Speaker 1: It's in the news today, but it was actually on
Speaker 1: TV Reload the podcast last week. Don't welcome back guys
Speaker 1: to TV Reload. My name's Benjamin Norris and on this
Speaker 1: podcast I go behind the scenes with the biggest players
Speaker 1: in television.
Speaker 2: Yeah, great questions. The show's about the game. There's a
Speaker 2: lot of great television out there in Australia.
Speaker 1: But I've also got to go behind the scenes with writers.
Speaker 1: The truth is, when I started writing it, it wasn't
Speaker 1: had nothing to do with the news and casting agents.
Speaker 2: They know from a casting point of view what they need, and.
Speaker 1: Editors because that's what we do as editors where storytellers.
Speaker 1: Not to forget some incredible executive producers who are making
Speaker 1: some of the best TV in Australia.
Speaker 2: I have been on the program since the beginning and
Speaker 2: it's kind of in my DNA.
Speaker 1: So thanks for joining me each week and I hope
Speaker 1: the podcast continues to give you real insight into the
Speaker 1: magic of television today. On the podcast, I have Aaron Vincent,
Speaker 1: who is the executive producer on Q and A. I've
Speaker 1: been a fan of the ABC show for many years
Speaker 1: and what Aaron brings to Q and A is her
Speaker 1: natural love of good journalism from working behind the scenes
Speaker 1: on some of the best news broadcast jobs. It's been
Speaker 1: this program that has allowed Australian audiences to hear much
Speaker 1: needed conversation from which Aaron manages to orchestrate from behind
Speaker 1: the scenes, networking her panel, preparing audience questions and rotating hosts.
Speaker 1: This format allows us as an audience to be educated
Speaker 1: and to feel like we're a part of the conversation.
Speaker 1: I will ask Aaron on what to expect this year
Speaker 1: on the show in twenty twenty two, why the change
Speaker 1: to Thursday night needed to happen, and if the current
Speaker 1: government has any influence on the current landscape of the show.
Speaker 1: There's plenty more on the Chat and I hope you
Speaker 1: like this week's episode. So without further ado, I'm going
Speaker 1: to bring Aaron Vincent into the chat as we unpack
Speaker 1: the production of Q and A. It's all happening on
Speaker 1: this week's podcast of Tivyload.
Speaker 2: Everyone's entitled to their view of Q and A. Everyone
Speaker 2: has one.
Speaker 1: Tonight, a panel of leaders discuss power.
Speaker 2: If you're in command of the conversation, you know when
Speaker 2: it's time to shut it down. People talk about Islam
Speaker 2: without knowing anything about it. I honestly think Q and
Speaker 2: A is one of the most high wire acts. Can
Speaker 2: you explain why although you talk a good game about
Speaker 2: standing up against social justice warriors? I think I can
Speaker 2: honestly say curiosity drove me to journalism. Have you and
Speaker 2: Grace Taye made contact since? And have you discussed that
Speaker 2: with her? You just never really know where the conversation's
Speaker 2: going to go.
Speaker 1: Hi eron, how are you?
Speaker 2: Hi Ben? I'm good. I'm good. There's always a bit
Speaker 2: of a Friday folk after the show, but I'm good.
Speaker 3: Well.
Speaker 1: Congratulations on the first episode of twenty twenty two. I
Speaker 1: was going to say, what was your favorite moment from
Speaker 1: this week's series premiere?
Speaker 2: Oh, that's such a hard question. It was such a
Speaker 2: magnificent start to the year. What a wonderful mix of
Speaker 2: Australians and voices on that panel, Dylan all Caught, Rosy Battye,
Speaker 2: Tom Kalmer, Katie Allen and Tanya Plibsek, who had been
Speaker 2: up half the night. I think the first question was
Speaker 2: probably the most fascinating for me, and I think it's
Speaker 2: everything I love about the Q and A format, the
Speaker 2: idea of bringing different opinions together and challenging people to
Speaker 2: think differently. And I just truly think that the contrast
Speaker 2: and almost complimenting views of Dylan and Rosie and Tom
Speaker 2: Kalmer as well about those speeches from Grace Tame and
Speaker 2: Britney Spears and the way Grace has handled herself and
Speaker 2: the commentary around that. I thought the way Rosie so
Speaker 2: articulately expressed that that has made her reflect on the
Speaker 2: way she has behaved as Australian of the Year and
Speaker 2: the different ways of advocacy. You know, she's freely admitted
Speaker 2: that some of Grace's behavior has made her uncomfortable and
Speaker 2: that's made her question whether you know, she's sort of
Speaker 2: been socially conditioned as a woman of her age to
Speaker 2: act a certain way. I just think the way she
Speaker 2: expressed it was so thoughtful and I'm sure it would
Speaker 2: have got people thinking at home.
Speaker 1: I love that about her. I remember seeing her do
Speaker 1: a speech in front of it was a corporate event,
Speaker 1: and I remember as soon as she took the stage,
Speaker 1: I was like, Oh, that's Rosy and started saying to
Speaker 1: my partner her story and the thing I've always appreciated
Speaker 1: about her is intelligence, Her own intelligence to pivot when
Speaker 1: it comes to making up her own mind. So many
Speaker 1: times you see people you know have a profile that
Speaker 1: can just stick and say this is how I'm supposed
Speaker 1: to say it. But you can really see that she
Speaker 1: takes the time to think about what her answers are
Speaker 1: going to be. And that's an intelligent woman.
Speaker 2: She really does. And she's unafraid naturally, you know her
Speaker 2: life experience and the circle she's been able to mix
Speaker 2: in since winning that award, which you know she expresses
Speaker 2: her gratitude for because it's completely changed her life and
Speaker 2: allowed her to achieve social change. But you know she
Speaker 2: actually sort of Virginia asked her if she and Grace
Speaker 2: have and she said that they have, and Grace was
Speaker 2: hurt by her comments. But what resulted was a really
Speaker 2: fruitful conversation about something that they essentially a topic and
Speaker 2: an idea that they come at from very different ways,
Speaker 2: but can so respectfully disagree. And I think that is
Speaker 2: the essence of Q.
Speaker 1: And eight exactly. It's a good debate. I think it's
Speaker 1: when you get people to have a conversation and be
Speaker 1: honest about who they are and what they feel, and
Speaker 1: then share their own opinions on the topic without ever
Speaker 1: saying anything to put the other person down. Do you
Speaker 1: know what I mean? Like, I love a good debate
Speaker 1: where there's no conflict unnecessarily it's where you say something
Speaker 1: and you go, oh, that's a aha moment. That's probably
Speaker 1: changed the cycle.
Speaker 2: We had some really big moments last night. It is
Speaker 2: really hard to choose one. I mean, another one for
Speaker 2: me where I think, you know, everyone in the control
Speaker 2: room was quite a gape, was when Virginia was asking
Speaker 2: Katie Allen about crossing the floor and Virginia asked her
Speaker 2: how that felt, And I think we all sort of
Speaker 2: expected her to talk about the tension and how that
Speaker 2: was difficult, and she was positively beaming, and you could
Speaker 2: see a real personal pride in herself that she has
Speaker 2: stood up for something, And that was essentially what she said,
Speaker 2: How did it feel crossing the floor with your colleagues
Speaker 2: in defiance of your prime minister he's personally very wedded
Speaker 2: to this legislation.
Speaker 4: Well, you know, I actually feel it's a very interesting
Speaker 4: mix of emotions. To be fair, it's hard to explain it.
Speaker 4: You look happy, I do, yeah, good, yep, I feel
Speaker 4: like I've stood up for what I believe in.
Speaker 3: Good job.
Speaker 2: So that was a really powerful moment. And you know,
Speaker 2: twenty minutes later she was giving credit to Bill Shorten
Speaker 2: for the NDIS and the success of that scheme. So
Speaker 2: we had some really unexpected moments, which is another great thing.
Speaker 2: You just never really know where the conversation's going to go.
Speaker 1: Well, Dylan talking about I thought was really important because
Speaker 1: it's something that people go, oh, I feel uncomfortable. You know,
Speaker 1: it's almost like another show on the ABC. You can't
Speaker 1: ask that. There's questions that you would love to know,
Speaker 1: but you feel silly like you can't ask. But the
Speaker 1: way he explained something so simple made me see something
Speaker 1: so different.
Speaker 3: Anybody can have sex or being a relationship in any
Speaker 3: way that they can have sex or being a relationship. Right,
Speaker 3: it's not the same as you or you or anyone
Speaker 3: I don't know, and I'm sure not it does it
Speaker 3: the same way. Well, it's different for everybody, and that's okay,
Speaker 3: you know what I mean. But my advice is to
Speaker 3: any nondisabled person, if you see a good looking person
Speaker 3: that with one arm, who's autistic, in a wheelchair, whatever,
Speaker 3: go up and take it.
Speaker 2: Hey, so simple and so personal. No, no one can
Speaker 2: imagine what that would be like unless you live with
Speaker 2: a disability, and the impact I think that that conversation
Speaker 2: will have for people is exactly what he is striving
Speaker 2: to achieve, to be seen to be having those conversations,
Speaker 2: to be representing people with disability, and to help people
Speaker 2: able bodied Australians understand and empathize what that's like. I
Speaker 2: also thought our questioner Joshua, who freely admitted that he
Speaker 2: had to let a staffer go because he didn't have
Speaker 2: the resource to train the person with a disability up
Speaker 2: to the standard his business required, took such courage and
Speaker 2: such bravery.
Speaker 5: I'm a business owner in the construction industry. A year
Speaker 5: ago we had someone trial with us with this disability.
Speaker 5: We had to let him go to it to the
Speaker 5: fact that we just simply didn't have enough resources to
Speaker 5: be taken up. I still feel guilty about letting him go.
Speaker 5: People with disabilities have really good qualities, but due to
Speaker 5: the financial ramifications of the extra resources, we just couldn't
Speaker 5: make it work.
Speaker 2: I'm sure that other employers in the country share that experience,
Speaker 2: and it started another important conversation and again goes to
Speaker 2: the sort of change Dylan hopes to achieve in his
Speaker 2: role as Austrain of the Year. I also really loved
Speaker 2: Dylan's story about his Nando's experience on his date. He did.
Speaker 2: He went into a really personal story about an awful
Speaker 2: experience that he had when he was at Chadston on
Speaker 2: a date and how someone's religious beliefs informed their views
Speaker 2: about people with disability, and he basically told this person
Speaker 2: told Dylan that he was a spawn of Satan, which
Speaker 2: is just the most horrible thing you could think of.
Speaker 2: But Dylan, at the end, in classic Dylan Allcott style,
Speaker 2: managed to have a laugh and said the date was
Speaker 2: a success and there was Nando's involved, so that was
Speaker 2: another great moment as well.
Speaker 1: And you know, I can only imagine and I would
Speaker 1: love to see you in the control and I'd love
Speaker 1: to see a little face as things like that take
Speaker 1: off and you just be rubbing your hands together, going
Speaker 1: this is good, Telly.
Speaker 2: Is the end of it all. You know, we're viewers too,
Speaker 2: and it's unfolding live for us. There's a lot going on,
Speaker 2: and you know you're sort of executive producing, but you
Speaker 2: are viewing it as well. And I am constantly trying
Speaker 2: to put myself in the shoes of the audience and
Speaker 2: really sort of using my instinct to guide the conversation,
Speaker 2: you know, and finding that balance of giving a topic
Speaker 2: enough coverage and enough air, getting to enough questions, allowing
Speaker 2: time for the conversation to breathe, and knowing when to
Speaker 2: move on as well. Well.
Speaker 1: It would be unfair of me to ask you who
Speaker 1: your favorite host has been over the years, and with
Speaker 1: a fabulous lineup this year with three amazing hosts of
Speaker 1: the show, but can I ask you what makes a
Speaker 1: good compare of Q and eight.
Speaker 2: I've worked on a number of television shows. I've worked
Speaker 2: on a number of live television shows. I honestly think
Speaker 2: Q and A is one of the most high wire
Speaker 2: acts that a television host can take on. I think
Speaker 2: you need to have is a real confidence and self
Speaker 2: belief to do the job and to be able to
Speaker 2: handle anything, because anything can happen, and you've got to
Speaker 2: be on. The host just has to be on. There
Speaker 2: is no moment to miss anything, the follow up questions,
Speaker 2: and also understanding the balance of when to just sit
Speaker 2: back and listen and when to challenge and when to
Speaker 2: fact check. You know, we do have times where people
Speaker 2: say things and they're inaccurate and we have to correct
Speaker 2: them and we're help to account if we don't. So
Speaker 2: it's a really high wire act. But at the end
Speaker 2: of the day, you're driving compelling conversation live on television
Speaker 2: and the exchange of ideas. So it's a really unique
Speaker 2: set of skills. And the hosts we have make it
Speaker 2: look very easy, but they're the skills I think you
Speaker 2: need to pull it off.
Speaker 1: They make it look really easy, like watching last Night
Speaker 1: just seems so simple and everything's fine. And I've done
Speaker 1: live television before where they've got people talking in your
Speaker 1: ear and talking and listening. That's a skill.
Speaker 2: It's a real skill. And I really try and keep
Speaker 2: the communications in the air to a minimum and really
Speaker 2: only dive in when I feel like I need to,
Speaker 2: because they know what they're doing, and you know, we
Speaker 2: always discuss things and have a program plan and sometimes
Speaker 2: things go to plan, and some of the best moments
Speaker 2: are when they don't. But yeah, they all do a
Speaker 2: wonderful job.
Speaker 1: When it comes to picking the panel each week, you know,
Speaker 1: how strategic are you getting certain people on board? Do
Speaker 1: you table what you're going to tackle based on sort
Speaker 1: of the questions that you're looking at, and then start
Speaker 1: as a collaboration of producers, work at who are the
Speaker 1: best Australians to answer those questions.
Speaker 2: So it actually works that we assemble the panel first.
Speaker 2: So we assemble the panel and then that generates the
Speaker 2: interest and the question. So it's an interesting combination. And
Speaker 2: we do a mix of what we call general news
Speaker 2: of the week shows where we really diving into the
Speaker 2: big conversations that are being had and what's making news
Speaker 2: that week, and then we do sort of more focused
Speaker 2: themed shows like we did a great one last year
Speaker 2: with Grace Tame and the head of the AFP, Rehees Kershaw,
Speaker 2: Marcia Langton and Rustin and Penny Wong and it was
Speaker 2: a preview of the Women's Safety Summit and that was
Speaker 2: the whole show start to finish. Sometimes you have the
Speaker 2: luxury of doing that. Other times the new cycle dictates
Speaker 2: that there's a topic that you just can't ignore. But
Speaker 2: we assemble the panel and then we advertise who's on
Speaker 2: the panel, and then from there the audience really helps
Speaker 2: shape the conversation and takes the conversation where they want
Speaker 2: it to go. And I should point out Q and
Speaker 2: A is the only live program of its kind. There's
Speaker 2: a version of it in the UK BBC's Question Time,
Speaker 2: but that is pre recorded, and there's a version of
Speaker 2: it in New Zealand as well, also pre recorded. So
Speaker 2: Q and A in Australia on the ABC is the
Speaker 2: only live format where Australians can put questions to people
Speaker 2: in power in a live format.
Speaker 1: It's so succinct. Though in real life we pivot and
Speaker 1: we go ohen or we lose our mind or we
Speaker 1: lose our point, and I just think it's so amazing
Speaker 1: that these people are so succinct. I'd love to know
Speaker 1: what preparation you offer these panels before the show, because
Speaker 1: if I was one of those panels, you'd have to say, Ben,
Speaker 1: get to your point, don't go on and on.
Speaker 2: We have conversations with them about how to keep the
Speaker 2: conversation moving, and you know, I think the biggest piece
Speaker 2: of advice I give is have your main points that
Speaker 2: you want to get across, but have two or three
Speaker 2: and don't come in with ten or twelve things, because
Speaker 2: there's only an hour and the conversation has to keep moving.
Speaker 2: But you mentioned the panel. I'm always so blown away
Speaker 2: by the audience and the courage it takes to ask
Speaker 2: a question on live television, and sometimes there are some
Speaker 2: really personal stories that go with those questions and that
Speaker 2: is driving those questions. They really shape the show and
Speaker 2: having the audience back, you know, we had to do
Speaker 2: more than a dozen shows last year with no audience
Speaker 2: in the room or video and you know, whilst it's
Speaker 2: great to get video questions and they came in their
Speaker 2: hundreds from around the country, it's so it adds such
Speaker 2: another dimension and an energy to the program when you
Speaker 2: have that audience in the room. So we're just so
Speaker 2: delighted to have them back.
Speaker 1: Well, we might dip back into asking a few questions
Speaker 1: about the audience in a little bit, but I just
Speaker 1: wanted to ask, you know, for you personally taking on
Speaker 1: this job, what's been the biggest surprise in being the
Speaker 1: executive producer of this show?
Speaker 2: The pandemic and the challenges that would throw at me.
Speaker 2: But while talking about the pandemic, I would have to
Speaker 2: say the thing that surprises me still is seeing very accomplished,
Speaker 2: very experienced media people agreeing to come on the show
Speaker 2: and the impact that the platform itself has on them.
Speaker 2: Pre show. We do see people getting incredibly nervous who
Speaker 2: you wouldn't expect, And it's just a reminder for me
Speaker 2: really that the power of the brand and the program
Speaker 2: and the discussions that we have. It really surprises me
Speaker 2: still to see people pre show, you know, really pulling
Speaker 2: themselves together, asking a range of questions and showing, you know,
Speaker 2: the pre show jitters. But it is a big stage
Speaker 2: and there's a lot of people watching, and they know
Speaker 2: what they say will have impact on Q and A.
Speaker 1: Did you always set out to work as a producer
Speaker 1: well as a producer, I mean, as you set out
Speaker 1: in your career to work in the commentary of politics.
Speaker 2: No, I didn't. I think I can honestly say curiosity
Speaker 2: drove me to journalism. I've always had a curious mind
Speaker 2: and a love of storytelling, so that seemed like a
Speaker 2: natural fit, and I began my career front of camera
Speaker 2: as a reporter. As a journalist, I started in regional
Speaker 2: television at WIN and did my time there, and then
Speaker 2: moved back to the city and worked at some of
Speaker 2: the commercial stations and then landed at the ABC, which
Speaker 2: was as surprising for me as it was for anyone else.
Speaker 2: I always sort of, you know, I think I grew
Speaker 2: up as a Channel nine household and I think back
Speaker 2: to when I started at the ABC, it's evolved and
Speaker 2: changed so much for the better. So yeah, I haven't
Speaker 2: really looked back since I've landed at the ABC. It's
Speaker 2: just been one opportunity after the other. But I did
Speaker 2: hit a point where I started to crave something more
Speaker 2: big picture, I think, rather than just you know, one
Speaker 2: single story every day. And that was when I really
Speaker 2: sort of crossed over into the production side, and I
Speaker 2: think that's where my love of politics really grew. And
Speaker 2: I was lucky enough to work at Insiders, filling in
Speaker 2: as the executive producer there for a period of time,
Speaker 2: which was an amazing experience, and there was so much
Speaker 2: happening in Australian politics, so that really cemented my love
Speaker 2: of politics. But you know, Q and A gives me
Speaker 2: a wonderful mix of both, and as my previous role
Speaker 2: did at News Breakfast, you know you get to do
Speaker 2: a whole range of topics, not just the politics. Yes,
Speaker 2: that's the backbone, and that's there the shows that I
Speaker 2: think the audience love and love to hate, but we
Speaker 2: do nice, we do great shows without the Polley's as well,
Speaker 2: But there's no doubt that there's a real level of
Speaker 2: accountability that go with those shows, and I think that's
Speaker 2: what the audience loves.
Speaker 1: About them absolutely. And do you sometimes find it hard
Speaker 1: not to have an opinion or to pick sides?
Speaker 6: You know?
Speaker 1: I guess it's a producer you would be needing to
Speaker 1: be fairly neutral. And I don't know about you, but
Speaker 1: I can easily warm to somebody, but I'd love to
Speaker 1: know if you stay neutral. Do you walk away at
Speaker 1: the end of the show and you're like, well, I'm
Speaker 1: on this person's side.
Speaker 2: I think as a journalist, you know, the fundamental core
Speaker 2: of your job is not to pick a side and
Speaker 2: to be open minded and to see both sides, which is,
Speaker 2: you know, everything I love about Q and A. Yeah,
Speaker 2: And I genuinely believe that the greater range of views
Speaker 2: and perspectives you bring to a debate, the more intelligent
Speaker 2: and high level the conversation will be. So it's yeah,
Speaker 2: I think as a journalist, that's you know, that's in
Speaker 2: your blood, it's in your training. The minute you sort
Speaker 2: of put the blinkers on or let the blinkers go on,
Speaker 2: you'll miss something in a story.
Speaker 1: Has there ever been a question while you've been the
Speaker 1: executive producer from the audience that's gotten out of hand
Speaker 1: or has gotten too heated.
Speaker 2: That's a good question. I think there's definitely examples where
Speaker 2: the question perhaps hasn't been satisfied with the answer, and
Speaker 2: so you know, they want they keep wanting to push
Speaker 2: the politician. I think I wouldn't say it's ever gotten
Speaker 2: too heated, but I think there's definitely been some robust
Speaker 2: back and forth.
Speaker 1: I guess, you know, if the question is getting out
Speaker 1: of control, how do you shut it down?
Speaker 2: I think that's where the experience of the host comes in,
Speaker 2: and that is one of the challenges of the role
Speaker 2: is to let the conversation flow, but always be in command.
Speaker 2: And I think if you're in command of the conversation,
Speaker 2: you know when it's time to shut it down. And
Speaker 2: I'll be, having no doubt relaying messages from the control
Speaker 2: room if I think it's gone on too long or
Speaker 2: it's you know, appears to be getting out of hand.
Speaker 2: But no, I think that the hosts very much are
Speaker 2: capable of controlling the conversation or navigating the conversation over time.
Speaker 1: Have you worked out what audiences or who audiences want
Speaker 1: to hear more from on the panel. Do you find
Speaker 1: politicians or business owners? You know, comedians. I could go on,
Speaker 1: because you actually do have an eclectic group of people
Speaker 1: that join the panel. But what's better.
Speaker 2: It's really interesting because anecdotally, you know, people say to me, oh,
Speaker 2: I love the shows you do without politicians, they're the
Speaker 2: best shows. But I think that the ratings data which
Speaker 2: suggests that it's the ones with politicians that bring more
Speaker 2: eyeballs to the screen. So we do a healthy mix.
Speaker 2: I think about sort of two thirds of our shows
Speaker 2: have polleyes, and then we do some really great shows
Speaker 2: collaborating with various festivals and bringing a whole range of
Speaker 2: talent to panels through different collaborations. So yeah, I think
Speaker 2: it's nice to have a break from them from time
Speaker 2: to time. But we do sometimes get audience members writing
Speaker 2: to us saying you should suggest this person. We do
Speaker 2: get people putting themselves forward to be on the panel.
Speaker 2: So yeah, we have a range of people, a range
Speaker 2: of methodologies I guess of landing on panelists, and you know,
Speaker 2: the show's got a great history of discovering talent. A
Speaker 2: lot of the panelists that we've discovered have gone on
Speaker 2: to be nominated for Austrai of the Year or their
Speaker 2: state representative Australian of the Year. You know, I look
Speaker 2: at Yasmin Pool and she appeared on Q and A
Speaker 2: as such a young, you know, ambitious, intelligent woman and
Speaker 2: has gone on to do such a such wonderful things.
Speaker 2: And it is a real sort of platform, I guess
Speaker 2: to build your profile on, and the program has a
Speaker 2: great history of that.
Speaker 1: I love it when you sort of are engaging with
Speaker 1: younger people about politics though, I think that is important,
Speaker 1: but it makes me ask the question, you know, do
Speaker 1: you think that politics in general is less aspirational these
Speaker 1: days and sort of less enticing for young people to
Speaker 1: take on these sort of leadership roles.
Speaker 2: It's an interesting question. That's when we put to Dylan
Speaker 2: last night, because he's sort of signaled that he would
Speaker 2: throw his hat in the ring for politics one day,
Speaker 2: and then he sort of said that he looked at
Speaker 2: what are unfolded in the last week, and you know,
Speaker 2: he's leaving the door open, but he's not sure. So
Speaker 2: I think definitely it's a career that people question, and
Speaker 2: you know, a lot has been revealed about the culture
Speaker 2: at Parliament House in the last couple of years. So
Speaker 2: you know, Yasmin Pool has spoken about that herself as
Speaker 2: a young woman and questioning whether that's a career she
Speaker 2: wants to go down. I think what we're seeing with
Speaker 2: the Independence is really interesting. I think we're seeing a
Speaker 2: real kind of movement there. There's certainly a number of
Speaker 2: independent candidates who are going to be challenging sitting members
Speaker 2: for their seats, and I think, you know, that's really
Speaker 2: sort of taken off since the Seat of Indie and
Speaker 2: Kathy McGowan and the campaign that she ran, and you know,
Speaker 2: we're now seeing Simon Holmes a court funding some of
Speaker 2: these people. So that's actually an issue we're going to
Speaker 2: look into next week and we're going to be hearing
Speaker 2: from voters who feel a bit left behind by the
Speaker 2: major parties. So it will be interesting to see if
Speaker 2: that has any impact on young people's ambitions to run
Speaker 2: for politics. But it's a pretty brutal business at the moment.
Speaker 1: I liked the joke last night about the Deep Clean.
Speaker 2: It was very good, wasn't it.
Speaker 1: It was very funny, you know, as mentioned you know
Speaker 1: earlier in the podcast. The latest series premiered last Thursday.
Speaker 1: What are you going to do moving forward with this series?
Speaker 1: I mean, when you're looking at it, it could so
Speaker 1: easily leave it so formulatic, But what are you going
Speaker 1: to try to do this year to sort of keep
Speaker 1: it fresh?
Speaker 2: Look, I think you know, the biggest thing we want
Speaker 2: is the return of the audience. And when I say
Speaker 2: the audience, I mean the audience as we know it. Like, so,
Speaker 2: we had thirty people in the room last night, and
Speaker 2: in pre pandemic days we would have two hundred and fifty.
Speaker 2: You know, we desperately want to get that back, and
Speaker 2: we desperately want to get the show back on the road.
Speaker 2: That's something that we're working towards, and hopefully by the
Speaker 2: election campaign we will be able to do that because
Speaker 2: that's where you get a real range of diverse perspectives
Speaker 2: and you hear from all kinds of different people and
Speaker 2: different communities with different challenges and problems, and I think,
Speaker 2: you know, that's really what makes the show seeing. So
Speaker 2: we can't wait to travel the show again. It takes
Speaker 2: the movement of a lot of people to get Q
Speaker 2: and A on the road, So I think, you know,
Speaker 2: the ABC is very cautious in keeping us all safe
Speaker 2: while we have to continue broadcasting. So the minute we've
Speaker 2: got clearance to travel the show, that's really what I
Speaker 2: can't wait to be doing. But really I think we
Speaker 2: just want to be having relevant and intelligent conversations that
Speaker 2: people tune in for.
Speaker 1: Well, it is an election year and Q and A
Speaker 1: is a big player in getting political opinion across. What
Speaker 1: kind of interest do you get from politicians to want
Speaker 1: to come on the show. I mean, obviously they've got
Speaker 1: an agenda that they want to get across, or they're
Speaker 1: wanting to win over the Australian public. Do you get
Speaker 1: a lot of politicians coming on within an agenda?
Speaker 2: I mean, I think there'll be certain politicians who'll be
Speaker 2: falling over themselves to come on Q and A, you know,
Speaker 2: to use that platform and to speak to their constituents
Speaker 2: and the people voting for them. And naturally we get
Speaker 2: such the ABC as a whole gets so much interest
Speaker 2: in our content around election time, so there's no doubt
Speaker 2: our programs will be more politically charged. I think, you know,
Speaker 2: it's going to be a really tough contest and as
Speaker 2: we've seen at previous elections, I think anything can happen,
Speaker 2: so you know Q and A. I think it makes
Speaker 2: for good discussions, it makes for good content, and it
Speaker 2: makes for good debate.
Speaker 1: I was reading TV tonight yesterday and I saw the
Speaker 1: question I think it was, you know, you know, do
Speaker 1: you think Scott Morrison will come on the show this year?
Speaker 1: Do you think he will? You know? I think there
Speaker 1: was a bit of a oh, you know, we can't
Speaker 1: have people on more than once or twice, but is
Speaker 1: there anything in plan to have him on the show soon?
Speaker 2: We would love to have the Prime minister on the program.
Speaker 2: We certainly have invited him on in the past. The
Speaker 2: previous formats have seen one on one specials with prime
Speaker 2: ministers and opposition leaders, and we will be extending the
Speaker 2: invitation to the leaders of both parties in order to
Speaker 2: answer the questions from the Australian public.
Speaker 1: Well, I want to know. I spoke with someone from
Speaker 1: the left and someone from the right yesterday, two politicians
Speaker 1: currently in power, and I wanted to ask them what
Speaker 1: they thought of Q and A. And I got these responses.
Speaker 1: And I'm not going to say their names or what party.
Speaker 1: You can guess try and guess which party the first
Speaker 1: one was. The show was great and I watch it
Speaker 1: based on the selection of the panel, and the other
Speaker 1: one was a good quality current affairs program needs to
Speaker 1: be serious, but unfortunately it would only attract a smaller audience.
Speaker 1: These days, Q and A is trying to be sexy,
Speaker 1: which means that it's kind of very unserious. I guess
Speaker 1: there's a bit of a question that without trying to
Speaker 1: get you to a guess if that's a left or
Speaker 1: a right politician, do you think that the show has
Speaker 1: moved away from being more serious?
Speaker 2: If anything, I fearl like our conversations have been too serious.
Speaker 2: We've had a pandemic dominate this show for the better
Speaker 2: part of two years, and you know, there have been
Speaker 2: weeks where we've been desperate to talk about anything else.
Speaker 2: I don't agree with that view. All views are welcome,
Speaker 2: that is the essence of Q and A. But I think,
Speaker 2: you know, looking to our program last night, we had
Speaker 2: some very eminent Australians on who either have made or
Speaker 2: are making very significant social change. So everyone's entitled to
Speaker 2: their view of Q and A. Everyone has one. But
Speaker 2: you know, we'll just continue to do what we do
Speaker 2: and you know, take the audience cues on what they're liking.
Speaker 2: And not liking and just use the platform to have
Speaker 2: conversations that we think Australians want us to have.
Speaker 1: Well, people asking these questions all the time. I can
Speaker 1: imagine you being at the top job. You would get
Speaker 1: you friends and family even sharing their opinions or offering
Speaker 1: what they think. Did you think that the Monday time
Speaker 1: slot was better? I know lots of people felt that
Speaker 1: it was event television and they didn't miss it on
Speaker 1: a Monday night. One of my good friends said that
Speaker 1: they would move things around to be there to watch it,
Speaker 1: and that the move maybe to a Thursday timeslot they
Speaker 1: felt was almost burying it in a way. What do
Speaker 1: you say when friends and family come up and ask
Speaker 1: you those sorts of questions.
Speaker 2: Yeah, look, I get a lot of questions about the timeslot,
Speaker 2: and look, I can understand Monday night became a habit
Speaker 2: for people. But the reality of it is our numbers
Speaker 2: were declining in the Monday night time slot and we
Speaker 2: were on air, you know, nine thirty five, sometimes nine
Speaker 2: p forty, depending on how our neighbors in the schedule
Speaker 2: were running for time. So we were getting on air
Speaker 2: some nights at twenty to ten, and the audience habits
Speaker 2: are now so that that is the absolute peak of streaming.
Speaker 2: You know, people are streaming their favorit content by that hour.
Speaker 2: There's not you just only have to watch on any
Speaker 2: night of the week. The audience declines the later into
Speaker 2: the night. So when the ABC presented us with the
Speaker 2: opportunity to grab a primetime slot of eight point thirty,
Speaker 2: we jumped at it. And I think that the combination
Speaker 2: of Foreign Correspondent and Q and A is a really
Speaker 2: solid new offering for the ABC. It's a whole second
Speaker 2: night of current affairs, you know. I think the pandemic
Speaker 2: also has kind of thrown out the patterns of typical
Speaker 2: audience behavior. I think in twenty twenty we all benefited
Speaker 2: from this huge thirst for knowledge and information. People just
Speaker 2: wanted to know what was going on, and by twenty
Speaker 2: twenty one, people didn't want to hear about it anymore.
Speaker 2: So we all sort of all programs really experienced a
Speaker 2: bit of a drop off. So we've lived through some
Speaker 2: unusual times, and no doubt the time slot change has
Speaker 2: been big. But we've always said that this is a
Speaker 2: long term strategy, and the reality of it is that
Speaker 2: Monday nights we're getting harder and harder to pull in
Speaker 2: big audiences too.
Speaker 1: Well, I think that's a very amazing answer, to be
Speaker 1: honest with you, I was unsure as to what you're
Speaker 1: going to say about the Monday night times like change.
Speaker 2: I'm happy to talk about it. I think people are
Speaker 2: still getting used to it, you know, and I think
Speaker 2: these things take time, and it amazed me, you know,
Speaker 2: the commentary five weeks into the change that are we
Speaker 2: changing back to Monday night audience have its take time,
Speaker 2: and of course we want people to be watching. We
Speaker 2: want as many people to be watching as possible. But
Speaker 2: I have to say our iView numbers, you know, are
Speaker 2: up seventy percent on last year, and people consume our
Speaker 2: conversations and our content in all different ways. You know.
Speaker 2: We release highlights and you know, kind of bite sized
Speaker 2: clips of the show the next day, and a lot
Speaker 2: of people catch up on our content that way. Any
Speaker 2: show these days is bigger than just it's broadcast audience.
Speaker 2: And one of the things I think that Q and
Speaker 2: A has not lost in all its years is the
Speaker 2: impact that it makes with the conversations that it has.
Speaker 1: Do you think that a particular government in power at
Speaker 1: the time would have anything to do with how the
Speaker 1: show is produced, Like, do you ever worry, Okay, well,
Speaker 1: ABC's government funded organization. We have to swing a certain
Speaker 1: way or we have to be careful in a certain way.
Speaker 1: Does that ever become a factor.
Speaker 6: No.
Speaker 2: I think it's our job not to be influenced by
Speaker 2: any government of any party. That's the job of any program, host, producer,
Speaker 2: journalist at the ABC. Our independence underpins everything we do,
Speaker 2: so you know we fiercely guard it with everything we have.
Speaker 1: Well, my last question to ask you on the podcast,
Speaker 1: which is something I ask every single person who joins,
Speaker 1: and that is, you know, what is something from behind
Speaker 1: the scenes that we're as an audience did not see
Speaker 1: but we might appreciate about hearing from the makings of
Speaker 1: Q and a.
Speaker 2: Ooh something from behind the scene. I mean so many things,
Speaker 2: Like we're a live program, so everything you know, you
Speaker 2: see is what you get, but there's so many things
Speaker 2: behind the scenes. I mean, I'm thinking of you know,
Speaker 2: panelists that have missed flights. I'm thinking of a very
Speaker 2: rainy night in Sydney where traffic was just hell and
Speaker 2: truly I really wondered if our questioners were going to
Speaker 2: make it on time. That was particularly you know, there's
Speaker 2: there's a part before the show where I go out
Speaker 2: and I talk to the audience, and I basically.
Speaker 1: There was no one there, stuck at the traffic in
Speaker 1: the rain.
Speaker 6: I honestly think at that point more than half of
Speaker 6: our questioners weren't in the room at the time when
Speaker 6: the floor manager was handing me the microphone saying it's
Speaker 6: time for you to go out, and one of the
Speaker 6: things I do is I clarify and confirm how to
Speaker 6: pronounce our question names, because it's so important we get
Speaker 6: that right.
Speaker 2: And I looked at him and said, there's no point
Speaker 2: to me doing this. Half the show is not in
Speaker 2: the room. And yeah, honestly, like within the dying minutes
Speaker 2: of the show, they all turned up and somehow it
Speaker 2: all happened. But that was probably the closest call we've had.
Speaker 1: I just want to say thank you so much for
Speaker 1: joining me on this podcast and giving people an insight
Speaker 1: into the makings of one of Australia's best shows on television.
Speaker 2: Thank you, Ben, thank you for watching, and thank you.
Speaker 2: Thank you to your partner for watching. I hope you
Speaker 2: both keep I.
Speaker 1: Don't know if he wants to watch every week. But
Speaker 1: it was so funny because I said to a girlfriend
Speaker 1: of mine, I said, oh, Ben doesn't watch the show,
Speaker 1: and she wrote back, what And she said, Q and A.
Speaker 1: It's poor player me and my partner