Muzzling 'The Chaser' - the politics behind the outrage

“If you are concerned about sick children, donate to medical research or make it an election priority. Research works, and that is why children now survive diseases that were once terminal, such as leukaemia.

“Such charities pander to parent guilt and have become self-serving.”

Such a topic makes for very dark humour that cuts as close to the bone as you can get. But this is hardly new to The Chaser.

This is the comedy team who, the day after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the US, ran the front-page headline on their namesake paper: “Sydney’s Centrepoint Tower rises two places in world’s tallest building ranks.”

That is a pretty black way to satirise the media’s nationalistic parochialism. But a deliberately offensive approach to comedy is not restricted to The Chaser.

Two days before the offending sketch went to air, contestants on Channel Ten’s Good News Week were discussing a man who turned his house into a Star Trek replica. Comedian Wil Anderson said this guy gets inspired by Star Trek to remodel his house and everyone reckons it’s cool, “but Joseph Fritzl watches Silence of the Lambs ...”

This tasteless joke referred to the Austrian man who kidnapped and repeatedly raped his own daughter. Any humour it contained depended entirely on the shock value of its over-the-top poor taste.

It predictably drew a combination of audience groans and nervous laughter. Regular panellist Mikey Robbins expressed his approval by saying “I am so buying you a beer after the show”.

It is hard to see how Anderson’s joke was less offensive than The Chaser’s, yet there was no outcry.

GNW’s host Paul McDermott made his name with singing comedy group The Doug Anthony All Stars, which specialised in performing the most offensive humour possible.

The pitch black humour of The Chaser’s offending sketch is part of a tradition in Australian comedy. It may have missed the mark, but it is hardly unique.

What has driven the current campaign against The Chaser, and the decision to suspend them and review editorial policy, is not really about the “Make a Wish” sketch. Whether the sketch was appropriate or not is beside the point - it has been seized as an opportunity to muzzle a comedy team willing to take on the status quo.

The decision to suspend The Chaser is a blow to free speech. It sets a dangerous precedent of silencing comedians whose job it is to satirise society.