Banned suicide ad to be aired on NZ TV

Photos / NZ Herald

Provisional approval has been granted to screen on New Zealand television an advert "promoting suicide" that is banned from Australian and Canada airwaves.

The script, by Australian-based pro-euthanasia group Exit International, was approved this week, by the Commercial Approvals Bureau, which is owned by TVNZ and Mediaworks.

"We've given provisional approval, based on the script, but we'll reserve our final judgment until we have sighted the finished advertisement they intend to run," bureau general manager Rob Hoar told NZPA.

The script was along the lines of an internet video clip Exit International had put on U-tube.

"It should probably run in an adults-only classification - that was our guidance," said Mr Hoar.

"It is a controversial issue and an adult topic .. though there is nothing in the material that would be horrific.

"There is nothing that children would be frightened by, and it would probably go over their heads, because it's a fairly sophisticated advert". Exit International director Philip Nitschke, nicknamed Dr Death, told the Northern Territory News that it was a "pretty simple" advert.

The man featured in the ad said he had a choice in every aspect of his life except for the one that now mattered to him, Dr Nitschke said.

Australian and Canadian regulators initially approved the advert.

But they pulled it 24 hours before it was due to screen, saying it was in "breach of their guidelines".

- NZPA