Prime Minister Julia Gillard appeared on the ABC’s Q&A program last night.
The audience is carefully selected for balance and they were permitted to question Ms Gillard under the moderatorship of host Tony Jones.
It was refreshing to see a pretty dignified interaction between all involved. This is a contrast with even the regular editions of Q&A which feature a lot of loud voices, interuptions and smart quips.
I don’t think I heard any question (except for an amusing one about Mark Latham) that I had not heard before, nor did I hear any answer that I had not heard from Ms Gillard before. Each of her responses was measured and had been very carefully thought out beforehand. This is not to say that the questions themselves were known, but none of these questions were a surprise.
What was not refreshing was that, of all the questioners last night, the one who demonstated complete ignorance about their subject was the one asking a Christian question.
How could anyone motivated to get in a studio audience, be vetted as a representative person, come prepared with a question, and be one of the few called upon to ask it, not already know that in Australia politicians don’t have to take their oath of office on the Bible?
The assistants who sorted all this out must have known. Why call on that person? No other questioner was allowed to look that dumb.
The evening finished on a slightly ironic note when Jones, already running over time, called on Lowitja O’Donohue, a senior Australian aboriginal figure to ask the final question. She asked why indiginous issues had received such scant attention in the election. Without missing a beat Jones asked Gillard to respond. She may well have asked Jones why his own show had provided such a cursory opportunity for O’Donohue to raise her point. Ms Gillard did not take the opportunity.
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