MP calls for Red Cross talks

THE announcement of the relocation of the Lismore Red Cross to Kempsey has created a public outcry, including opposition from local councillors and MPs.

THE announcement of the relocation of the Lismore Red Cross to Kempsey has created a public outcry, including opposition from local councillors and MPs.

State Member for Lismore Thomas George has organised a meeting with Red Cross volunteers and community members for May 25 and he hopes to get the attendance of state-level Red Cross representatives.

“We are hoping to reverse this decision,” he said. “The meeting will give people the opportunity to give their views from a grassroots level to state officials.”

Lismore mayor Jenny Dowell also voiced concerns about the relocation.

“Council passed an urgency motion that we write to the Red Cross CEO expressing grave concerns about the closure because Lismore has a low socio-economic status, a susceptibility to floods, and a 90-year association with Red Cross,” she said.

“I know some of the volunteers have been volunteers for more than 70 years. This is so insulting to the women who have been the backbone of the Red Cross.”

Red Cross NSW executive director Lewis Kaplan said he was ‘organising a time which best suits everyone’. The venue for the meeting has yet to be decided, but it is expected to start at 11.45am.

Originally published as MP calls for Red Cross talks