“The Power of Choice”
On Thursday 24 September, my wife and I attended a superb panel discussion at the Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre in Adelaide. It was moderated by Andrew Denton of Go Gentle and featured three panelists: Dr Chloe Furst, palliative care specialist and VAD practitioner; Annie Holland, a 26-year-old Australian woman who has lived with Autoimmune Autonomic Ganglionopathy (AAG) since childhood; and Julian Kingma, award-winning Photographer and author of the new book, The Power of Choice.
The connecting thread for the discussion was “the power of choice” – both the power of choice encapsulated in the legal right-to-die framework, and the journey described in Kingma’s book of the same name. Julian described his 2-year journey around Australia, visiting with many individuals who had legally obtained the power of choice through gaining legal access to VAD. He has documented those encounters, including with fellow panelist Annie Holland, in his book. Annie described the debilitating effects of her condition, a condition she has coped with since her teenage years. Through the pain of what she shared, her courage and spirit shone though. Annie’s VAD practitioner, Dr. Chloe Furst, provided a medical perspective that was wonderfully humane and empathetic. Andrew Denton was, as always, a marvellous interviewer.
The video of this excellent discussion will be available on the Hawke Centre website at some point.
https://hawkecentre.adelaide.edu.au/events-and-exhibitions/events/2026/the_power_of_choice/