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Q&A
Q&A: Season 5

Air Date

February 6, 2012

Episodes

43 episodes

Q&A

Season 5

Episodes

1. Q&A Returns

February 6, 2012
60 min

Joining Tony Jones on the panel are: News Limited columnist and blogger, Joe Hildebrand; Shadow Treasurer, Joe Hockey; economist and businesswoman, Judith Sloan; and founder of the left-wing think tank CPD, Miriam Lyons.

2. Celebrities, Leaders and the Speaker

February 13, 2012
60 min

Panellists: Jenny McAllister, ALP National President; Helen Kroger, Liberal Senator; Mikey Robins, comedian; Robert Manne, writer and academic; and Tim Wilson, Institute of Public Affairs.

3. The Labor Leadership

February 20, 2012
60 min

Panellists: Julie Bishop, Eva Cox, Annabel Crabb, Daniel Hannan.

4. After the Ballot

February 27, 2012
60 min

Panellists: Government Leader in the Senate, Chris Evans; the Nationals' Senator, Barnaby Joyce; former Queensland Premier, Peter Beattie; Deputy Leader of the Greens, Christine Milne; Kevin Rudd's former advisor, Lachlan Harris; and opinion columnist for The Australian, Janet Albrechtsen.

5. Live from Adelaide

March 5, 2012
60 min

Panellists: Amanda Vanstone, former Howard Government Minister; Mark Steyn, conservative commentator and writer; Natasha Stott Despoja, one-time Democrats leader; Jianying Zha, writer and adviser to US President Barack Obama; and Paul Grabowsky, Director, 2012 Adelaide Festival.

6. Katter, Kony and the Climate

March 12, 2012
60 min

Panellists: Health Minister, Tanya Plibersek; Shadow Communications Minister, Malcolm Turnbull; former Farmer of the Year, Michael O'Brien; Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, Mick Gooda; and Feminist writer and broadcaster, Clementine Ford.

7. Politics and Porn in a Post-Feminist World

March 19, 2012
60 min

Panellists Germaine Greer, celebrated Australian intellectual; Toby Ralph, marketing and political strategist; Benjamin Law, writer and journalist; Christa Hughes, cabaret artist; and Craig Gross, America's contentious porn pastor.

8. The Qld Election

March 26, 2012
60 min

Panellists: Craig Emerson, Trade Minister; George Brandis, Shadow Attorney General; Larissa Waters, Queensland Greens Senator; Grahame Morris, political strategist; Liberty Sanger, labor lawyer.

9. Live from Hobart

April 2, 2012
60 min

Panellists: former Violent Femme, Brian Ritchie, now director of Hobart's MONA Festival of Music and Art; The Minister for Community Services, Julie Collins; Liberal Senate Leader, Eric Abetz; Outspoken Independent and anti-gambling MP, Andrew Wilkie; author and academic, Natasha Cica; and CEO of the Forest Industry Association, Terry Edwards.

10. Religion and Atheism

April 9, 2012
60 min

Panellists: Catholic Archbishop of Sydney, Cardinal George Pell and British atheist, Professor Richard Dawkins.

11. Philosophy and the World

April 16, 2012
60 min

Panellists: Attorney-General, Nicola Roxon; shadow education minister, Christopher Pyne; humanist philosopher, A.C. Grayling; human rights lawyer, Geoffrey Robertson and Middle East analyst, Lydia Khalil.

12. Bob Brown joins Q&A

April 23, 2012
60 min

Panellist: Bob Brown, outgoing leader of the Australian Greens.

13. Q&A Climate Debate

April 26, 2012
60 min

Panellists: Social researcher and writer, Rebecca Huntley; former Liberal Minister, Nick Minchin; founder of the Australian Youth Climate Coalition, Anna Rose; mining magnate, Clive Palmer; Chief Executive of the CSIRO, Dr Megan Clark.

14. Live from Dandenong

April 30, 2012
60 min

Panellists: Mark Dreyfus, Cabinet Secretary and local Labor MP; Sophie Mirabella, Shadow Minister for Innovation, Industry and Science; Victor Victor, Sudanese youth leader; Ged Kearney, President of the Australian Council of Trade Unions; Peter Reith, former Howard Government Minister; and Diana Nguyen, actor and comedian.

15. Show Me the Money...

May 7, 2012
60 min

Panellists: Graham Richardson, Labor powerbroker turned commentator; Mark Butler, Minister for Mental Health and Ageing; Kelly O'Dwyer, Liberal MP; Mark Bouris, leading Australian businessman; and Kate Miller-Heidke, singer songwriter.

16. Morals and Politics

May 14, 2012
60 min

Panellists: Penny Wong, Finance Minister; Joe Hockey, Shadow Treasurer; Tim Costello, CEO of World Vision Australia; Judith Sloan, economist and businesswoman; and Stephen Mayne, Crikey founder and shareholder activist.

17. Sydney Writers' Festival

May 21, 2012
60 min

Panellists: Jeffrey Eugenides, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Virgin Suicides and Middlesex, Kathy Lette, Australian author, commentator and self-confessed "demented mother"; Glenn Carle, former CIA interrogator and analyst; Masha Gessen, Russian journalist and Putin biographer; and Greg Sheridan, Foreign Affairs Editor, The Australian.

18. Barry Humphries joins Q&A

May 28, 2012
60 min

Panellists: Barry Humphries, celebrated Australian writer, satirist and actor; Miriam Margolyes, star of Harry Potter and champion of English novelist Charles Dickens; Jacki Weaver, Academy Award nominated actress; David Marr, journalist and commentator; and John Hewson, former leader of the Liberal Party.

19. Live from Toowoomba

June 4, 2012
60 min

Panellists: Simon Crean, Federal Minister for Regional Australia and the Arts; Barnaby Joyce, Queensland Senator and Shadow Federal Minister for Regional Development; Christine Milne, Leader of the Greens; Georgie Somerset, Kingaroy farmer and President of the Queensland Rural Women's Network and Jeremy Marou, Torres Strait Islands musician and grand nephew of Eddie Mabo.

20. Prime Minister Julia Gillard joins Q&A

June 11, 2012
60 min

Panellists: Prime Minister of Australia, Julia Gillard.

21. Life, the Universe and Everything

June 18, 2012
60 min

Joining Tony Jones on the panel are: NSW Minister for Community Services, Pru Goward; English comedian, Lenny Henry; News Limited columnist and blogger, Joe Hildebrand; Age Discrimination Commissioner, Susan Ryan; and academic and writer, Professor Brian Schmidt.

22. The Great Boat Debacle

June 25, 2012
60 min

Panellists: Kate Lundy, Minister for Sport and Multicultural Affairs; Tim Freedman, lead singer of The Whitlams; George Brandis, Shadow Attorney General; Dr John Lee, foreign policy academic and China expert; and Louise Adler, CEO of Melbourne University Publishing.

23. After the Carbon Tax

July 2, 2012
60 min

Panellists: Greg Combet, Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency; Sophie Mirabella, Shadow Minister for Innovation, Industry and Science; Simon Sheikh, National Director of GetUp; Lenore Taylor, National Affairs Correspondent for the Sydney Morning Herald; and Grahame Morris, political strategist.

24. Artistic Politics

July 9, 2012
60 min

Panellists: Chris Bowen, Minister for Immigration and Citizenship; Malcolm Turnbull, Shadow Communications Minister; Nahji Chu, one-time refugee now successful restaurateur; Thierry de Duve, internationally acclaimed art theorist and critic; and Liz Ann Macgregor, Director of the Museum of Contemporary Art.

25. Random Violence

July 16, 2012
60 min

Panellists: Richard Ford, Pulitzer Prize-winning author; Joel Fitzgibbon, Government Whip; Greg Hunt, Shadow Climate Minister; Sarah Hanson-Young, Greens Senator; Jennifer Hewett, political journalist; and Peter Craven, literary critic.

26. Teachers, Schools and our Education System

July 23, 2012
60 min

Panellists: Simon Sheikh, GetUp Director; Nicola Roxon, Attorney-General; Christopher Pyne, Shadow Education Minister; Michael Spence, Vice-Chancellor of Sydney University and Jane Caro, social commentator.

27. A Q&A of Olympic proportions

July 30, 2012
60 min

Panellists: Shane Gould, Australian swimming legend and triple Olympic gold medal winner; Louise Sauvage, multi gold medallist wheelchair racer; David Pocock, incoming captain of the Australian Wallabies rugby team; John Alexander, tennis champion turned MP for Bennelong; and Michael O'Loughlin, former Sydney Swans' star.

28. Manners, Mining and the Can-do Attitude

August 6, 2012
60 min

Panellists: Katie Noonan, singer-songwriter; Craig Emerson, Minister for Trade; George Brandis, Shadow Attorney General; Bob Katter, political maverick and leader of the Australian Party; and Debbie Kilroy, prisoner rights advocate.

29. Big Ideas and Big Society

August 13, 2012
60 min

Panellists: Peter Singer, Ethicist and philosopher; Phillip Blond, British political thinker and theologian; Dr Cassandra Goldie, Head of Australian Council of Social Service; Mark Butler, Minister for Mental Health and Ageing; and Pru Goward, Member for Goulburn.

30. Assange, Asylum & Human Bondage

August 20, 2012
60 min

Panellists: Graham Richardson, Labor powerbroker turned commentator; Doug Cameron, Labor Senator for New South Wales; Janet Albrechtsen, Opinion columnist for The Australian; Simon Birmingham, Liberal Senator for South Australia; and Mandy Nolan, comedian, author and mother-of-five.

31. Mutilation and the Media Generation

August 27, 2012
60 min

Panellists: Simon Callow, Celebrated British actor and writer; Germaine Greer, Feminist icon and provocateur; Anthony Appiah, Ghanaian-British-American philosopher and novelist; and Sefi Atta, Nigerian Author.

32. Trolls and Trawlers

September 3, 2012
60 min

Panellists: Tony Burke, Minister For Environment and Sustainability; Tara Moss, Author and former model; Angry Anderson, Rock singer and conservative political activist; Fiona Nash, The National's Senator and Nitin Sawhney, British Indian musician and composer.

33. Seek and Ye Shall Submit

September 10, 2012
60 min

Panellists: Peter Jensen, Anglican Archbishop of Sydney; Chris Evans, Minister for Tertiary Education; Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, Shadow Minister for Mental Health and Ageing; Anna Krien, Journalist and author; and Catherine Deveny, Writer, comedian and social commentator.

34. Protests and Palestine

September 17, 2012
60 min

Panellists: Clover Moore, Newly re-elected Lord Mayor of Sydney; Robyn Davidson, Acclaimed Australian author; Ilan Pappe, Israeli born historian; Irving Wallach, Prominent Australian barrister; and Greg Sheridan, Foreign Affairs editor of The Australian.

35. The Future of The Future

September 24, 2012
60 min

Panellists: Tanya Plibersek, Minister for Health; Kelly O'Dwyer, Liberal Member for Higgins; Mark Carnegie, Venture capitalist and philanthropist; Elliot Perlman, Australian novelist and screenwriter; and Jason Silva, American futurist and film maker.

36. Sorry, Lust and Free Will

October 1, 2012
60 min

Panellists: Jane Bussmann, 'Bob and Bono - Get Out of Africa!'; Shiv Malik, 'The War of Young against Old'; Jianying Zha, 'China Hearts America'; Jesse Bering, 'We're All Sexual Perverts!'; and Simon Laham, 'The Joy of Sin'.

37. Bullying, Education & Purpose

October 8, 2012
60 min

Panellists: Kate Ellis, Minister for Employment Participation; Christopher Pyne, Shadow Education Minister; Lindsay Tanner, Former Finance Minister; Nilaja Sun, American actor and playwright; and Piers Akerman, Political commentator.

38. Super, Sexism & Surgery

October 15, 2012
60 min

Panellists: Pamela Stephenson, Author and psychotherapist; Bill Shorten, Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations; Charlie Pickering, Comedian and television presenter; Sophie Mirabella, Shadow Minister for Innovation, Industry and Science; and Catherine Fox, Deputy editor of the Australian Financial Review's Boss Magazine.

39. Folk Music, Five Years & Funding

October 22, 2012
60 min

Panellists: Billy Bragg, Singer-songwriter and activist; Peter Garrett, Minister for School Education, Early Childhood and Youth; Amanda Vanstone, Former Howard Government Minister; Scott Morrison, Shadow Immigration Minister; and Julia Baird, author, broadcaster and journalist.

40. Forgiveness and Reconciliation

October 29, 2012
60 min

Panellists: Kate Lundy, Minister for Sport and Multicultural Affairs; Eric Abetz, Liberal Senate Leader; Archie Roach, Indigenous singer-songwriter; Sekai Holland, Zimbabwe Minister for National Healing & Reconciliation; and Grahame Morris, Political adviser.

41. James Price Point and beyond

November 5, 2012
60 min

Panellists: Colin Barnett, WA Premier; Bob Brown, Former Leader of the Greens; Alannah MacTiernan, Former Labor Minister; Hannah McGlade, Indigenous human rights lawyer and Bob Cronin, Editor in Chief, The West Australian.

42. Elephants On Parade

November 19, 2012
60 min

Panellists: Judith Sloan, Economist and businesswoman; Kevin Rudd, Former Prime Minister; Malcolm Turnbull, Shadow Communications Minister; and Heather Ridout, Reserve Bank of Australia board member.

43. Happy Endings

November 26, 2012
60 min

Panellists: Penny Wong, Finance Minister; Barnaby Joyce, Queensland Nationals Senator; Jonathan Biggins, Playwright and Satirist; Stella Young, Comedienne and disability activist; and Janet Albrechtsen, Columnist for The Australian.