Michael Beatty, RSPCA legend and journalist, dies after battle with blood cancer

A veteran journalist and animal welfare advocate has died after a battle with leukaemia, leaving friends and family devastated.

Veteran journalist and animal welfare advocate Michael Beatty has died after a battle with blood cancer and complications from pneumonia.

Mr Beatty, who also had lung cancer, died on Sunday, devastating family and friends who described him as “unstoppable”.

He was 76.

While best known to TV viewers for his current affairs reporting, Mr Beatty devoted the final decades of his life to the RSPCA as its communications boss.

In 2019 he received a medal of the Order of Australia for his service to animal welfare.

Shortly after his passing, his son Liam released a message via social media, saying: “Dogs all over Brisbane were howling as Michael Beatty OAM departed the living world.

“Michael left peacefully with his wife Cecile and son Liam by his side until the end.

“He never lost his fighting spirit, as he continued to defy the odds.”

He said his father had “committed a lifetime to giving a voice to those without one or who he believed needed a louder one” and spent his final days reflecting on a life well lived.

“While our hearts are shattered in pieces, we know we will mend them as we commit to continuously remembering and celebrating a great husband, friend, father, father-in-law, and grandfather at every opportunity,” his son said.

Mr Beatty had a colourful career as a reporter, in the early days interviewing the likes of musicians Mick Jagger and Paul McCartney and actors Cary Grant and Fred Astaire.

Michael Beatty at the RSPCA in Wacol with two Kelpies in 2018 (AAP image, John Gass)

A producer for ABC Radio, Mr Beatty also worked for former TV programs This Day Tonight and Today Tonight. He was state executive producer for Good Morning Australia and State Affairs, and a senior reporter for The 7:30 Report.

Covering many diverse and dangerous stories during his career, Mr Beatty came under fire on the Thai-Burmese border, was stoned and knifed in London’s Brixton riots, and once was persuaded to sit on the back of a 3.6m crocodile with The Barefoot Bushman.

He left Today Tonight at the end of 2002 and freelanced in South-East Asia and China before agreeing to help out the RSPCA for six weeks in 2004.

He stayed until 2021.

Mr Beatty, a smoker for more than 50 years, was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2018.

But he defied the odds, only to be recently told he had acute myeloid leukaemia.

Shocked friends paid tribute to Mr Beatty on social media on Sunday afternoon.

One said he was unstoppable, while another said: “What an amazing man, journalist and ‘voice’ – another great loss to the fabric of our city and state.”

A former Channel 7 colleague said: “Michael, your observations of life and the way you brought to life the wonderful characters you met along your travels will always reflect your story-telling genius; you cared for animals and humans and always stood up for the underdog.”

Originally published as Michael Beatty, RSPCA legend and journalist, dies after battle with blood cancer