Cross purposes

The Red Cross does a splendid job collecting blood, no doubt about it, and we should all be grateful for that invaluable service. Some of the charity’s other activities don’t seem to match the brief of a non-partisan organisation. From Red Cross CEO and former Labor federal minister Robert Tickner comes news of the latest initiative:

Australian Red Cross and SBS have teamed up to create an online educational toolkit for the new series of Go Back to Where You Came From. The toolkit aims to help high school students gain a better understanding of the topics around how and why people seek asylum by looking at the issues through humanitarian eyes.

“There are misunderstandings about how and why people decide to flee their own country and seek asylum in a place like Australia,” says Australian Red Cross CEO, Robert Tickner. “We want to encourage students to see the issues from a humanitarian viewpoint and get to know the people behind the stories.”

The Red Cross solicits public support and donations, with its website gently hinting that a gift of $60 would be an appropriate minimum.

Those who feel the Red Cross should stick to good works of a non-partisan nature might want to consider if other charities could make better use of their donations and support. Its endorsement of one side in the asylum-seeker debate can be read in full via the link below.

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