Last night’s Q&A program aired on The ABC was pathetic.
Despite having Trade Minister, Andrew Robb, on the panel, and negotiations for the highly contentious Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal drawing to a close, chair Tony Jones failed to allow one question on the issue, despite assurances that there would be a discussion.
As shown in the above video extract, at the 52 minute mark of the program an audience member grew frustrated at the lack of discussion and called-out demanding their question on the TPP be addressed:
AUDIENCE MEMBER: I’m sorry the show is nearly over and you haven’t talked about the TPP, the biggest trade deal… This deal is going to effect ..(indistinct)…
Amid boos from the audience, Tony Jones replied:
TONY JONES: The show is not nearly over and we have a question on that subject if you’d just hold your horses?…
All right. Okay, thank you. You’ve made that point. We’re going to come to that question in a minute, so Andrew Robb…
What then proceeded was a ten minute discussion about an autistic boy being deported, which took up all of the remaining time on the program.
So instead of using the show as an opportunity to grill Andrew Robb on the TPP – a very important agreement that could adversely affect the price we pay for pharmaceuticals (amongst other things) and the nation’s sovereignty – precious time was wasted on more trivial issues, including Tony Abbott’s beer drinking.
Epic fail Tony Jones and the ABC.
