Being an ABC producer is a tough gig.
On one hand you have to wrangle federal politicians, some of whom are way, way too keen to be on the program (while others have to be practically carried on, kicking and screaming). Then, there is the tricky art of who gets let into the studio audience and who doesn't.
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Q&A; disrupted by protesting students
In 2014, ABC's Q&A; host Tony Jones and then Education Minister Christopher Pyne were left helpless when a number of students raucously disrupted the evening's show protesting about higher education cuts.
Q&A; staff have, over the past day or so, been negotiating with student activists furious that a young person won't be on Monday night's post-budget panel.
The episode, which will be broadcast live from the Gold Coast, is set to feature education minister Simon Birmingham, shadow treasurer Chris Bowen and Greens senator Larissa Waters.
Innes Willox, from business lobby group Australian Industry Group, and academic Miranda Stewart, will also appear.
The National Union of Students is furious that there isn't a single young person on Monday night's panel after the Turnbull government signalled its intention to cut university funding and require students to repay their higher education loans sooner.
NUS president Sophie Johnston said it was disappointing a young person won't be on Q&A; to talk about how they will be "hit hard" by the 2017 budget.
"Unfortunately, that hasn't been changed or rectified," she said. "This whole budget is a war on young people. They're calling education bad debt and penalty rates are going to be cut. All these measures are constantly going after young people and not investing in our futures."
After being called out about the lack of millennials on the panel, a Q&A; producer offered the student union a ticket for a representative to sit in the live audience. After all, best not to risk a repeat of 2014 when a group of Sydney students halted the broadcasting of a panel featuring then education minister Christopher Pyne.
This peace offering, however, was rejected – with NUS deciding to instead protest outside Q&A;'s Gold Coast studio. The union has also accused Q&A; of scouring students' Facebook pages and knocking back their individual requests to be part of the live audience (this is, of course, standard practice following the 2014 debacle).
Johnston said she could understand Q&A; did not want to risk the live broadcast being disrupted, but that was no excuse for not having a young person on the panel to dissect the budget.
"Young people deserve to be heard," she said.
A view Q&A; producers no doubt share, but in practice – this time around – have decided to take as comment.
Originally published on The Sydney Morning Herald as Students set to protest Q&A;'s federal budget 2017 special .
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