ANDREW DENTON: ‘DAD’S DEATH CHANGED EVERYTHING’

It’s the last great taboo but the former ABC presenter is fighting for good deaths for everyone

- Words: Laura Evans

Being hit by a comet while having sex is how Andrew Denton would like to die.

“I haven’t checked the odds, but I think they’re high!” he quips to Woman’s Day.

Death – or making sure Australians have access to a good one – has become a calling for the former ABC presenter. In 2016 he founded Go Gentle Australia, a charity that campaigns for the right of all Australians to Voluntary Assisted Dying (VAD).

HIS LIFE’S CALLING

“My media career was over as soon as I lost my looks, which was about eight minutes after I started,” he jokes of his career pivot, which has seen him move from interviewing Australia’s biggest celebrities to launching a podcast series, Better Off Dead - which culminated in former Prime Minister Bob Hawke calling for Australia to introduce assisted dying laws - and lobbying the government while also launching his own charity.

“It may seem bleak or morbid or sad, and it can be all of those things, but it’s in fact very rewarding, very life affirming and very rich,” he adds of the work he’s doing.