The Northern Express Herald

Schism: National RSA’s reform upheld by High Court – but just half the clubs have gone with it

The High Court has rejected a legal objection to a controversial reform programme pushed by the Royal NZ Returned and Services Association. With a green light to continue, the national office has so far convinced a little more than half the RSA clubs to go with it. David Fisher reports.

The High Court has approved the RSA overhaul process, opening the door for the national body to proceed with controversial reforms that sparked an ugly split in the veterans’ movement.

It was the gnarliest, ugliest battle seen for years in the usually passive and reflective RSA movement, and led to a “rebel alliance” of clubs breaking away from the national body.

With the dust settling in the form of a High Court judgment last night, the Royal New Zealand Returned and Services’ Association’s (RNZRSA) count of clubs on board shows it has 100 of 182 RSAs signed up to – or moving towards – its new constitution.

That leaves 82 clubs yet to engage with the process, including a number of Auckland RSAs and other membership associations that have rejected the national body’s reforms and effectively broken away.

The RSA movement is made up of many parts with each local club operating as an autonomous body affiliated with, and contributing funding to, the national RNZRSA.

The reform process saw the RNZRSA provide individual clubs a draft constitution with changes a number of RSAs objected to.

The constitution overhaul included legal changes required by the new Incorporated Societies Act but also saw governance changes with clearer rules and dispute procedures critics claimed tightened national control over local clubs.

Among those clubs were those that took the RNZRSA to court – Te Atatu Memorial RSA, Swanson Memorial RSA, the Auckland Returned and Services Association, Howick Returned and Services Association Community Club, and the Auckland Veterans’ Association.

In today’s judgment, Justice Dale La Hood found the RNZRSA acted lawfully when it used transitional rules in the new incorporated societies law to lower the voting threshold required to approve its reform programme.

The RNZRSA has said part of its reform programme is to better focus on contemporary veterans.
The RNZRSA has said part of its reform programme is to better focus on contemporary veterans.

At the centre of the dispute was the RNZRSA’s decision to use transitional rules allowing a new constitution to be approved by a simple majority rather than the 75% required under existing rules.

The ruling cleared the way for the RNZRSA to continue with its new constitution but has seen dissenting clubs claiming the national body exploited a legal loophole to force through contested changes.

The court rejected arguments that the RNZRSA had to follow its existing constitutional rules until it was formally re-registered under the new act.

The judgment ruled Parliament had intended societies to be able to step away from old rules during the transition period even where that created tension with long-standing constitutional expectations.

RNZRSA board chairman Rhys Jones said: “We are pleased the court has confirmed that the RNZRSA followed a sound and legally robust process.

“This decision brings clarity and certainty, allowing us to continue modernising our organisation so we can better support veterans and their whānau.”

Jones said the organisation had relied on legal advice and had clearly communicated the proposed voting process.

La Hood’s judgment found no improper purpose, procedural unfairness or attempt to circumvent members’ rights. The judgment said the RNZRSA had gone through a careful planning, drafting and consultation process in developing the new constitution.

Keith Ingram, a decades-long RSA member and advocate for the RSA movement, said dissenting clubs would see the ruling as failing to resolve a deeper democratic problem.

There had been concerns over RSAs surviving with many closing in the last decade as patronage dropped. Photo / Myjanne Jensen
There had been concerns over RSAs surviving with many closing in the last decade as patronage dropped. Photo / Myjanne Jensen

He said the court’s finding Parliament allowed the RNZRSA wide freedom during the transition had allowed the lowering of the voting threshold that pushed through a new constitution over which clubs were divided.

The new constitution was approved at an extraordinary general meeting in April, with 96 votes in favour and 51 against, based on delegates present and voting. Four delegates abstained. Under the old rules, the proposal would not have met the 75% threshold.

“He was persuaded that the RNZRSA was able to depart from its own rules, the rules that we have all abided by, to get its own way with the constitution it wanted, without wide support,” Ingram said.

“We cannot understand the judge’s thinking here.”

Ingram, who first joined the RSA in 1968, said he and the others in the breakaway group did not consider themselves as rebels as they believed it was the national office that had stepped away from the principles of the organisation.

Justice La Hood acknowledged the result would not have satisfied the previous constitutional requirement but that Parliament chose ease of transition over continuity during the changeover to the new act.

For Ingram, he said the distinction between legality and legitimacy was not resolved.

“I do not think this should be seen as a moral victory for the RNZRSA,” he said.

The schism in the RSA movement will see two new poppies for Poppy Day 2026. On the left, the poppy being imported by the NZ Returned and Services Association is a British poppy that marks Armistice Day. It carries an oak leaf set at 11 o'clock to mark the end of conflict in World War I. The poppy on the right is from the Auckland Veterans Association, among the group of rebel RSAs that broke away from the national body. It uses a variation on the traditional poppy but has a fern and the words 'New Zealand' on the black centre.
The schism in the RSA movement will see two new poppies for Poppy Day 2026. On the left, the poppy being imported by the NZ Returned and Services Association is a British poppy that marks Armistice Day. It carries an oak leaf set at 11 o'clock to mark the end of conflict in World War I. The poppy on the right is from the Auckland Veterans Association, among the group of rebel RSAs that broke away from the national body. It uses a variation on the traditional poppy but has a fern and the words 'New Zealand' on the black centre.

“Faced with wide opposition to the new constitution, evident in the slim majority, the upshot is that the RNZRSA exploited a loophole to pass rules that many did not agree with, despite the enduring binding commitment we all made as members that such wholesale changes would not occur without wide support.”

Ingram said the group believed Parliament never intended the transition clause to be used in that way.

“This sort of poor legislation happens when select committees and Parliament is under pressure and rushes legislation through the House.”

Ingram said options included a possible appeal but there was a more fundamental question – did clubs want to stay with the RNZRSA?

“So the question for many clubs will be do you want to support an organisation that has become so devious in its command and control and have acted cynically, contrary to the best interest of its national membership.

“Time will tell on just how many clubs will vote with their feet and walk.”

David Fisher is based in Northland and has worked as a journalist for more than 30 years, winning multiple journalism awards including being twice named Reporter of the Year and being selected as one of a small number of Wolfson Press Fellows to Wolfson College, Cambridge. He first joined the Herald in 2004.

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