This week on Q+A – all the big issues of the week including, as India’s Covid-19 outbreak spirals out of control, Australia has announced it will suspend all passenger flights between the two countries until mid-May to reduce the risk of spreading the disease.
What does this mean for Australians stuck in India?
We’ll also look at why mass vaccination centres in Australia are operating at a fraction of capacity and ask what the government needs to do to restore faith in its vaccination rollout?
The war of words over the country’s hotel quarantine system is raging on, with some calling the system “faulty” and not fit for purpose. What is the future for Australia’s hotel quarantine system?
As the government looks to next month’s budget, we’ll discuss the treatment of women in the workplace, with Nationals Senator Bridget McKenzie and communications specialist Parnell Palme McGuiness, including a proposal to get more women into the workforce, by lifting the maximum childcare subsidy and scrapping an annual cap on support.
And we’ll hear about the ongoing impact of COVID-19 on our arts community with Courtney Act joining us on the panel and closing the show with a performance.
Joining Hamish on the panel:
Bridget McKenzie
Nationals Senate Leader
Bridget McKenzie currently serves as Leader of The Nationals in the Senate.
Courtney Act
Performer and advocate
Courtney Act is more than just gender or drag – she is a contemporary artist who embodies the zeitgeist of an era.
Mark Butler
Shadow Minister for Health and Ageing
Mark Butler has been the Labor Member for Port Adelaide and Hindmarsh in the Federal Parliament since 2007
Parnell Palme McGuinness
Communications Consultant
Parnell Palme McGuinness is Managing Director of Strategy and Policy at Agenda C and regular columnist on culture and politics for the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.
Hervé Lemahieu
Director, Power and Diplomacy Program, Lowy Institute
Hervé Lemahieu is Director of the Power and Diplomacy Program at the Lowy Institute. His research focusses on the implications of Asia’s economic transformation for war, peace and the global balance of power in the twenty-first century.
