SYDNEY, Australia - A TV comedy sketch which lampooned children with terminal illnesses has sparked outrage in Australia, with Prime Minister Kevin Rudd calling it "beyond the pale".

The segment from The Chaser's War On Everything, which poked fun at charities that grant the wishes of dying kids, showed pictures of children in hospital beds and ended with the line: "Why go to any trouble when they're only going to die anyway?" The makers of the show and public broadcaster ABC have apologised for the Make A Realistic Wish sketch, which prompted a flood of complaints from viewers.