Q&A Panel.....
Last week I had the privilege of inviting and taking students of media and philosophy to be audience members on ABC’s QandA program. The students were excellent representatives of BHS. ABC had organised a bus for residents of Ballarat to catch to take us to the show. Our students, in the rain, greeted other members of the community to show them where to park and get on the bus, which was greatly appreciated. Students witnessed how a show is produced, watching all the camera work and behind the scenes action. At the end we were even able to get a photo with host Stan Grant. Here are some images from the excursion and some of the reflections from students who attended.
Bonnie Zuidland (Y11 Team Leader)
On Thursday, 6th October, a lucky few Ballarat High School students were able to be a part of the live audience for QandA, one of ABC’s current affairs shows. At this event, we got to see a multitude of panellists with differing opinions to discuss topics such as racism in politics, racism in sport and the financial crisis in Australia. The most memorable speaker was Mehreen Faruqi, the Green’s Deputy Leader, who eloquently addressed every issue brought to the panel. The horrendous racism she faced from Senator Pauline Hanson, and the steps she is taking to censure her in parliament, speaks to me that she is an excellent leader for the people. Her response to the Labour Party’s 240-billion-dollar tax cuts was that of stern and growing concern for the working-class people. Attending this event was a memorable experience and it would be an honour to do it again, hopefully to ask a question.
Emmalee Chase (Y11)
Q&A is a show reflecting the views of important figures in Australian society (mainly politicians) and beyond that addresses questions corresponding to democracy. Topics typically revolve around political, social and global economic issues.
On our excursion, our school group were audience members. We witnessed the main issues discussed by the show’s panellists in the episode regarding racism in politics, taxing times and the wealth chasm (all occurring in Australia).
The panellists featured on the episode were Jonathan Sumption (Former Justice of the UK Supreme Court), Amanda Rishworth (Minister for Social Services), Mehreen Faruqi (Australian Greens Deputy leader), Francis Awaritefe (Chair, Professional Footballers Australia) and Alan Oster (Group Chief Economist, National Australia bank).
This was an amazing opportunity to experience and observe Australian society and the perspectives of people who will affect us when we are older. It is very important to educate ourselves about how politicians’ decisions will affect our future and reflect upon our own opinions. Being in the audience positioned myself in a situation where I applied critical thinking skills to consider real-life scenarios.
Jasmine Goon (Y11)
Last Thursday I went to see Q&A live. That experience was an big eye opener on the way live television is produced.
The panel members had a wide range of life experiences, there were people from parliament, a former soccer player and a person who used to be in the UK supreme court, just like the range of panel members, the topics chosen were also just as vast. There were topics from the economy to racism, this experience was an eye opener on where a person comes from and how they live, and their views on the current situation.
Ash James (Y10)
