An advertisement which calls for a government re-think on euthanasia cannot be shown on Australian television following a "last minute" backflip by a classification body.
Pro-euthanasia advocate Dr Philip Nitschke was informed of the revised position of CAD (Commercials Advice) on Friday afternoon.
Filming for the ad was completed earlier this week.
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The ad, which was to be shown as part of a $60,000 advertising spend, was scheduled to air across several Australian cities in late-night TV slots from Sunday.
"This has really gutted our program and we're pretty annoyed," Dr Nitschke told AAP late on Friday.
"It has happened at the last minute ... We only went ahead with the project after we received CAD approval.
"The ad agency wouldn't have even embarked on this without that approval."
Dr Nitschke said he was in talks with the Council of Civil Liberties in a bid to have the decision overturned.
"This is an attempt to stifle the debate about this vexed issue," he said.
The Gruen Transfer inspires ad
The ad was inspired by the ABC Television's spoof marketing program, The Gruen Transfer, which recently aired two fake advertisements making a fictional call for mandatory euthanasia.
Dr Nitschke employed one of the ad agencies that had contributed to the ABC program.
He said the resulting serious ad was "urging political change" and was not "convincing people to commit suicide".
"It shows a person saying I didn't choose to be terminally ill, all I want is choice," Dr Nitschke said.
"It says 85 per cent of Australians want this choice, why isn't the government listening?"
In an email to Dr Nitschke, CAD said it had withdrawn its earlier approval on the grounds the advertisement did not comply with the Commercial Television Industry Code of Practice relating to the "promotion or encouragement of suicide".
"CAD has discussed the advertisement with the television networks and they are of the same view as CAD," the email stated.
