yet, membership is open to the community and costs $40. Show up. The future of an Avondale veteran institution is on the line.”
