by Paige Taylor, The Australian
FORMER prisoner-of-war Ian Denys Peek's critically acclaimed literary tribute to fellow survivors of the Burma-Thailand railway has cost the 84-year-old Perth widower his pension.
The World War II veteran's brooding memoir, One Fourteenth of an Elephant, was intended to honour the suffering and bravery of those who died building the notorious Death Railway under the Japanese.
But since hitting the stores in 2003 it has caused the cancer sufferer surprising anguish.
The Department for Veterans Affairs, in a letter dated November 11 last year (Remembrance Day), informed Mr Peek that it was cancelling his pension and healthcare card after he reported book royalties of $33,033.
Mr Peek has been forced to live modestly on his savings - now down to $21,000 - and he fears he will have to sell his small home of 32 years in the southern Perth suburb of Como if he cannot regain his $480 fortnightly pension. His only other asset is his car. To make matters worse, the department found that it had overpaid him $839.80 and forced him to repay it.
Mr Peek is annoyed that his royalties have been deemed income while other pensioners were entitled to have assets worth up to $155,000 as well as their house and car.
"I do feel that I have been done an injustice and I have never had an opportunity to argue it out," he said.
The Returned Servicemen's League has called for Veterans Affairs Minister De-Anne Kelly to consider using her discretion to reinstate his pension.
A spokesman for the department said anyone who earned more than $30,000 in a year was not entitled to a pension.
RSL state president Bill Gaynor said it was wrong that Mr Peek - a Londoner serving with the Singapore Volunteers when he was taken prisoner in Changi with his brother Ron - should suffer financially for recording an important chapter in history.
Mr Peek will soon learn if he is to receive any more royalties, and therefore if he can reapply for his pension.
© The Australian