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Piers Akerman cancels Q & A appearance

Originally booked for Monday, News Corp commentator cancelled his appearance earlier this week.

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2015-07-03_1323

On Monday when Tony Jones announced the line up for next week’s Q & A he included “leading News Corp commentator Piers Akerman,” but yesterday his name was absent from the confirmed line up.

Today in the Daily Telegraph Akerman writes the he accepted an invitation 2 weeks ago, but after the Zaky Mallah incident he has since withdrawn.

In a lengthy piece about his current view on the show he writes:

The monolithic defence of the ABC by its staff in the wake of the Q&A disaster, the failure of Scott and the ABC board to take any responsibility or action when the program was repeated and the subsequent tardy reprimand only underscores the underlying lack of accountability within the organisation.

For this reason, I have lost confidence in the broadcaster and shall not appear on Q&A next Monday. I shall review my position when and if the ABC shows it understands why it is subjected to criticism and indicates that it has undergone some redemption.

Yesterday ABC confirmed Foreign Affairs Editor of The Australian, Greg Sheridan would appear on Monday.

  • Tagged with Q&A

27 Responses

  1. Oh dear, it’s quite understandable. The poor man might have caught terrorism cooties!

    This whole beat-up of a Q&A “scandal” simply shows how unable, nay unwilling, the self-styled defenders of our democracy are to engage in a debate about the ideas that motivate the jihadists and extremists that supposedly threaten our survival more than anything since Hitler (tough break Stalin, Mao and Tojo, upon reflection you weren’t that scary after all).

    1. And now Tony Abbott has made Barnaby Joyce withdraw from tomorrow night’s Q&A, and has banned all government front-benchers from appearing. I guess that means Malcolm Turnbull too. With Piers Ackerman withdrawing this week, there’s obviously a concerted campaign to stop conservatives from appearing, in the hope that Q&A won’t be able to be even-handed in its panel composition so will have to fold. And there’s the added bonus that the govt ministers won’t need to be questioned on any of the myriad issues they have created and/or mishandled and/or overridden the public good.

  6. Piers Ackerman was the person who questioned the validity of Julia Gillard’s relationship with her partner on Insiders – after which Barrie chastised him refused to have him on for ages. Jim Sheridan is a stronger choice and the average IQ of the panel just went up.

  7. It is quite amusing to see that all the lefties are happy to anticipate a program which will not challenge their beliefs with the presentation of alternate views (balanced?).
    Now I’d like to know if the ABC is balanced, where is their right-wing current affairs program?

    1. so true, but part of the leftie doctrine is permanent denial of alternative views and the suppression of them by any means at their disposal…..with a considerable gallery of villains…Stalin, Mao, the North Korea Royal Kim family, Castro, Mugabe………

      1. Really jezza, it’s the “left” who want to deny alternative views?

        It isn’t the “left” who believe that Zaky should not have been allowed to ask his simple question in the first place.

        It isn’t the “left” who are denying doctors and other caregivers the right to report abuse and misconduct. (It is the “right” of both sides of politics doing this) :(.

        And it isn’t the “left” who are denying Piers and his other disgusting friends the right to preach their views (not facts) to us. In fact it is the “right” who are denying themselves this right by being too cowardly to appear on a show and present their views. In fact it is only the “left” who are expressing the adult opinion that they can choose not to watch Piers. You know… choice. That thing the “right” want to deny everyone by removing certain shows/channels from our spectrum 😉

      2. I see, so if right wing nut jobs refuse to attend, that’s somebody else’s fault? Interesting reasoning (and I use the term loosely).

    2. If the discussion isn’t balanced on Q&A its because the coalition mob have chucked a hissy fit and refused to attend. They are the reason that their viewpoint will not be heard.

  9. Crazy and sad decision. As a commentator you are not tied to policy or principles the way the pollies are. You can backflip change your mind etc… about anything with very limited consequences. So he could have gone on the show and incisively pulled it apart…..from the red (commie/socialist) stage set to the loaded panel and audience. It is so easy to come out with lines like ‘nice to be here, feels like the 1970s Kremlin with all this red, how about something more neutral ABC eh?’. It annoys the hell out of me that some right of centre commentators struggle to portray their views without appearing either nasty or afraid of a bit of blow back. The left and mad left are such a soft target as they represent the biggest failure of the 20th century, even 1930s Germany was run by a socialist party, albeit with a prefix….get your act together Piers

      1. true that is one approach…however a sustained period of attrition is more effective over the long term and backing out is unnacceptable to me, its a sign of weakness

  11. Oh dreams do come true. Now I can watch Q&A on Monday after all.
    Piers…please…please…please…also cancel any future appearances on “Insiders”.

    1. I’m pretty sure he is no longer a welcome guest on Insiders – a couple of years back he got into a spat with the host, said something quite inflammatory (yes, more than usual), and Barry Cassidy castigated him on air for it, and i thought to myself – he won’t be back – and I don’t think he has.

          1. During discussion of Sattler’s comments on Insiders in 2013, Akerman implied that the question about Matheson had been a widely discussed topic in the Press Gallery, and Cassidy rebuked him on air. He may have made 1 more appearance in 2013 but was then fired after a review in early 2014. Google Piers Akerman Insiders to read full story on Andrew Bolt’s blog

  14. Win Win! Absolutely guaranteed a better show for his non appearance. And my shoes and TV screen will be spared any violent moments come Monday night. Greg Sheridan has so much more to offer. And as for Barnaby Jones (sorry Joyce), as George Costanza once quipped ‘that’s my idea of c-o-m-e-d-y’

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