Who Dunnit and How Do We Fix It

Discuss the Questions Here are the questions our panel faced this week. Tell us what your answer would be or what you think our panellists need to say. GAZA Jack Lattimore asked: Today the BBC has reported that the confirmed death toll in Gaza has risen to over 1,030 Palestinians and 45 Israelis including 43 Israeli soldiers. Last week there were reports of UN shelters being targeted, and ceasefires have so far been ineffectual. In light of Australia's achievement in drafting and passing a resolution on MH17 through the Security Council last week, should we use our position as a non-permanent member of the Security Council to promote a sustained ceasefire in Gaza? What do you think? GAZA A video question from Mohammad Hammoud: In light of the war on Gaza and the consequent crisis unfolding, will Australian MP's reconsider Australia's 99% pro Israel stance as stated by Alexander Downer? Considering that the level of aggression on Gaza stems from attitudes such as Israeli MP Ayelet Shaked referring to the mothers of martyrs as enemy combatants who must be killed or Netanyahu's call for vengeance in a fit of rage rather than a rational call for justice and the Israeli cheer squad celebrating on the hills surrounding Gaza as bombs rained down on the Palestinians. What do you think? GAZA Marie Bonardelli asked: Can you speak to the importance of maintaining a distinction between critiques of Israel politics and criticism of Jewish people to ensure that we aren’t implicating Jewish people as a group in Israel’s policies, especially here in Australia. What do you think? AGATHA CHRISTIE PLOTS A video question from Jarod Rhine-Davis: Back in her day, Agatha Christie's stories broke many conventions of the detective fiction genre. Nowadays, those plot twists have been overused to the point of cliché, only aggravated by a Web 2.0 community where anyone can publish creative works. This seems like one symptom of a larger problem. How can one attempt to say anything new when it seems like anything worth saying has already been said? What do you think? POIROT Selwyn Suchet asked: David, you’ve played Hercules Poirot in over 70 episodes . Which was your, and the panel’s favourite and why ? What do you think? ANIMAL CRUELTY Jeremy Richman asked: Almost every exposure of cruelty to animals, in Australia, and across Australia's live exports, has been by people acting covertly. This seems to demonstrate a failure of the government to enforce its legislation. So, instead of placing restrictions on the people who are trying to expose and prevent cruelty, why don’t you focus on legislating for complete openness and visibility - for example cameras in abattoirs and places where animals are farmed behind closed doors? What do you think? ANIMAL CRUELTY Carolyn Grenville asked: To slightly misquote Leonardo da Vinci, will there come a time when we look upon the mistreatment of animals as we now look upon the mistreatment of people? What do you think? HOCKEY BIO Kevin Brennan asked: Can Madonna please explain why Joe Hockey`s biography was released so soon after his first budget and with still only ten months behind him in government. Aren't biographies normally written at the end of a career? What do you think? MEGA MINE A video question from Cliff Wallace: I'm based at Maules Creek, I've been here 29 years, and just directly behind me now is a new mega mine that is being built for coal. It is approximately 400km inland, due west of Coffs Harbour. This mine is going to destroy just about everything that gets in its way. The question I've got for Barnaby Joyce - Why'd you sell us out? What do you think? SLIPPER Audrey Marsh asked: Today Peter Slipper was found guilty of dishonestly using Cabcharges. In the hours since, much of the anecdotal commentary I have heard has asserted that a winery tour on taxpayers coin should not have received such large-scale judicial attention. Do you agree with this, or is there merit in drawing attention to smaller acts of parliamentary misbehaviour? What do you think?