The Catholic Archbishop of Sydney, Anthony Fisher, has demanded an explanation from the ABC over its handling of the euthanasia debate. Archbishop Fisher has accused the national broadcaster of breaching its editorial policy, as the controversial issue returned to the political spotlight last month, by failing to provide a diversity of views and misrepresenting the church’s stance. Archbishop Fisher last week wrote a detailed letter of complaint to the ABC Ombudsman, Fiona Cameron, in which he outlined the public broadcaster’s “concerning” lack of impartiality in its coverage of a campaign by pro-euthanasia advocate Andrew Denton for the use of telehealth to access voluntary assisted dying. Archbishop Fisher questioned “whether the ABC’s platforms are operated to amplify one side of a contentious policy debate”. The prominent clergyman’s complaint comes amid a tumultuous period within the ABC, which faced a fierce public backlash in recent weeks for its decision to air an obscene short film about the imaginary torture and rape of mining billionaire Gina Rinehart, while the fallout from the taxpayer-funded media organisation’s mishandling of rogue Four Corners reporter Mahmood Fazal continues.
In his letter, which has been obtained by the media, Archbishop Fisher has cited four occasions across nine days in July when Denton – a former comedian who is the founder of charity Go Gentle Australia, a pro end-of-life choice group – was given opportunities to promote his cause. The same avenues were not made available to groups or organisations – such as the Catholic Church – which hold different positions about euthanasia-related matters, Archbishop Fisher claimed. The Catholic leader said alternative viewpoints to Denton’s were barely acknowledged over the same time frame as his four appearances on various ABC platforms – and when they were raised, the key points were “misrepresented”. Three of Denton’s four appearances on the ABC platforms were during the lead-up to Labor’s three-day national conference on July 23-25, at which it was widely anticipated that the ALP would face a revived push from the party’s Left faction to amend the federal ban on VAD telehealth appointments.
On July 19, Denton guest hosted the ABC’s weekly 30-minute public affairs program Compass in an episode titled “Dying on My Own Terms”. “Denton did not interview any person opposed to euthanasia or assisted suicide for the program. The program did contain approximately 45 seconds of opposition to euthanasia and assisted suicide, all of it file footage from either 1996 or 2023,” Archbishop Fisher wrote. “Importantly, the file footage did not address the use of telehealth for euthanasia and assisted suicide, which was the immediate matter of contention given that the program was screened four days before the Australian Labor Party National Conference that would vote on this particular issue.” Archbishop Fisher claimed Denton’s appearance on Compass as “presenter and principal commentator” on issues pertaining to euthanasia had breached the organisation’s editorial policy on “independence, integrity and responsibility”.
On July 20, the ABC news website carried an opinion piece written by Denton, titled “Telehealth Ban Still Standing Between Dying Patients and Their Doctors”. In the piece, Denton referenced remarks made by Archbishop Fisher in 2011 about the theological concept of “redemptive suffering” but failed to explain the context of his comments. “Denton omitted my immediately preceding response, which clearly states that the goal of the Catholic Church is to reduce suffering,” the letter to the ombudsman says. Denton’s “omission” of the context did not accurately present the position of the church, Archbishop Fisher claimed. “The ABC’s editorial policy includes ‘failing to provide sufficient context to explain points of view or inaccurately summarising those views’ as an example of unfair treatment that may affect impartiality, and it is submitted that Denton’s opinion piece engaged this aspect of the policy,” he wrote.
On July 23 – the day on which Labor’s National Conference voted on euthanasia and assisted suicide via telehealth – Radio National’s breakfast program conducted an interview with Denton. “In this interview, Denton again purported to present my view,” Archbishop Fisher’s letter says. The clergyman claims Denton attributed a view to him “that is materially different to the view that I expressed in the interview he references”. “In the NSW Legislative Council inquiry into the provisions of the Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill 2021, I said: ‘I am in complete agreement that we should never let anyone in that situation be unassisted and unsupported. That is exactly why the great faiths devote so much of their energy to caring for suffering people, to doing everything possible to relieve their suffering – at least everything that is morally and practically possible to relieve their suffering’.
“So, it is not the case that any of us would be saying, ‘Suffering is good for you, and we want it to continue, and we will bring about more suffering if we can’. “Quite the opposite, we do everything that is morally and practically available to stop the suffering.” On July 27 – after Labor delegates at the national conference backed a conscience vote to amend the law on using telehealth to access VAD – Denton was interviewed on the 7.30 program. “Denton purported to articulate the viewpoint of opponents including the Prime Minister, the Catholic Church and the Australian Christian Lobby,” Archbishop Fisher says in his letter. He claimed that the prominent advocate’s comments on the program represented further “unfair treatment” of the church’s position on VAD. In his letter to the ABC Ombudsman, Archbishop Fisher cited the public broadcaster’s editorial policy, which requires “the highest level of impartiality” in its coverage of matters of public interest.
“It further provides that impartiality requires that the ABC ‘is never seen to be advocating for any particular outcome in contentious political, policy or social debates’ and ‘the greater the degree of contentiousness, the more important it is for ABC content to be impartial’,” the letter states. “Over a period of nine days the ABC repeatedly provided the founder of an organisation established to advocate for euthanasia and assisted suicide law reform, with opportunities across television, radio, online and social media to make the case for amending a federal prohibition on the use of telehealth for euthanasia and assisted suicide. “The principal arguments for retaining the prohibition were not put forward by those who hold them; rather, they were largely summarised or characterised by Denton. “The imbalance is particularly significant because three of the relevant items, as well as two associated social media posts, were published or broadcast in the four days immediately preceding an Australian Labor Party National Conference vote on the issue being advocated.
“The subsequent 7.30 interview occurred in the context of a foreshadowed parliamentary attempt to amend the law. In those circumstances, providing an alternate perspective at some indefinite later time could not remedy the absence of diversity during the period in which the issue was the subject of an active and imminent political decision. “Given the significance of the issue, the imminence of the political decisions to which the coverage related, and the ABC’s particular obligation to maintain public confidence in its impartiality, I ask that these matters be carefully investigated and addressed.” In response to a list of questions from the media about its coverage of the matter, an ABC spokesman said: “A complaint has been received by the ombudsman’s office, and we have no comment while it is being reviewed.”
Source: Compiled by APN from media reports