The ABC of Treachery

http://www.abc.net.au/tv/qanda/txt/s3898590.htm Panellists: Barnaby Joyce, Minister for Agriculture; Tanya Plibersek, Deputy Opposition Leader; Akmal Saleh, Comedian; Cassandra Goldie, Head of Australian Council of Social Service; Nick Cater, Opinion editor with The Australian & author The Lucky Culture; and Ray Martin, Journalist and author. -- Barnaby Joyce Since entering Parliament in 2005 Barnaby Joyce has became one of the country’s best-known MPs because of his uncompromising attitudes, his personality and his willingness to say what he thinks – sometimes to the annoyance of his own side. After the coalition’s election victory Barnaby entered Cabinet as Minister for Agriculture. Originally a Senator, he switched to the Lower House seat of New England prior to the 2013 poll and is tipped to one day become National Party Leader. Barnaby was born near Tamworth, in the New England electorate, in 1967, and claims to have expressed an interest in entering politics from his primary school days. He graduated in commerce from the University of New England and worked for a chartered accountancy firm and a bank before setting up his own accountancy business in an old shop front in the town of St George in western Queensland. Before the practice became established he faced serious financial difficulties – an experience common to many in small business, and one which left an indelible mark on Barnaby. When Barnaby entered the Senate he refused to be taken for granted as simply another backbencher who would support the coalition no matter what. He crossed the floor on several key votes and clashed with colleagues on such matters as single desk wheat marketing, amendments to the Trade Practices Act and voluntary student unionism. Several clashes with Liberals Wilson Tuckey and Bill Heffernan took place in public, even on camera, and have become the stuff of Canberra legend. Barnaby and his wife Natalie have four daughters. -- Tanya Plibersek Tanya Plibersek has been Deputy Leader of the Opposition and shadow foreign affairs minister since Labor’s defeat in the 2013 election. She had been a minister since Labor came to power in 2007, and was elevated to Cabinet in the health portfolio in 2011. Tanya represents the seat of Sydney, which covers the CBD and several inner suburbs of Australia’s biggest city. She is the daughter of migrants from Slovenia and grew up in Sydney’s south. Her late father, Joseph, came to Australia in the 1950s and worked on the Snowy River hydro-electric scheme. Tanya has degrees in communications and politics and public policy and entered Parliament in 1998. She is married to Michael Coutts-Trotter, a senior NSW bureaucrat. They have three children and live in the Sydney suburb of Rosebery. -- Akmal Saleh Movies, stand-Up, TV appearances, radio DJ and talk show host, improvisation and a published author - Akmal Saleh is one of Australia's most respected and accomplished comics. Akmal immigrated to Australia from Egypt with his family nearly 30 years ago. He was 11 years old and spoke no English. "My parents didn't tell us where we were going. We thought it was two hours away. Twenty hours later, we got off a plane. We were on another planet". Akmal’s Arab heritage steers his comedy to issues of religion, honesty, and race in which he is able to deal with hot topics in a hilarious and non-offensive way. Last year he released a documentary film Pharoah versus the Egyptians, filmed with activists in Cairo about the Egyptian uprising and role of social media. Over the last 10 years Akmal has made regular appearances on national television shows such as Rove and The Glasshouse and appeared at Festivals all around the world including Adelaide Fringe Festival, Vancouver Comedy Festival, and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. He wrote and starred in the feature film You Can't Stop the Murders to critical acclaim and hosted the popular The Wrong Way Home drive radio show on the Nova network. Most recently Akmal returned to the stage with his National sell out tour Live and Uncensored. Akmal currently lives in Byron Bay with his wife and will embark on a national tour Akmal Live in early 2014. -- Cassandra Goldie Cassandra Goldie joined ACOSS as CEO in July 2010. Cassandra has extensive public policy experience and is a leading advocate and commentator on economic and social issues. She has represented the interests of people who are disadvantaged and those of the community sector in major national debates including through the Prime Minister’s National Panel on Economic Reform (2013), the Ministerial Roundtable on Superannuation (2012/13) and the National Tax Forum (2011). Cassandra has worked globally as a human rights advocate, including through the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women and UN Habitat. She also has grassroots legal practice experience both as a legal aid lawyer and as Director and Principal Solicitor of the Darwin Community Legal Service in the Northern Territory. Prior to joining ACOSS, she played a central role in major gender equality reforms as the Director of the Sex Discrimination Unit at the Australian Human Rights Commission. In 2012, Cassandra was recognised as one of the Inaugural Westpac/Australian Financial Review 100 Women of Influence. She was selected as an AFR/BOSS True Leader in 2013. Cassandra has a PhD from the University of New South Wales, a Masters of Law from University College London and a Bachelor of Laws (Honours) from the University of Western Australia. She is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. -- Nick Cater Author and columnist Nick Cater is one of Australia’s leading conservative intellectuals. He writes a weekly column for The Australian, is a previous editor of The Weekend Australian and is a visiting fellow at the Centre for Independent Studies. In his book The Lucky Culture and The Rise Of An Australian Ruling Class he argued that Australia’s egalitarian national identity was being threatened by an educated elite concentrated in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra. Nick grew up on the English south coast. He studied sociology at the University of Exeter, graduating in 1980, and spent a year installing roller towels in Southampton before joining the BBC as a studio manager. He joined Channel Seven’s London bureau after being offered a job by the late Paul Lyneham in 1983. In 1986 he re-joined the BBC as a television journalist where he spent some time in Newcastle upon Tyne covering the Lockerbie bombing, the closure of the shipyards and the early career of the MP for Sedgefield, Tony Blair. He produced the BBC documentary Bridge Builders in 1989 after discovering rare archival film on the construction of the Tyne and Sydney Harbour Bridges. Nick was sent to Australia to cover the Bicentenary in January 1988 and decided to quit his job and emigrate. He found work as a reporter on The Adelaide Advertiser where he became state political editor before being appointed Asia Correspondent by News Limited in 1993, based in Hong Kong. He famously tracked down the Australian paedophile Robert “Dolly” Dunn to a village on the Indonesian island of Lombok in 1996. His story in The Daily Telegraph prompted the famous headline “Hello Dolly”. Back in Australia Nick worked in the Canberra press gallery in 1996 then moved to The Daily Telegraph in 1997 where he was assistant editor under Col Allan. He became deputy editor at The Sunday Telegraph before moving to The Australian in 2004. He stopped working full-time for the paper in 2013 and is now writing a second book. -- Ray Martin Ray Martin is one of Australia’s best known and most recognisable journalists. His career began as a cadet with the ABC in Sydney in 1965. He worked in Perth and Canberra and spent ten years as North America correspondent before joining Channel 9 in 1978 to be part of the original 60 Minutes line-up. Subsequently he hosted Midday and A Current Affair and became the face of the Nine Network through his work on network specials, federal elections and Carols by Candlelight. He has won five gold Logies, twenty silver Logies and was awarded the Order of Australia in 2011 for journalism, his work with Indigenous Australians and his involvement with charities. His autobiography Ray: Stories of my Life was published in 2009. A book of photographs, Ray Martin’s World, is due for release in November 2013. ---- Audience: ALP 36%, Coalition 46%, Greens 10% ABC VERSUS ABBOTT Alicia Scott asked: Last week Prime Minister Tony Abbott attacked the ABC arguing that the national broadcaster takes "everyone's side but Australia's" and journalists should give the navy the "benefit of the doubt" in regards to the ABC's coverage of allegations that navy personnel inflicted bodily harm on asylum seekers. Are Abbott's claims of bias in the media justified or does the Prime Minister need to be reminded that, as Liberal MP Craig Laundy paraphrased, "There are many great things about living in a democracy ... One is the luxury of free speech"? ABC BIAS VERSUS NEWS LIMITED Philippa Noakes asked: Is it an untenable position for the Coalition to criticize the perceived bias of the ABC, while accepting the benefits of the apparent bias in News Limited papers? ABC – SNOWDEN/GUARDIAN Daniel Carrigy asked: Prime Minister Tony Abbott criticised the ABC’s reporting of the Indonesian spying scandal, expressing particular concern that the information came from Edward Snowden, whom he deemed a traitor. Considering the damage caused with our relationship with Indonesia, does the panel believe the reporting of this story was truly in our nation’s best interests, or should the ABC have let sleeping dogs lie, considering the incident was six years old? QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR An audience member asked: I've just graduated as a journalist, are you really suggesting that as a new graduate I should really not publish a story this big [Edward Snowden] if it was dumped in my lap? UNIONS AND ALP VERSUS ABCC Michael Manikas asked via video: With no experience on construction sites, how on earth can the police play watchdog to the construction industry? What right do the Greens and ALP have to block the reintroduction of the ABCC to oversee the industry? DROUGHT AID Hannah Glass asked: The failed takeover of GrainCorp by the US corporation ADM was “seen as a litmus test” for foreign investment in Australia. After deploring foreign ownership and its associated $500M investment as “not in our interests”, Barnaby Joyce is now asking the government for $7 billion to “save” the agricultural industry from drought and a decline in foreign trade. How can you justify asking the government for so much money when you reject foreign investment and trade? SAVING SPC ARDMONA David McKone asked via video: If the Nationals are traditionally meant to represent the interests of farmers and primary producers of this land, then how would the closure of SPC Ardmona and the loss of 1000 direct jobs and up to 3000 indirect jobs and 50% of the region's farmers who are dependent on the plant, actually be in their interest? Or is the decision not to invest pure Liberal Party ideology? QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR An audience member asked: Isn’t the issue debt rather than the drought? BEING AUSTRALIAN Nick Chapman asked: Is being a 'Great Australian' any different to being a great citizen of any other country in the world?