Q&A: Season 5
Season 5 Lore Primer
Key plot threads, lore context, and character stakes you need to remember before diving into this season.
- Directly follows the overarching narrative developments of Q&A Season 4.
- Faction dynamics and core character alliances shift under escalating external stakes.
- Crucial mysteries introduced previously reach key turning points and narrative reckonings.
- Sets up serialized story arcs that build directly toward the climactic season finale.
Episode Guide
Season 5 Progress Shield
Q&A Returns
Feb 6, 2012
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
Celebrities, Leaders and the Speaker
Feb 13, 2012
Panellists: Jenny McAllister, ALP National President; Helen Kroger, Liberal Senator; Mikey Robins, comedian; Robert Manne, writer and academic; and Tim Wilson, Institute of Public
The Labor Leadership
Feb 20, 2012
Panellists: Julie Bishop, Eva Cox, Annabel Crabb, Daniel Hannan.
After the Ballot
Feb 27, 2012
Panellists: Government Leader in the Senate, Chris Evans; the Nationals' Senator, Barnaby Joyce; former Queensland Premier, Peter Beattie; Deputy Leader of the Greens, Christine Mi
Live from Adelaide
Mar 5, 2012
Panellists: Amanda Vanstone, former Howard Government Minister; Mark Steyn, conservative commentator and writer; Natasha Stott Despoja, one-time Democrats leader; Jianying Zha, wri
Katter, Kony and the Climate
Mar 12, 2012
Panellists: Health Minister, Tanya Plibersek; Shadow Communications Minister, Malcolm Turnbull; former Farmer of the Year, Michael O'Brien; Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander So
Politics and Porn in a Post-Feminist World
Mar 19, 2012
Panellists Germaine Greer, celebrated Australian intellectual; Toby Ralph, marketing and political strategist; Benjamin Law, writer and journalist; Christa Hughes, cabaret artist;
The Qld Election
Mar 26, 2012
Panellists: Craig Emerson, Trade Minister; George Brandis, Shadow Attorney General; Larissa Waters, Queensland Greens Senator; Grahame Morris, political strategist; Liberty Sanger,
Live from Hobart
Apr 2, 2012
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,
Religion and Atheism
Apr 9, 2012
Panellists: Catholic Archbishop of Sydney, Cardinal George Pell and British atheist, Professor Richard Dawkins.
Philosophy and the World
Apr 16, 2012
Panellists: Attorney-General, Nicola Roxon; shadow education minister, Christopher Pyne; humanist philosopher, A.C. Grayling; human rights lawyer, Geoffrey Robertson and Middle Eas
Bob Brown joins Q&A
Apr 23, 2012
Panellist: Bob Brown, outgoing leader of the Australian Greens.
Q&A Climate Debate
Apr 26, 2012
Panellists: Social researcher and writer, Rebecca Huntley; former Liberal Minister, Nick Minchin; founder of the Australian Youth Climate Coalition, Anna Rose; mining magnate, Cliv
Live from Dandenong
Apr 30, 2012
Panellists: Mark Dreyfus, Cabinet Secretary and local Labor MP; Sophie Mirabella, Shadow Minister for Innovation, Industry and Science; Victor Victor, Sudanese youth leader; Ged Ke
Show Me the Money...
May 7, 2012
Panellists: Graham Richardson, Labor powerbroker turned commentator; Mark Butler, Minister for Mental Health and Ageing; Kelly O'Dwyer, Liberal MP; Mark Bouris, leading Australian
Morals and Politics
May 14, 2012
Panellists: Penny Wong, Finance Minister; Joe Hockey, Shadow Treasurer; Tim Costello, CEO of World Vision Australia; Judith Sloan, economist and businesswoman; and Stephen Mayne, C
Sydney Writers' Festival
May 21, 2012
Panellists: Jeffrey Eugenides, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Virgin Suicides and Middlesex, Kathy Lette, Australian author, commentator and self-confessed "demented mother";
Barry Humphries joins Q&A
May 28, 2012
Panellists: Barry Humphries, celebrated Australian writer, satirist and actor; Miriam Margolyes, star of Harry Potter and champion of English novelist Charles Dickens; Jacki Weaver
Live from Toowoomba
Jun 4, 2012
Panellists: Simon Crean, Federal Minister for Regional Australia and the Arts; Barnaby Joyce, Queensland Senator and Shadow Federal Minister for Regional Development; Christine Mil
Prime Minister Julia Gillard joins Q&A
Jun 11, 2012
Panellists: Prime Minister of Australia, Julia Gillard.
Life, the Universe and Everything
Jun 18, 2012
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 Discrim
The Great Boat Debacle
Jun 25, 2012
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 polic
After the Carbon Tax
Jul 2, 2012
Panellists: Greg Combet, Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency; Sophie Mirabella, Shadow Minister for Innovation, Industry and Science; Simon Sheikh, National Director
Artistic Politics
Jul 9, 2012
Panellists: Chris Bowen, Minister for Immigration and Citizenship; Malcolm Turnbull, Shadow Communications Minister; Nahji Chu, one-time refugee now successful restaurateur; Thierr
Random Violence
Jul 16, 2012
Panellists: Richard Ford, Pulitzer Prize-winning author; Joel Fitzgibbon, Government Whip; Greg Hunt, Shadow Climate Minister; Sarah Hanson-Young, Greens Senator; Jennifer Hewett,
Teachers, Schools and our Education System
Jul 23, 2012
Panellists: Simon Sheikh, GetUp Director; Nicola Roxon, Attorney-General; Christopher Pyne, Shadow Education Minister; Michael Spence, Vice-Chancellor of Sydney University and Jane
A Q&A of Olympic proportions
Jul 30, 2012
Panellists: Shane Gould, Australian swimming legend and triple Olympic gold medal winner; Louise Sauvage, multi gold medallist wheelchair racer; David Pocock, incoming captain of t
Manners, Mining and the Can-do Attitude
Aug 6, 2012
Panellists: Katie Noonan, singer-songwriter; Craig Emerson, Minister for Trade; George Brandis, Shadow Attorney General; Bob Katter, political maverick and leader of the Australian
Big Ideas and Big Society
Aug 13, 2012
Panellists: Peter Singer, Ethicist and philosopher; Phillip Blond, British political thinker and theologian; Dr Cassandra Goldie, Head of Australian Council of Social Service; Mark
Assange, Asylum & Human Bondage
Aug 20, 2012
Panellists: Graham Richardson, Labor powerbroker turned commentator; Doug Cameron, Labor Senator for New South Wales; Janet Albrechtsen, Opinion columnist for The Australian; Simon
Mutilation and the Media Generation
Aug 27, 2012
Panellists: Simon Callow, Celebrated British actor and writer; Germaine Greer, Feminist icon and provocateur; Anthony Appiah, Ghanaian-British-American philosopher and novelist; an
Trolls and Trawlers
Sep 3, 2012
Panellists: Tony Burke, Minister For Environment and Sustainability; Tara Moss, Author and former model; Angry Anderson, Rock singer and conservative political activist; Fiona Nash
Seek and Ye Shall Submit
Sep 10, 2012
Panellists: Peter Jensen, Anglican Archbishop of Sydney; Chris Evans, Minister for Tertiary Education; Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, Shadow Minister for Mental Health and Ageing; Ann
Protests and Palestine
Sep 17, 2012
Panellists: Clover Moore, Newly re-elected Lord Mayor of Sydney; Robyn Davidson, Acclaimed Australian author; Ilan Pappe, Israeli born historian; Irving Wallach, Prominent Australi
The Future of The Future
Sep 24, 2012
Panellists: Tanya Plibersek, Minister for Health; Kelly O'Dwyer, Liberal Member for Higgins; Mark Carnegie, Venture capitalist and philanthropist; Elliot Perlman, Australian noveli
Sorry, Lust and Free Will
Oct 1, 2012
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 Pe
Bullying, Education & Purpose
Oct 8, 2012
Panellists: Kate Ellis, Minister for Employment Participation; Christopher Pyne, Shadow Education Minister; Lindsay Tanner, Former Finance Minister; Nilaja Sun, American actor and
Super, Sexism & Surgery
Oct 15, 2012
Panellists: Pamela Stephenson, Author and psychotherapist; Bill Shorten, Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations; Charlie Pickering, Comedian and television presenter; Soph
Folk Music, Five Years & Funding
Oct 22, 2012
Panellists: Billy Bragg, Singer-songwriter and activist; Peter Garrett, Minister for School Education, Early Childhood and Youth; Amanda Vanstone, Former Howard Government Minister
Forgiveness and Reconciliation
Oct 29, 2012
Panellists: Kate Lundy, Minister for Sport and Multicultural Affairs; Eric Abetz, Liberal Senate Leader; Archie Roach, Indigenous singer-songwriter; Sekai Holland, Zimbabwe Ministe
James Price Point and beyond
Nov 5, 2012
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 Cro
Elephants On Parade
Nov 19, 2012
Panellists: Judith Sloan, Economist and businesswoman; Kevin Rudd, Former Prime Minister; Malcolm Turnbull, Shadow Communications Minister; and Heather Ridout, Reserve Bank of Aust
Happy Endings
Nov 26, 2012
Panellists: Penny Wong, Finance Minister; Barnaby Joyce, Queensland Nationals Senator; Jonathan Biggins, Playwright and Satirist; Stella Young, Comedienne and disability activist;