List of Q&A panelists
Q&A is an Australian television program, broadcast on ABC hosted by news journalist Tony Jones. Each episode usually consists of five panellists, usually one Federal Labor politician, one Federal Liberal politician, and three other politicians, authors, journalists, or personalities. However, there are a few notable exceptions to the panels, as shown in the tables below.
Season 1: 2008
This was the first season of the program, comprising 20 episodes. The most any one person appeared in this series was twice. The first episode featured Prime Minister Kevin Rudd as the only guest, and was announced as a one-off special. However, on episode 19, Q&A again featured just one panellist, the new leader of the Liberal Party Malcolm Turnbull, who had won a leadership ballot just 9 days before.
Season 2: 2009
This was the second season of the program, totalling 16 episodes. As with season one, no panellist appeared in this season more than twice. Episode 7 of this series was broadcast live from Melbourne, the first time the program was filmed outside its Ultimo studio in Sydney. Episode 14 was also broadcast from another location, this time from the National Museum of Australia in Canberra for an Australian federal budget special with the finance minister and shadow treasurer.
Season 3: 2009
The third season of Q&A began on 23 July 2009. Episode 6 was broadcast from the Melbourne Writers Festival with three writers on the panel. Episode 10 was broadcast from Adelaide. Episode 11 had no politician on the panel.
Season 4: 2010
The fourth season of Q&A began on 8 February 2010, and will be a full season consisting of 40 episodes on the new night, Monday, on ABC1. Episode 1 was broadcast from Old Parliament House, Canberra, with an audience of 16- to 25-year-olds. Episode 4 was broadcast from the Adelaide Festival of Arts, and had a total of 6 panellists making it the largest panel in the program's history. The following episode also had 6 panellists.
Episode 9 featured Opposition Leader Tony Abbott as the only panellist. Episode 12 was a 'politician-free' episode, where no current or former politicians were on the panel. Also in episode 12, a Twitter feed was introduced, where selected tweets discussing Q&A are shown on screen. Episode 18 featured six panellists and was broadcast from Casula in south west Sydney. On episode 24, Tanya Plibersek became the first panellist to appear on Q&A more than twice in one season (only if you consider 2009's programmes to be two seasons - both Tony Abbott and Joe Hockey appeared four times in the full year of 2009 with five other panellists appeared three times that year).
Episode 27 and 28 each featured the two leaders alone on the panel, in the final two episodes before the election. Episode 29 was the first episode following the election, and was controversial in that at the last minute Julia Gillard pulled Mark Arbib from appearing on the panel, and an empty chair was left on the panel for the entire episode. Episode 30 was broadcast from the Melbourne Writers Festival.
Episode 37 featured former Prime Minister John Howard as the only panellist, co-inciding with the launch of his memoirs, Lazarus Rising. Episode 38 was the first time the program was broadcast from Western Australia in Perth.
Nick Minchin was originally supposed to be the Coalition panellist on the season finale, but bad weather prohibited his plane from landing in Sydney on time. Minchin was replaced on the panel by George Brandis.
Season 5: 2011
The fifth season of Q&A began on 7 February 2011, continuing in its Monday night timeslot. The exceptions to this were the twelfth and twenty-third episodes, which aired on Thursday 28 April and 7 July respectively. The first special was a special discussion preceding the Wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton, which the second special was entitled "Stopping The Boats" and was centred on the topic of asylum seekers. During this season, Christopher Pyne was the first panellist to appear ten times since Season One, and Lachlan Harris was the 250th unique panellist since Season One.
Season 6: 2012
The sixth season of Q&A began on 6 February 2012.
| Episode | Date | Panellists | Topics | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labor | Coalition | Others | |||
| 1 | 6 February 2012 | Penny Wong | Joe Hockey | Judith Sloan Miriam Lyons Joe Hildebrand |
Who has been the best PM ALP leadership Economy Bank jobs Global wages Mothers |
| 2 | 13 February 2012 | Jenny McAllister | Helen Kroger | Mikey Robins Robert Manne Tim Wilson |
Celebrities Private health rebates Kevin Rudd Peter Slipper Banks |
| 3 | 20 February 2012 | Bill Shorten | Julie Bishop | Daniel Hannan Eva Cox Annabel Crabb |
Kevin Rudd ALP leadership Europe Manufacturing jobs National Disability Insurance Scheme |
| 4 | 27 February 2012 | Chris Evans Peter Beattie |
Barnaby Joyce | Christine Milne Lachlan Harris Janet Albrechtsen |
Gillard vs Rudd Labor instability Primary elections Media role Abbott vs Turnbull |
| 5 | 5 March 2012 (in Adelaide) |
Amanda Vanstone | Mark Steyn Natasha Stott Despoja Jianying Zha Paul Grabowsky |
Clive Palmer Ruthless individualism Wayne Swan's union influences Bob Carr Misogyny in Australian politics Gay marriage Discrimination | |
| 6 | 12 March 2012 | Tanya Plibersek | Malcolm Turnbull | Michael O'Brien Mick Gooda Clementine Ford |
Gays Climate change Kony Aboriginals Mining jobs Asylum seekers |
| 7 | 19 March 2012 | Germaine Greer Toby Ralph Benjamin Law Christa Hughes Craig Gross |
Shallowness of political debate Advice for Julia Gillard Racism Porn Afghanistan | ||
| 8 | 26 March 2012 | Craig Emerson | George Brandis | Larissa Waters Grahame Morris Liberty Sanger |
Queensland election Automotive industry Clive Palmer & the CIA |
| 9 | 2 April 2012 (in Hobart) |
Julie Collins | Eric Abetz | Andrew Wilkie Brian Ritchie Natasha Cica Terry Edwards |
MONA Andrew Wilkie's support of the government Forestry Qualifications for politicians |
| 10 | 9 April 2012 | George Pell Richard Dawkins |
Religion & atheism | ||
| 11 | 16 April 2012 | Nicola Roxon | Christopher Pyne | A. C. Grayling Geoffrey Robertson Lydia Khalil |
Julian Assange Craig Thomson Plain cigarette packaging Religion ASIO monitoring protestors Iran/Israel |
| 12 | 23 April 2012 | Bob Brown | Bob Brown's retirement The Greens | ||
| 13 | 26 April 2012 (special Thursday show) |
Clive Palmer Rebecca Huntley Nick Minchin Anna Rose Megan Clark |
Climate change | ||
| 14 | 30 April 2012 (in Dandenong) |
Mark Dreyfus | Sophie Mirabella | Victor Victor Ged Kearney Peter Reith Diana Nguyen |
Dandenong Racism Manufacturing |
| 15 | 7 May 2012 | Mark Butler | Kelly O'Dwyer | Mark Bouris Kate Miller-Heidke Graham Richardson |
The Labor party Union corruption Carbon tax Aged card & mental health Banks |
| 16 | 14 May 2012 | Penny Wong | Joe Hockey | Tim Costello Judith Sloan Stephen Mayne |
Craig Thomson Bill Shorten Egalitarianism Working mothers Budget Hockey & Abbott economic credentials Foreign aid Gay parents |
| 17 | 21 May 2012 | Jeffrey Eugenides Kathy Lette Glenn Carle Masha Gessen Greg Sheridan |
Marriage Julian Assange Torture Craig Thomson Russia Arts & humanities | ||
| 18 | 28 May 2012 | Barry Humphries Miriam Margolyes Jacki Weaver John Hewson David Marr |
Foreign workers Expat view of Australian politics Craig Thomson Speaking out Women in wealth and power Meaning of 'Un-Australian' Dame Edna | ||
| 19 | 4 June 2012 (in Toowoomba) |
Simon Crean | Barnaby Joyce | Christine Milne Georgie Somerset Jeremy Marou |
Royalties to regions Aid distribution Foreign investment Foreign workers Mining Same sex marriage Queensland "gay panic" laws Native title Toowoomba range bypass |
| 20 | 11 June 2012 | Julia Gillard | |||
| 21 | 18 June 2012 | Pru Goward | Lenny Henry Brian Schmidt Susan Ryan Joe Hildebrand |
Racism Age discrimination Science and space Creation Growth vs sustainability | |
| 22 | 25 June 2012 | Kate Lundy | George Brandis | Tim Freedman John Lee Louise Adler |
Media Asylum seekers China London Olympics |
| 23 | 2 July 2012 | Greg Combet | Sophie Mirabella | Simon Sheikh Lenore Taylor Grahame Morris |
Carbon tax Parental leave Peter Slipper and media Asylum seekers and racism |
| 24 | 9 July 2012 | Chris Bowen | Malcolm Turnbull | Nahji Chu Thierry de Duve Elizabeth Ann Macgregor |
|
| 25 | 16 July 2012 | Joel Fitzgibbon | Greg Hunt | Richard Ford Sarah Hanson-Young Jennifer Hewett Peter Craven (literary critic) |
|
| 26 | 23 July 2012 | Nicola Roxon | Christopher Pyne | Simon Sheikh Michael Spence Jane Caro |
|
| 26 | 30 July 2012 | Shane Gould Louise Sauvage David Pocock John Alexander Michael O'Loughlin |
|||
| 27 | 6 August 2012 | Craig Emerson | George Brandis | Debbie Kilroy Bob Katter Katie Noonan |
|
| 28 | 13 August 2012 | Mark Butler | Pru Goward | Peter Singer Phillip Blond Cassandra Goldie |
|
| 29 | 20 August 2012 | Doug Cameron | Simon Birmingham | Graham Richardson Janet Albrechtsen Mandy Nolan |
|
| 30 | 27 August 2012 | Simon Callow Germaine Greer Kwame Anthony Appiah Sefi Atta |
Melbourne Writers Festival special | ||
| 31 | 3 September 2012 | Tony Burke | Fiona Nash | Angry Anderson Nitin Sawhney Tara Moss |
|
| 33 | 10 September 2012 | Chris Evans | Concetta Fierravanti-Wells | Peter Jensen Anna Krien Catherine Deveny |
|
| 34 | 17 September 2012 | Clover Moore Robyn Davidson Ilan Pappé Irving Wallach Greg Sheridan |
|||
| 35 | 24 September 2012 | Tanya Plibersek | Kelly O'Dwyer | Mark Carnegie Elliot Perlman Jason Silva |
|
| 36 | 1 October 2012 | Jane Bussmann Shiv Malik Jianying Zha Simon Laham Jesse Bering |
Festival of Dangerous Ideas special | ||
| 37 | 8 October 2012 | Kate Ellis | Christopher Pyne | Lindsay Tanner Nilaja Sun Piers Akerman |
|
| 38 | 15 October 2012 | Bill Shorten | Sophie Mirabella | Pamela Stephenson Charlie Pickering Catherine Fox |
|
| 39 | 22 October 2012 | Peter Garrett | Scott Morrison | Billy Bragg Amanda Vanstone Julia Baird |
|
| 40 | 29 October 2012 | Kate Lundy | Eric Abetz | Archie Roach Sekai Holland Grahame Morris |
|
| 41 | 5 November 2012 | Alannah MacTiernan | Colin Barnett | Hannah McGlade Bob Cronin Bob Brown |
Perth broadcast |
| 42 | 19 November 2012 | Kevin Rudd | Malcolm Turnbull | Judith Sloan Heather Ridout |
|
| 43 | 26 November 2012 | Penny Wong | Barnaby Joyce | Janet Albrechtsen Stella Young Jonathan Biggins |
|
Season 7: 2013
This season was the first to feature international broadcasts, with the show travelling to Jakarta and India. The November 11 show featured the 500th unique panellist to appear on the show. If you count it in order of introduction, Graham Bradley was the 500th.
Season 8: 2014
On September 29, Christopher Pyne became the first panellist to appear 20 times since Season One. On April 7, the show travelled to Shanghai and on August 4 the first outdoor show was conducted in Arnhem Land at the Garma Festival.
Season 9: 2015
On 16 February, Malcolm Turnbull became the first guest to appear 21 times on the show. To celebrate International Woman's Day a special episode of Q&A was held, hosted by Annabel Crabb and featuring an all-female panel. Virginia Trioli guest hosted the program twice, on 27 July and 24 August.
Season 10: 2016
External links
- Episodes by date on ABC website