The Sunrise presenter David Koch has quit a federal government advisory board in protest at “yet another expensive inquiry” into the organ donation system, while accusing the assistant health minister of bowing to pressure from a “rich lobby group”.
The dispute centres on Fiona Nash’s decision to launch a review of the Organ and Tissue Authority (OTA) amid concerns Australian donation rates remained too low.
Koch, who was the chairman of the OTA advisory board, announced he would resign from the post during his regular shift on Seven’s Sunrise program on Wednesday. He took aim at a news report aired by his own network on Tuesday evening about donation rates and he told Nash to “get a backbone”.
Koch also criticised ShareLife, which describes itself as a community reform group committed to increasing donation rates above the current ranking of 19th in the world.
He said that, since the OTA was launched in 2009, Australia’s donation ranking had risen “from a lowly 32nd in the world to 19th and grown 41%”, but he was “really, really annoyed” about segments aired by Seven news and Today Tonight on Tuesday evening that featured criticism from members of ShareLife.
“All these blokes are members of a rich lobby group called ShareLife who basically want to take control of the reforms and take control of the money,” Koch said.
“How do I know? I should know, because I used to be part of ShareLife until I left because I was actually sick of them criticising, rather than doing anything,” he said.
“We did ask the assistant health minister, Fiona Nash, on to the program this morning to answer some of my questions but she declined because the most disappointing thing for me is that the politician in charge of donations, her, Fiona Nash, has not supported the authority’s program and caved in to this rich lobby group and started yet another expensive inquiry into it. It’s an absolute disgrace.
“Fiona Nash, get a backbone. You didn’t even ring me as chairman of your advisory council to get my view or even tell me an inquiry was coming.
“Obviously I’ve got no choice but to resign from the position and actively counter the tripe dished out by a whole bunch of rich lobbyists that just talk and do nothing. We at Sunrise will continue to support the reforms which save lives and now I won’t have to be as diplomatic. I can get stuck into them and support organ donation issues.”
In a statement, Nash said Koch’s “unexpected resignation” was a loss to the organisation but she defended the review to be conducted by consultancy firm Ernst & Young.
“The Organ and Tissue Authority was informed of the review more than a week ago and given the chance to have input into the terms of reference,” Nash said.
“The review is seeking to establish if there is anything else we can do to improve organ donation rates in Australia and save lives.
“It is always unfortunate to lose people of Mr Koch’s calibre from such a good cause. I acknowledge the great contribution Mr Koch has made to support increased rates of organ donation in Australia and would welcome his input into the review.”
ShareLife also defended its integrity, saying its aim had “always been to see world’s leading practice in organ donation implemented in Australia – that’s all”.
“We’re disappointed that Kochie has chosen to attack people rather than sticking to the facts,” said Brian Myerson, a director of ShareLife.
“ShareLife, like all Australians, has an interest in an inquiry – we think Australians need to know why our organ donation rate is so low, after so much money has been invested to turn it around.
“ShareLife stands for the belief that Australians deserve the same access to transplants as those in countries like Spain and Croatia and Belgium and Portugal. We hope that an inquiry will help the assistant minister get to the bottom of what’s gone so badly wrong.”
The advisory council that Koch chaired was set up to provide advice to the chief executive of the OTA on organ and tissue donation and transplantation.
The OTA said on Wednesday morning it authority welcomed Nash’s review as an opportunity to look for improvements.
“From a low base, Australia’s donation rate has increased significantly since 2009 when the DonateLife network was established,” the OTA said.
“For the period 2009-2014, Australia’s number of deceased organ donors has increased by 53% and the number of transplant recipients increased by 38%. However, there is more to be done and the OTA will work with the review team to identify where further improvements can be made in order to save more lives through transplantation.”
The federal opposition seized on Koch’s resignation as evidence of government dysfunction.
The opposition assistant health spokesman, Stephen Jones, said Labor had established the OTA “to ensure a coordinated approach to organ and tissue donation” and it had achieved increases in donation rates.
Jones accused the government of undermining the OTA’s vital mission to raise donation rates. He pointed to the government’s decision to merge the OTA with the National Blood Authority as “short-sighted”.