Trishna And Krishna

On 23 November Richard Fleming of the Global Poverty Project wrote an article on the Punch entitled “You don’t have to be a brain surgeon to rejuvenate a life”.

I think it is perhaps fair to say that I am more deeply involved with the beautiful journey of Trishna and Krishna than Richard. 

While I cannot avoid discussing the twins, my response is aimed at the broader issues of development and poverty Richard raises in his article rather than focusing only on the unique story of Trishna and Krishna.

Continue reading "Money’s no answer to global poverty" »

It is always heartening when Australia bands together around an issue with such cohesion and gusto as we have seen over the past fortnight with the separation of the conjoined twins, Krishna and Trishna.

I feel I should, out of journalistic integrity, (not that I’m a journalist) mention that I have had some dealing with the twins. In 2007 and 2008 I would spend my weekends volunteering at their orphanage in Bangladesh and was struck at the time by the girls’ strength and resilience.

Andrew Bolt’s piece in Friday’s Herald Sun focused on the debate (largely in our oh-so-balanced talk back arena) about whether or not the Australian Government should have foot the bill for the operation to separate the twins.

Whilst I wholeheartedly support Danielle, Moira Kelly, Atom Rahman and the wonderful team who have supported the girls, I must - and believe me I never thought I’d utter these words - agree with Andrew Bolt in saying that the Australian Government and associated departments made the right decision in not paying for the procedure.

Continue reading "You don’t have to be brain surgeon to rejuvenate a life" »

They’ve made it through one of the toughest parts.

Previously conjoined twins Krishna and Trishna were separated by surgeons at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne around 11am AEDT. They are now in an induced coma and doctors hope to wake them up slowly over the coming days.

You can listen to audio of the press conference here. Our live coverage of it is over the jump.

Continue reading "Trishna and Krishna: Surgery results announced" »

Next time something goes wrong, or needs fixing, I’d like the Melbourne Royal Children’s Hospital’s director of anaesthesia and pain management Dr Ian McKenzie to be put in charge.

I know that’s probably not the best use of his time and skills, but listening to Dr McKenzie give a briefing this morning on the progress of the operation to separate conjoined twins Trishna and Krishna was quite remarkable.

Dr McKenzie’s press conference was completely devoid of jargon, avoided lapsing into the dramatic, and demonstrated a fine balance between optimism and pragmatism.

Continue reading "Ian McKenzie for Premier, PM and, well, everything" »