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December 23rd, 2011 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda He was blunt, he was controversial, he was colourful.
But Bruce Ruxton will ultimately be remembered for his commitment to the veterans he so fervently represented for 23 years.
Victoria’s longest-serving RSL president died at his Queensland nursing home at about 3pm on Friday after slipping into a coma several days earlier.
The larrikin who last year told a journalist he wanted to be remembered simply as “an Australian” was never far from the headlines during his time at the helm of Victoria’s RSL.
Former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett best summed up the character of a man who was notoriously politically incorrect as Mr Ruxton was farewelled from the RSL post in 2002.
“Bruce is a little man with a big heart – and a big mouth,” Mr Kennett said on June 26 that year. “And he has used both very effectively.”
Mr Ruxton’s former public relations manager Barry Everingham recalled he would often tell his client, “You can’t say that, mate!”, to which Mr Ruxton would reply, “You watch me”.
“The RSL will never again see the likes of Bruce,” Mr Everingham said in a statement on Friday.
“His concern for the Diggers and their families was legendary.”
Current Victorian RSL state president David McLachlan said the forthright Mr Ruxton passionately advocated for veterans’ entitlements while Premier Ted Baillieu described him as an “unassailable champion of our nation’s veterans and our nation’s values”.
But the World War II veteran will also be remembered for his provocative comments. He famously branded South African Anglican Bishop Desmond Tutu a “witchdoctor”. He later admitted regretting the remark.
He opposed homosexuals in the armed forces and Aboriginal land rights.
Asked in a 2002 ABC documentary what he thought of people who branded him a racist, Mr Ruxton replied: “Couldn’t care a less.”
Months later, on the 84th anniversary of Remembrance Day, Mr Ruxton made headlines again when he clashed with an anti-war protester.
He was attending a ceremony at Melbourne’s Shrine of Remembrance when a weeping protester howling “war is murder” tried to hand him an anti-war leaflet.
“Why don’t you just go away you old hag, go away,” an angry Mr Ruxton screamed.
Not one to take himself too seriously, Mr Ruxton parodied himself in a rap song he recorded in 1992 to raise money for the Shrine.
Born in the Melbourne suburb of Kew on February 6, 1926, Mr Ruxton enlisted in 1944 and served in the South West Pacific, including Indonesia, Borneo and Japan, until 1949.
For his efforts, he was rewarded with an MBE in 1975, an OBE in 1981 and a member of the Order of Australia in 1996.
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