The ABC has axed the weekly panel show 'Q-and-A' after 18 years on air. The show which has been hosted by Patricia Karvelas since 2023 will not return in August as had been planned.
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00:00Well I think it was an example of a show that was brilliant when it first started and we
00:08got to the point looking at the show over the last few years I think and certainly since
00:12I started where we sort of came to the realisation that it wasn't the show that it was meant
00:17to be when it started and that's through nobody's fault. Times have changed, the whole world
00:22of social media and engagement with the program has changed. You know it wasn't the best form
00:28of you know publicly driven commentary into politics anymore so we just feel it's time
00:34to reflect on that go okay well maybe we should be refreshing the schedule looking for other
00:39things that maybe do a better purpose and trying to create that impact that that show had when
00:44it first started. Does it not worry you that you're taking away what was a very good format
00:49for real people, voters, audiences directly questioning the leaders of this country?
00:54Well that does worry me and we need to have that as part of our our mix. Obviously the
01:00views of the public you know our taxpayers our constituents are very important so I think
01:06we made a big effort with that with the Your Say campaign as part of our recent election coverage
01:11which was amazing in terms of the response we got. We're going to make a big commitment
01:16to continuing that you know independently of elections. Yeah and we do need to find formats
01:22that are I guess our modern and our contemporary way of reflecting the public's views on politics and
01:28issues of the day so it's not giving up on the space it's just recognizing that we need to reinvent.
01:33So you're looking at Waze, is there anything in the pipeline?
01:37There's nothing specifically in the pipeline at the moment but it's certainly an active discussion
01:41that I'm having with the news team and the content team in general and we'll see you know what new
01:48and clever ideas come up and how we can get those to air in the coming years.
01:52You're also looking at all areas I guess within the ABC. You've been in the job for three months now
01:58and making other strategic changes. Why do you think there needs to be these changes?
02:02I think you know we have a responsibility to ensure that we're delivering the best outcomes to the
02:08audience that we possibly can. I guess part of a significant part of my job is making sure that
02:13we prioritize the money that we do have on the right things to deliver you know things that the ABC needs
02:19to deliver and in particular impact with the audience. So that just means a constant looking at
02:25our resources and saying you know are we prioritizing the right things? Are there things that maybe don't
02:29deliver the impact or the outcomes that you know we believe we should be delivering and then saying
02:36okay if there are other ways to prioritize that spend we should be looking at that and that's
02:40a constant exercise. So this is a point in time these are decisions being made today. There is nothing
02:47more substantive planned at this stage but you know it is part of my job to be making sure that we make
02:53those decisions all the time. It is quite substantive what you have announced today and there will be
02:57redundancies won't there? There will be redundancies yes and that's obviously to be regretted. People
03:03have worked very hard and given themselves to the ABC so that's always you know an unfortunate part of
03:10these decisions but my job is to also look after all the other staff at the ABC to make sure the ABC
03:17is delivering you know relevance to the public and to deliver obviously for audiences so you know that's
03:23just a constant process and we need to be prepared to make those hard decisions when needed. You no
03:29doubt know that you'll also need to be prepared to work with the unions when redundancies are proposed
03:35in the past. There's been a lot of kickback. You haven't had to deal with that in your previous
03:40jobs so much have you? Well I don't know about that. We certainly had some discussions involving the
03:47unions back at my time in nine but look that's a necessary and you know important part of the
03:53process. This is a consultation process that's now open. We'll see what feedback we get as a result of
04:00that and we'll see where we land. You know no final decisions have been made just I guess at this stage
04:05a plan and an indication of the course that we want to take. There will be some looking at it and say
04:11these are just about saving money. Well the best part of being the managing director of the ABC is
04:17it's actually not about saving money. It's actually about making sure that we spend the money to deliver
04:22the best possible impact and that possible impact being judged by our service to Australians. So
04:28you know I think talking about the strategy of the ABC and what's important going forward
04:34you know I look to a future where there are there are a couple of main elements. One is those core
04:39services that we provide connecting to communities connecting to Australians every day. You know the
04:44importance of local radio, the importance of news and current affairs, our children's output, our arts
04:52output. These are all things by the way that pretty much the ABC is left to deliver and more will be
04:58asked of us in the future than less. So they're very important and then I need to supplement that with
05:03real things of impact. Things that you know the audience generally across the country look back at the end of
05:08the year and say wow wasn't that an amazing show or wasn't that an amazing podcast or piece of audio
05:13and isn't that performance great or amazing and so these the high impact and you know those core
05:18services where things need to come together and that's where we need to place our focus. Talk to me
05:23about the changes that you plan to make to Radio National. Well there's not many changes to Radio
05:29National. I think what we're doing is just aligning the audio teams that sat in this sort of division of
05:36digital content and innovation more directly with the audio teams that sit in Radio National so I
05:41think that's pretty clear. We are making a distinction and separating the reliance of responsibility
05:46between effectively our local radio in the metropolitan main markets and sport. I think
05:53sport definitely has an important role to play in the ABC and local sport in particular an important
05:58role to play so really the change we're making is to reflect that you know they deserve equal
06:03weighting in the organisation and a renewed focus on sport as well as that important local radio
06:10network that we have all around the country. Lots of people at the ABC have been here a long time and
06:14they will have seen managing directors come in and do this it happens on a cyclical basis are you
06:20worried that you won't be able to take the staff with you? Look it is important that you know I be able
06:25to communicate strategy the reason why that we make these changes the so what if you like and you know
06:35I think we're endeavouring to do that today with some communications and then next week we'll be
06:40meeting with the board of the ABC to talk about the strategic future of the organisation and settling
06:46that hopefully for the immediate future and again there'll be another opportunity for us to communicate
06:51that to the staff so I think we are very focused on ensuring that everybody is very clear about what
06:58we're doing and why and what their role is as part of that and I think that's probably a renewed focus
07:04I can bring to that activity you know that I've identified in my initial time here. I was going to
07:09say three months in the job are you enjoying it what are the challenges? I think you know it is a changing
07:15world and particularly the content world is changing you know tastes change delivery mechanisms the
07:21sorts of content that people engage with and I think that's both a challenge but also very
07:27stimulating to work with the teams here to to be able to you know change or innovate or just build
07:33upon what they're doing to to work to that world that bit I find fascinating the other thing that I
07:38think is that I found really pleasing the ABC is there's a great sense of shared purpose amongst the
07:43staff of the organisation I think a great desire to serve the audiences and to serve the public
07:49I shouldn't have been surprised by that but I think that unity of voice and purpose has is amazing
07:55and for me to be able to build on that and to continue to give that focus and strategic focus
08:01and to just re-prioritise in the right places I hope and and I expect that we'll all see the benefit
08:07that will come from that