About this season
Hosted by Hamish Macdonald, Q&A puts punters, pollies and pundits together in the studio to thrash out the hot issues of the week. It's about democracy in action - the audience gets to ask the questions.
Episodes (42)
1. A Spotlight on the Economy
Aired 5 February 2018 • 60 min
Q&A returns to tackle the big issues that set Australians thinking, talking and debating. Tony Jones puts the economy under the spotlight with Sally McManus, Chris Richardson, Heather Ridout, James Pearson and Stephen Mayne.
2. Nepotism, Referendums & Radical Reform
Aired 12 February 2018 • 60 min
Joining Tony Jones to face the public's questions are journalist/commentator David Marr, WA Liberal Senator Linda Reynolds, Qld Labor MP Terri Butler, The Australian's Chris Kenny and more.
3. Civil War, Colonisation and Power
Aired 19 February 2018 • 60 min
Joining Tony Jones on Q&A this week: Environment & Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg, Shadow Treasurer Chris Bowen, publisher Louise Adler, IPA Director of Policy Simon Breheny & actress Shareena Clanton.
4. DPM, Politics and Pay Gaps
Aired 26 February 2018 • 60 min
Joining Tony Jones: Former Deputy Leader of UK Labour Harriet Harman, Assistant Minister for Science, Jobs & Innovation Zed Seselja, Shadow Justice Minister Clare O'Neil, philosopher A.C. Grayling & author Catherine McGregor.
5. Family Matters and Home Fires
Aired 5 March 2018 • 60 min
Joining Tony Jones: Minister for Law Enforcement & Cybersecurity Angus Taylor, Deputy Opposition Leader Tanya Plibersek, Greens leader Richard Di Natale, author Kamila Shamsie & Daily Telegraph political editor Sharri Markson.
6. A Big Australia
Aired 12 March 2018 • 60 min
A close look at our booming population. Australia has the fastest rate of population growth in the industrialised world, but can we handle 40 million? Panel: Bob Carr, Tim Flannery, Jane Fitzgerald, John Daley and Dr Jay Song.
7. Tax, Trump and The Polls
Aired 19 March 2018 • 60 min
Joining Tony Jones are Urban Infrastructure Minister Paul Fletcher, Shadow Energy Minister Mark Butler, Buzzfeed Aus political editor Alice Workman, Centre for Independent Studies' Tom Switzer and security analyst Lydia Khalil.
8. A Night with Michael Sandel
Aired 26 March 2018 • 60 min
The Harvard Professor who's a Youtube superstar. His courses have been viewed by tens of millions worldwide, political philosopher Michael Sandel tackles the toughest issues of our time. Tony Jones presents a special Q&A.
9. Polling, Policing and Reporting
Aired 9 April 2018 • 60 min
Q&A returns after the Easter break with a show in Dandenong, Victoria. Joining Tony Jones are Alan Tudge, Clare O'Neil, Nyadol Nyuon, Andrew Rule and Stuart Bateson as we count down towards Q&A's 10th birthday.
10. Privacy, Missile Strikes and Celebrity Activism
Aired 16 April 2018 • 60 min
Virginia Trioli is joined on the panel by: Mitch Fifield, Minister for Communications; Amanda Rishworth, Shadow Minister for Veterans Affairs and Defence Personnel; Missy Higgins, Australian singer/songwriter; Kenneth Roth, International Director of Human Rights Watch; and Grahame Morris, Political strategist.
11. Class Divides and Inequality
Aired 23 April 2018 • 60 min
Tony Jones is joined by Shadow Assistant Treasurer Andrew Leigh, former Nationals Senator Fiona Nash, social researcher Rebecca Huntley, ANU lecturer Jill Sheppard & Institute of Public Affairs Executive Director John Roskam.
12. Trump, Twitter & North Korea
Aired 30 April 2018 • 60 min
Joining Tony Jones at the Sydney Writers' Festival: Russian dissident Masha Gessen, American journalist Katy Tur, New York Times critic Wesley Morris, Lowy Institute's Richard McGregor and New Yorker staff writer Alexis Okeowo.
13. Newstart, New Power and New Jobs
Aired 7 May 2018 • 60 min
From Black Lives Matter to Airbnb and even ISIS, there's a new form of people power sweeping the globe. Tony Jones is joined by a panel of changemakers Tim Wilson, Linda Burney, Stanley Johnson, Leyla Acaroglu and Jeremy Heimans.
14. A Broader Budget
Aired 14 May 2018 • 60 min
The fallout from the budget with Shadow Treasurer Chris Bowen, Law Enforcement Minister Angus Taylor, Institute of Company Directors Chair Elizabeth Proust, economist Judith Sloan & Director of Australia Institute Ben Oquist.
15. Weddings, Gaza and Losing Faith
Aired 21 May 2018 • 60 min
Joining Tony Jones in Melbourne Victorian Liberal Senator Jane Hume, Tasmanian Labor Senator Julie Collins, philosopher/ethicist Peter Singer, The Australian's Foreign Affairs Editor Greg Sheridan and author Randa Abdel-Fattah.
16. First Responders, Refugees and Flexible Working
Aired 28 May 2018 • 60 min
Members of the public get to ask questions to a panel including NSW Liberal Senator Jim Molan, Labor MP Ged Kearney, Anglican priest Rod Bower, Catholic commentator Monica Doumit & Airtasker CEO & co-founder Tim Fung.
17. Chaos, Ego and Cash
Aired 4 June 2018 • 60 min
Joining Tony Jones in Melbourne: Social Services Minister Dan Tehan, Shadow Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus, former Tasmanian Senator Jacqui Lambie, author/broadcaster Rosie Waterland & IR commentator Grace Collier.
18. Q&A with Bill Shorten
Aired 11 June 2018 • 60 min
Labor is leading in the polls but Bill Shorten is lagging as Preferred Prime Minister. Opposition Leader Bill Shorten joins Tony Jones on Q&A to answer your questions from the Shedley Theatre in Elizabeth, Adelaide.
19. Being Careful, North Korea and Culture Wars
Aired 18 June 2018 • 60 min
Joining Tony Jones: WA Liberal Senator Linda Reynolds, Labor MP Tim Watts, University of Sydney Vice-Chancellor Michael Spence, US Studies Centre CEO Simon Jackman & Atlassian's Global Diversity Programs Lead Aubrey Blanche.
20. Q&A Enabled
Aired 25 June 2018 • 60 min
A star of stage and screen, a sports champ, lawyers, advocates, parents and carers join Tony Jones to discuss living with a disability. On the panel Kiruna Stamell, Dylan Alcott, Graeme Innes, Catia Malaquias & Bruce Bonyhady.
21. Abuse, Foster Care and Taxes
Aired 2 July 2018 • 60 min
Joining guest host Hamish Macdonald: Liberal MP Sarah Henderson, Shadow Health Minister Catherine King, Australian Conservatives Leader Cory Bernardi, The Saturday Paper Editor-in-chief Erik Jensen and comedian Corey White.
22. People's Panel - Celebrating 10 Years of Q&A
Aired 9 July 2018 • 60 min
To celebrate 10 Years of Q&A, the first ever Q&A People's Panel will see four everyday Australians get the chance to set the national agenda and give the pollies a wake-up call.
23. War on Waste
Aired 23 July 2018 • 60 min
Q&A's War On Waste: Tony Jones is joined by Craig Reucassel, Oz Harvest CEO Ronni Kahn, Australian Local Govt. Assoc. President David O'Loughlin, Waste Management Assoc. President Gayle Sloan and People's Panelist Jo Taranto.
24. Super Saturday and Media Diversity
Aired 30 July 2018 • 60 min
Joining Tony Jones: Communications Minister Mitch Fifield, Shadow Finance Minister Jim Chalmers, Guardian Australia Editor Lenore Taylor, communications consultant Parnell Palme McGuinness and people's panellist Tony Winwood.
25. Drought Relief and Future Farming
Aired 6 August 2018 • 60 min
Q&A in Lismore: Agriculture Minister David Littleproud, Shadow Agriculture Minister Joel Fitzgibbon, National Farmers Federation President Fiona Simson, Former Mayor of Lismore Jenny Dowell & People's Panellist Matt Sorenson.
26. Power, Spirituality and Free Speech
Aired 13 August 2018 • 60 min
Joining Tony Jones on Q&A: Scholar and poet Dr Cornel West, Tasmanian Liberal Senator Eric Abetz, Labor Member for Cowan Anne Aly, Free Speech Advocate Lindsay Shepherd and People's Panellist Jeremy Bell.
27. Stranger than Fiction
Aired 20 August 2018 • 60 min
Do novelists hold up a mirror to society? Q&A is in Melbourne with fiction writers John Marsden, Maxine Beneba Clarke, Sofie Laguna, Michael Mohammed Ahmad and Trent Dalton to discuss how and why they write about Australia.
28. Chaos, Crocs and Coal Mining
Aired 27 August 2018 • 60 min
Q&A is in Mackay to take Queensland's political pulse, with the LNP's George Christensen, Labor MP Cathy O'Toole, The Greens' Larissa Waters, One Nation leader Pauline Hanson and Leader of Katter's Australia Party Bob Katter.
29. Media Power, Popularity and Special Envoys
Aired 3 September 2018 • 60 min
Joining Tony Jones on the show that puts you at the centre of the conversation: Shadow Infrastructure Minister Anthony Albanese, radio broadcaster Alan Jones, People's Panellist Elmari Whyte and more to come.
30. High School Students Special
Aired 10 September 2018 • 60 min
They are the leaders of the future and they tackle the issues of today. A panel of high school students join Tony Jones in Canberra for democracy in action on the show that puts the audience at the centre of the conversation.
31. Rape, Racism and No-Platforming
Aired 17 September 2018 • 60 min
Tony Jones hosts the show where you ask the questions. On the panel: feminist icon/provocateur Germaine Greer, British journalist Andrew Neil, essayist David Marr, author Sisonke Msimang and People's Panellist Elena Jeffcoat.
32. Bullying, quotas, and the ABC
Aired 1 October 2018 • 60 min
The show that holds politicians and opinion leaders to account returns with Simon Birmingham, Amanda Rishworth, Sarah Hanson-Young, John Butler and people's panellist Sali Miftari joining Tony Jones in Melbourne.
33. Teaching Special
Aired 8 October 2018 • 60 min
What's right and wrong with our schools? What makes a great teacher? Are we over-testing our kids? Tony Jones is joined by Eddie Woo, Pasi Sahlberg, Cindy Berwick, Gabbie Stroud and Jennifer Buckingham for a Teaching Special.
34. Climate, Welfare and Religious Schools
Aired 15 October 2018 • 60 min
Tony Jones is joined in Melbourne by world-renowned economist Jeffrey Sachs, British commentator James Bartholomew, Victorian Liberal Senator James Paterson, Labor frontbencher Terri Butler and People's Panelist Linda McIver.
35. Wentworth by-election Special
Aired 22 October 2018 • 60 min
An unmissable Q&A: Tony Jones is joined by Independent candidate for Wentworth Kerryn Phelps, NSW Liberal Party President Philip Ruddock, Labor MP Anthony Albanese, political commentator Peter van Onselen, author Anne Summer.
36. Live from the Pop-up Globe
Aired 29 October 2018 • 60 min
400 years after his death, we talk Shakespeare, comedy and drama in the golden age of TV. Q&A from the pop-up Globe with leading lights of the theatre Neil Armfield, Nakkiah Lui, Toby Schmitz, Zindzi Okenyo and Miles Gregory.
37. Sex Robots, Killer Robots: A Dangerous Q&A
Aired 5 November 2018 • 60 min
Q&A at The Festival of Dangerous Ideas with author Angela Nagle, sex educator Nikki Goldstein, pop culture critic Chuck Klosterman, performer and sex clown Betty Grumble and Artificial Intelligence researcher Toby Walsh.
38. Trust, Leadership, and Stability
Aired 12 November 2018 • 60 min
With former Deputy PM John Anderson, Assistant Finance Minister Zed Seselja, Shadow Treasurer Chris Bowen, former Human Rights Commission President Gillian Triggs and Communications consultant Parnell Palme McGuinness.
39. Tourism, Trump, and the Embassy
Aired 19 November 2018 • 60 min
Joining Tony Jones: New Yorker correspondent Susan Glasser, Special Minister of State Alex Hawke, Shadow Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus, The Australian's Foreign Editor Greg Sheridan and political correspondent Karen Middleton.
40. VicVotes, Terrorism, and Gender
Aired 26 November 2018 • 60 min
Q&A dissects the Victorian election result and brings our divided Senate around the table with Lib Sen Eric Abetz, Labor Sen Doug Cameron, Greens Senator Mehreen Faruqi, plus Tom Switzer and People's Panellist Yasmin Poole.
41. Protest and Pre-selection
Aired 3 December 2018 • 60 min
Joining Hamish Macdonald is singer-songwriter and activist Billy Bragg, Assistant Minister for Home Affairs Linda Reynolds, Tas Labor Senator Lisa Singh, former minister Amanda Vanstone and people's panellist Martin Matthews.
42. 2018 Finale
Aired 10 December 2018 • 60 min
Tony Jones is joined by President of the Senate Scott Ryan, Deputy Opposition Leader Tanya Plibersek, Greens leader Richard Di Natale, lawyer/advocate Nyadol Nyuon & editor of Spiked magazine Brendan O'Neill.