This week on Q+A – The hotly-disputed pathway to net zero. As world leaders prepare to gather in Glasgow, can Australia’s politicians finally agree on a policy to cut emissions and create a green economy?
Climate policy has been a divisive topic in Australian politics for years but Prime Minister Scott Morrison is hoping to have a deal when he attends the COP26 Climate Summit at the end of this month. However, Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce is warning that his colleagues won’t be “forced into a corner” on emissions targets. Can last-minute talks between the Liberal and National parties deliver a deal that will put Australia on track to reach net zero emissions by 2050?
Many senior Liberals, including Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, are backing a net zero goal. Labor wants any new targets to be legislated, a scenario which could see Coalition MPs pitted against each other on the floor of the Parliament.
And as the political squabbling continues, coal mining communities in places like the Hunter Valley and Central Queensland’s Bowen Basin say their voices are being lost in the debate.
Does a detailed emissions reduction policy stand any chance in the current climate?
Meanwhile after months of severe restrictions, lockdown is ending for Melbourne and regional Victoria on Thursday night. Daily COVID case numbers remain high, but new modelling shows that surging vaccination rates indicate the state’s hospital system will cope. In NSW, more freedoms are on the table after the population hit its 80 per cent double-vaccination target earlier than expected. And Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says the Queensland border will begin a phased reopening next month to those who are fully vaccinated.
Simon Holmes à Court is an energy analyst, clean tech investor, and the founder of Climate 200, formed to support the election of climate-focused independents to parliament at the next federal election.
Chris Bowen entered Parliament in 2004. He is the Labor MP for McMahon, and the Shadow Minister for Climate Change and Energy.
Amelia Telford is a Bundjalung and South Sea Islander woman and the National Director of the Seed Indigenous Youth Climate Network.
After starting her local government service in 2007, Cr Anne Baker was elected Mayor of Isaac Regional Council at the 2012 local government elections.
Stan Grant live from Sydney with a somewhat theatrical Q+A.
Acclaimed Australian actor and theatre director John Bell presents this year’s ABC Boyer lectures - “ Shakespeare: Soul of the Age”, arguing Shakespeare’s works still have profound relevance to contemporary political issues, such as corruption, gender inequality, the growing need for good governance and the influence of social media.
Stan Grant hosts Q+A live from Sydney on Thursday, October 28 at 8.30pm AEDT.
John Bell is the founding Artistic Director of Bell Shakespeare and one of Australia’s most acclaimed theatre personalities, whose upcoming Boyer Lecture series will examine the profound relevance William Shakespeare’s works maintain over contemporary issues.
Nakkiah Lui is is the co-creator/showrunner/star of the upcoming ABC series, Preppers, as well contributing to a number of Australian drama and comedy series.
Paul McDermott is one of Australia’s most popular and versatile entertainers with his comedy, acting, singing, writing and illustrating talents all publicly and critically acclaimed.
Bri Lee is a freelance writer, and award-winning author of three books - Eggshell Skull (2018) Beauty (2019), and Who Gets to be Smart (2021).
Dr Tim Dean is a philosopher, ethics educator and author of How We Became Human.
no thanks. i remember seeing Bell Shakespeare put on King Lear. The only performance in 20 years of going to theatre i went to intermission and never went back to for the 2nd half
This week on Q+A – On the World Stage. All eyes turn to Glasgow as world leaders meet at the COP26 climate summit.
The Glasgow talks have been described as the “last best hope for the world to get its act together” to prevent a climate catastrophe. Prime Minister Scott Morrison is attending, but Australia faces strong criticism over its net zero climate plan. Former UN climate chief Christiana Figueres has labelled Australia’s policy “irresponsible”, but Scott Morrison insists it’s unrealistic to expect countries to follow the same path to a decarbonised net zero economy. Can politics be put aside to strike a deal that will hold the rise in the earth’s temperature to 1.5 degrees?
Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron has delivered an extraordinary attack on Scott Morrison at the G20 in Rome. In a stinging rebuke, Mr Macron accused the Prime Minister of lying about Australia’s cancellation of a $90 billion submarine contract. Are relations with one of Australia’s key allies at a new low?
And as diplomatic tensions boil over in Europe, Australians back home are finally reuniting with friends and family with the arrival of the first quarantine-free international flights into the country since March 2020. However, the new freedoms haven’t been extended to temporary visa holders, leaving many others in limbo.
Virginia Trioli hosts Q+A live from Melbourne on Thursday, November 4 at 8.30pm AEST.
Matt Kean is the Treasurer and Minister for Energy and Environment in the New South Wales State government.
Adam Bandt is the Leader of the Australian Greens and the Federal Member for Melbourne.
Blair Palese is managing director and global climate editor at Climate & Capital Media working to inform and connect investors, entrepreneurs and innovators on climate change solutions and opportunities.
Greg Sheridan is The Australian newspaper’s foreign editor and is one of Australia’s most respected and influential analysts of domestic and international politics.
Kavita Naidu is an international human rights lawyer who specialises in climate change, criminal and refugee law.
This week on Q+A – Friends and Foes. Finding Australia’s place in an increasingly complicated international landscape.
It’s been a bruising few weeks on the world stage as Australia navigates the fallout from AUKUS, the much-heralded defence pact with the United Kingdom and the United States. The PM has described it as a “forever partnership”, but is forever an impossible aim in a world of shifting power balances and competing geopolitical interests? And will this new alliance provoke fresh tensions with China?
So as Australia cements security ties with the UK and US, doubling down on its Anglosphere connections – what does this mean for the nation’s relationship with our neighbours in Southeast Asia, the Pacific and an increasingly powerful China?
And as the high-stakes COP26 climate summit in Glasgow enters its final days, the pressure is on to deliver a strong global agreement. Will the talks be held up as a triumph of international cooperation or will political power plays thwart the desire to deliver practical outcomes?
Stan Grant hosts Q+A live from Sydney on Thursday, November 11 at 8.30pm AEDT.
First elected aged 28, James Paterson has spent his professional career fighting for free markets, individual freedom and the preservation of Australia’s constitutional framework.
Ed Husic is the Federal Member for Chifley and currently serves as the Shadow Minister for Industry and Innovation.
Dr Lavina Lee is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Politics and International Relations at Macquarie University, Sydney.
Chris Uhlmann is one of Australia’s best-known political broadcasters. He is political editor for Nine News and was formerly political editor at ABC News.
Yun Jiang is a director of the China Policy Centre at ANU, and a former federal government policy adviser, having worked in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Treasury and Defence under Labor and Coalition governments.
Next week on Q+A – The Great Resignation. Are Australian workers preparing to leave traditional jobs behind as they embrace a post-pandemic work life?
Traditional 9 to 5 office jobs have been cast aside by the work-from-home revolution created by the COVID-19 pandemic. In an incredibly short space of time millions of workers around the world swapped the office for their living rooms, and now that life is starting to return to normal, many employees are re-evaluating their priorities.
In the United States a record-breaking 4.3 million Americans, or 2.9% of the entire workforce, quit their jobs in August. While many people are embracing a more flexible working life, others predict that Australia won’t see the same kind of ‘worker revolt’ that’s happening in the United States. So, what lies ahead for Australia’s labour market? Do employees have a new level of bargaining power when it comes to dividing time between the home and the office?
It’s not all smooth sailing, with sectors such as tourism and hospitality reporting severe staff shortages after Australia’s extended international border closure. And the unemployment rate is rising, jumping to a six-month high of 5.2% in October as thousands more people start to look for work as lockdowns ease.
The idea of a ‘rush to the regions’ has taken hold, with some opting for a ‘tree change’ lifestyle that includes remote working. Is this a short-term trend or something that’s here to stay? How do those already living in regional Australia feel about an influx of city-slickers? And does the changing nature of the workforce only serve to highlight a growing economic divide between those who can work from home and those who can’t?
David Speers hosts Q+A live from Melbourne on Thursday, November 18 at 8.30pm AEDT.
George Megalogenis is an author and journalist with more than three decades’ experience in the media. His latest work is Quarterly Essay, No. 82: Exit Strategy – Politics after the Pandemic.
Jane Halton is the chair of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations and co-chair of the COVAX initiative.
Andy Penn became the CEO and Managing Director of Telstra, Australia’s largest telecommunications company, on 1 May 2015.
Dr Emma Fulu is a feminist activist, social entrepreneur and one of the world’s leading experts on violence against women.
Eliza Hull is a contemporary musician, disability advocate and writer based in regional Victoria.
Debate over our freedoms is dominating the news this week. Borders are opening and life is returning to normal in many parts of Australia, however, a weekend of protests saw tens of thousands of people venting their anger over vaccine mandates and proposed pandemic legislation. How should Australia respond to these increasing protests, some bearing violent imagery? And what does this mean for political leaders who are now becoming the target of violent threats?
Meanwhile, federal politicians are back in Canberra for what’s shaping up to be a testing final sitting fortnight of the year. The Government’s contentious Religious Discrimination Bill is expected to spark heated debate, with frontbenchers conceding that ‘not everyone in the Government’ will be pleased with the legislation.
Australia famously became known as the ‘hermit kingdom’ during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic due to international border closures. Since March 2020, more than half a million temporary migrants have left the country. Now, both Government and business groups are talking up the need for a big jump in skilled migration to address severe labour shortages. But is Australia still a desirable destination? Has the response to the pandemic permanently changed the country’s ability to attract foreign workers?
And Australia’s cricket captain Tim Paine has stepped down after it emerged that he was involved in a sexting exchange with a female former employee of Cricket Tasmania in 2017. Cricket Australia has conceded it mishandled the investigation immediately after the incident. Should Tim Paine have resigned from the top job in cricket?
Jason Falinski was elected as the Member for Mackellar at the 2016 election.
Andrew Barr was elected to the ACT Legislative Assembly in 2006 and is ACT’s Treasurer, Minister for Tourism, Minister for Climate Action, Minister for Tertiary Education, and Minister for Economic Development.
Melinda Cilento is a company director, economist and experienced senior executive, who has been the CEO of CEDA – the Committee for Economic Development of Australia – since 2017.
Yaara Bou Melhem is a Walkley award-winning journalist and documentary filmmaker who has made films in the remotest corners of Australia and around the world.
With a special closing performance from: Sara M Saleh is a human rights campaigner, poet and writer, whose pieces have been published in English and Arabic in various national and international outlets and anthologies.
This week on the Q+A Season Finale, Virginia Trioli wraps the year live from Melbourne.
2021 was a year some of us would rather forget, with COVID-19 and lengthy lockdowns dominating the headlines and our lives. Has it changed our way of life forever and what will the new normal hold?
The year also saw a revolution of sorts, as thousands of young Australian women were enraged and inspired by the brave public campaigns of Grace Tame and Brittany Higgins. Consent and abuse of power became national talking points from Canberra to workplaces and classrooms. Debate around climate policy remained fraught, with our Government’s commitment to action scrutinised on the global stage at the COP26 talks in Glasgow. Relations with China deteriorated and cancel culture increasingly permeated university life and everyone’s social feeds.
In our final show for the year, Virginia Trioli is joined by a panel of thinkers and entertainers to reflect on this challenging year and dare to propose a more uplifting and joyful 2022.
With a special closing performance from Missy Higgins and her band.
Virginia Trioli hosts the final Q+A for 2021 live from Melbourne on Thursday, December 2 at 8.30pm AEDT.
Australian singer/songwriter Missy Higgins has enjoyed phenomenal success with her irresistible melodies and ‘arrow through the heart’ lyrics, delivered by a striking voice that clearly means it.
Arj Barker is Australia’s adopted son of comedy and a regular on Australian screens.
Narelda Jacobs has been a journalist at Network 10 since 2000, spending 19 years in the Perth newsroom before heading to Studio 10 in Sydney.
John Roskam has been the Executive Director of the free market think tank the Institute of Public Affairs since 2005. Before joining the IPA he taught political theory at the University of Melbourne.
Hugh van Cuylenburg has developed and facilitated resilience programs for more than 1000 schools across Australia, and hosts the popular podcast The Imperfects, with Ryan Shelton.
The ABC’s Q+A is back to get more of the answers to more of your questions, from the people who know.
Q+A is the show that puts you at the centre of the conversation. Join a panel of punters, pollies and pundits to talk through the issues of the past seven days, setting the agenda for the week ahead.
In 2022, Q+A is once again set for another year of lively debate and surprising, thought-provoking discussions that challenge our thinking on big and complex issues.
With an eye on the world and a lense on events closer to home, ABC NEWS has Thursday nights covered, with the agenda setting series Q&A and Foreign Correspondent back for 2022.
It just is dumbfounding why it happened in the first place.
They are saying it provides a wider audience. Well ratings suggest otherwise, people are more likely to not be watching the ABC on a Thursday night.
What even more so is bewildering is that they haven’t reversed the decision? It’s idiotic.
I believe it was stated in ABC report in 2020 (due to budget cuts) no new Australian content would be produced past the 9.30pm time slot. To save the show the ABC moved the show to an 8.30 Thursday time slot.
Virginia Trioli hosts the 2022 Q+A season premiere live from Melbourne on Thursday, February 10 at 8.30pm AEDT.
Coming up on Q+A’s season premiere, what makes a great leader? We bring together an influential panel, combining those who have had leadership thrust upon them with those who choose to take on positions of power.
We’ll hear from Australians of the Year past and present - Golden Slam winner and sporting great Dylan Alcott and family violence campaigner Rosie Batty.
We’ll examine the role of Australian of the Year and look at the expectations we place upon recipients.
We’ll get an insight into what it takes to strive for social change and ask whether we are doing enough to protect our most vulnerable – those in aged care, in remote Indigenous communities, people living with disability and women and children?
And with the parliamentary year kicking off this week, we’ll discuss the fallout from the release of unflattering text messages about the Prime Minister and threats from some moderate Liberals to cross the floor over the contentious religious discrimination bill. We’ll look at the tense state of affairs in Canberra and ask, how are our political leaders faring with an election imminent?
It’s shaping up to be a fascinating year and we want you to be part of the conversation.
Dylan Alcott - 2022 Australian of the Year; As a teenager, Dylan Alcott hated being in a wheelchair because he didn’t see anyone like him in mainstream media. Then sport changed everything.
Rosie Batty - 2015 Australian of the Year; Rosie became an outspoken crusader against family violence following the murder of her son, Luke, in February 2014.
Katie Allen is the Federal Member for Higgins in Melbourne’s inner east. Prior to entering parliament in 2019 she was a paediatrician at the Royal Children’s Hospital, and a Professor at the University of Melbourne and the University of Manchester.
Tanya Plibersek is the Shadow Minister for Education and Training, the Shadow Minister for Women, and Federal Member for Sydney.
This week on Q+A – Stan Grant hosts live from Sydney.
Australians are heading to the polls in a few short months and the unofficial election campaign is well and truly underway. A host of high-profile independent candidates are hoping to disrupt the electoral map by standing against senior sitting MPs across the country. Many are campaigning for more transparency over political donations, however questions are being asked about the funding behind the grassroots campaigns that aim to secure independents a coveted crossbench seat. Are we seeing democracy in action or just another tightly coordinated campaign?
Meanwhile, noisy anti-vaccine protestors have travelled from far afield to voice their anger outside Parliament House in Canberra. How will this disaffection play out at the ballot box? What’s influencing the vote of the broader electorate and are these voices being heard in the national conversation?
And overseas tensions in Ukraine are at breaking point as the world awaits Russia’s next move. Russian President Vladimir Putin has more than 100,000 troops massed near the Russia - Ukraine border, prompting countries including Australia to evacuate embassies ahead of an expected invasion. Are we at the end of the diplomatic road as the region teeters on the brink of war? What are the global security implications?
Political campaigns, international posturing and protests – we’ll cover this and more on Q+A.
Stan Grant hosts Q+A live from Sydney on Thursday, February 17 at 8.30pm AEDT.
Chris Bowen entered Parliament in 2004 and has held a wide range of portfolios including serving as Treasurer, Minister for Human Services, and Minister for Immigration.
Allegra Spender is a business leader, renewable energy advocate, and an independent candidate for Wentworth - the federal Sydney seat currently held by Dave Sharma.
Dr Lavina Lee is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Politics and International Relations at Macquarie University, Sydney. She was appointed to the Australian Strategic Policy Institute Council by the Australian Minister of Defence in June 2020.
Greg Sheridan is The Australian newspaper’s foreign editor and is one of Australia’s most respected and influential analysts of domestic and international politics.
Liberal Member for Wentworth Dave Sharma has pulled out of his scheduled appearance on Q+A.
This week on Q+A – a special conversation around anxiety, mental health and living in the public eye.
The stress of the last few years has taken a toll on many people - how is it changing the way we speak about and support mental health? A quarter of Australians will experience an anxiety condition in their lifetime – but how many of us are prepared to speak openly about it? And how much harder is it to talk about when you’re a high-profile figure?
On Q+A this week, we’re bringing together a panel with personal experience, expertise and passion for sharing their stories. We’ll hear what it’s like to have to find the courage to speak out. We’ll talk about mental health and resilience in the sporting arena, in the corridors of power in Canberra and in the lives of everyday Australians.
We want to hear from you - what’s your experience with anxiety and mental health? We’ll look at the risk factors and how to manage it.
And, as always, we’ll keep a close eye on the news of the week.
David Speers hosts Q+A live from Melbourne on Thursday, February 24 at 8.30pm AEDT.
Jelena Dokic has had a storied and well-documented life and tennis career both on and off the court.
Brooke Blurton is a media personality, mental health advocate and youth worker.
Bridget Archer is the Federal Member for Bass. She was elected to the House of Representatives for the north-east Tasmanian seat 2019.
Stephen Jones is the Federal Member for Whitlam and Shadow Assistant Treasurer and Shadow Minister for Financial Services and Superannuation.
Doctor Mark Cross is a psychiatrist with clinical experience spanning three decades. He was the lead psychiatrist on two series of the ground-breaking ABC series Changing Minds.
With a live performance by the legendary Archie Roach.
Archie Roach AM is one of Australia’s iconic storytellers and cultural figures. He’ll perform live to close the program.
