Dangerous

I read with alarm over the weekend that the Australian Labor Party has effectively taken over the Australian Red Cross, making it a defacto wing. They did that first by having one of their own, former Aboriginal Affairs Minister Robert Tickner, appointed as its CEO. Ok. I should clarify... The Red Cross appointed him, but since that appointment, Tickner has progressively politicised the organisation by appointing ex-Labor staffers and ex-union leaders to key positions.

The've then developed a cozy relationship with Labor Governments, both at a Federal and State level, such the the Red Cross has now become "the charity of choice" for many government initiatives, and is an instrument of Labor policy.

For example, the Red Cross controls the A$200m + that's been raised for the Victorian Bushfire Appeal, to the exclusion of other charities like The Salvation Army which raised $16m of its own, but has been frozen out of the comittee which will decide on how and where the aid is spent.

Salvation Army insiders are reported as saying that they are concerned at the closeness of the Red Cross/Labor relationship, and that, increasingly, to be selected for government partnerships, an NGO has to be seen to be a vocal supporter of the Labor government. Worse, they believe speaking out against government policy means an organisation could be sidelined.

This is a dangerous road for the Australian democracy. It's the sort of corrupt tactic that's commonplace in the third world, where governments attempt to remain in power by controlling every facet of a society.

I'm sure the Red Cross does good work. I just don't believe it ought be become an instrument of politics.