Australia, our money can be better spent! 🇦🇺💰💰
Last week, I had an amazing experience participating in a MULTI MILLION DOLLAR, OLYMPIC 🥇 Sanctioned sports carnival for a few hundred people (1500) from 46 countries.
I was able to wear my country’s emblem and colours competing in sports I hadn’t played competitively at any level before. I walked on one of Australia’s newest and most expensive sporting arenas behind the Australian flag.

Every person I met from Australia and from around the world acknowledged how lucky we all were.
Not only had many of us received the greatest gift of all- #poweredbythegiftoflife or had loved ones who had donated through #nextofkinconsent, we realised that millions of dollars in taxpayer money was spent to fund an opportunity for a select few to experience an extravaganza that hundreds of thousands just like us could not afford to attend or were simply not well enough to travel to a spectacular destination still infected with COVID.
There will be countless, priceless memories and stories that emanate from #WorldTransplantGames2023.
Hopefully they will be inspirational enough to change the minds of the future 46% of around 1400 families each year in Australia who are asked to give consent to their loved ones organs to be donated to save strangers, who would otherwise say NO!
If just 50% of the Australian Federal Government’s contributions for these games had been directed to research, or Funeral Support for those families who are thrust into becoming a Deceased Donor Family, I wonder how many more lives would be saved.
Many questions about the return on investment need to be answered and substantiated before future taxpayers’ monies are directed through Transplant Australia to put on poorly attended, sparsely covered sports carnivals for a small percentage of recipients, donor families and living donors to attend.
Just because an event is open to all it does not make accessible to all.
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