Related: Cadets now in new base
THE former naval cadet who led a campaign to bring the unit back to Kyeemagh or find another base by the water is totally disillusioned.
Bruce McIntosh resigned as chairman of the TS Sirius parents and citizens (P & C) Committee amid bitter infighting.
Mr McIntosh, who has been passionate about the cadets since his youth, unsuccessfully sought a new home for the unit at the former Cronulla Fisheries centre and a Kurnell site which Marine Rescue NSW was vacating.
"I think the whole thing was about saving money," he said this week.
"The Navy [Australian Naval Cadets] were bloody minded from the very beginning, about what they were going to do with Sirius," he said.
"They ignored all approaches by parents and treated cadets as collateral damage.
"When 20 cadets, amounting to 80 per cent of the unit, left, Navy's reaction was 'we'll get more to replace them'.
"They ignored the P & C Committee's numerous approaches to pay rent for the fire-bombed premises at Kyeemagh, following the offered refurbishment of the building by Rockdale Council.
"Politicians we approached to assist in the re-housing of cadets, believed everything Navy told them."
