Politics

“This Is The Second Wave Of Genocide”: Watch This ‘Q&A’ Audience Member Take The Panel To Task

"They have killed our communities ... Our old people are dying, our young people have a high rate of mental health, suicides..."

by Joseph Earp  29 October 2019
Q&A Guest takes panel to task

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Q&A sometimes has a reputation of being rather stuffy.

Guests — most of them politicians — get trotted out, audience members ask their questions, and the whole thing has all the impact of an elongated press conference.

Perhaps that’s not so surprising. After all, panellists are extremely aware that there are a bunch of cameras rolling on them, so tend to act at their most polished (with the noticeable exception of Sophie Mirabella, who managed to torch her entire career when she recoiled in horror at the sight of a fellow Q&A guest collapsing.) Human moments — true human moments — are rare, mostly smothered under soundbites, or a lot of very inarticulate shouting.

But last night things went a little different. Audience member Bruce Shillingsworth didn’t just offer a politely-phrased question, the norm when it comes to the show. He offered a damning indictment of the entire project of capitalism in Australia, calling out corporate greed, environmental destruction, and an utter lack of care that defines the way things operate in this country.

“The impact of the water mismanagement and the corruption, and the corporate greed and capitalism in this country has killed our rivers,” Shillingsworth said.

“They have killed our communities … Our old people are dying, our young people have a high rate of mental health, suicides … So a lot of First Nations people are leaving their land that they’ve lived on for thousands and thousands of years.

“How do we bring back the 50-year-old cod?” Shillingsworth asked. “How do we bring back the freshwater mussels? How do we bring back the aquatic life, the ecosystem that relied on the river and the water? They are now completely dead. They are extinct.

“Why are we selling water to make a profit? … This is the second wave of genocide.”

Watch the entire clip below.