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Alan Jones Becoming A Feminist Wasn't The Only Outrageous Q&A Moment

Alan Jones Becoming A Feminist Wasn't The Only Outrageous Q&A Moment
Q&A ABC

There’s usually one or two moments late on Monday evening putting #qanda on the Twitter trends bar. But on Monday night there were too many to count on two hands.

Was it bound to happen with Alan Jones, Mia Freedman, Penny Wong and Michaelia Cash on the panel? Probably.

But it certainly didn't disappoint.

Here are the ten most enlightening calls of the night -- because to inform you about just one would be almost criminal.

1.The Minister for Women was attacked for not being a feminist

Like Julie Bishop, Michaelia Cash isn't a feminist. And when she was asked why she didn't identify as one, the audience -- and some panel members -- didn't buy it. It ended with Mia Freedman talking about ducks.

2. ...while Alan Jones became a feminist

True story. If you don't believe us fast-forward to 2 minutes and 50 seconds.

3.Alan Jones said the Stolen Generation were "taken away for their betterment"

Alan Jones' Q&A self seems a strikingly more moderate, softer spoken and altogether more reasonable figure than his radio shock jock self. That is, until he was asked about his widely publicised and controversial comments last month saying Australia needed more 'Stolen Generations'.

When asked whether the comments hindered the "nation's capacity for reconciliation", Jones defended his position.

"I've said all this before and I say it again, when are we going to say we can't visit the errors and omissions, the violence, the drug-related behaviour of parents, we can't be visiting that upon our children, whether they are Indigenous children or not," Jones said.

Tony Jones interjected: "So are you saying that the problem here perceived by most people is that you have chosen the wrong set of words when you said, 'We need Stolen Generations'?"

"Adam Giles said if you dare to do this, to take these Indigenous children away from intoxicated parents, violent parents, if you dared do that you would be frightened of being called part of a stolen generation. Now, we've got to understand that many of these children who were taken away -- and that's certainly what Bringing Them Home said as well -- were taken away for their betterment."

"The Departments of Public Education were particularly disposed to give Indigenous children opportunities that their parents didn't have."

Labor MP Penny Wong responded by saying that race should play no part in child protection policies.

4.Alan Jones then pledged to match anyone else's donations to Indigenous Australians

When New York-based TV and radio presenter Josh Zepps said Jones' remarks were "extremely callous" and far from helpful for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, Jones said this: "To inject a personal element, since it's become a little personal, I'll stack my commitment to Indigenous Australians in terms of cash and kind against any body else's."

Zepps said he unfortunately wasn't as rich as Jones.

5.Alan Jones said some people are uncomfortable with powerful women

"I'm always surprised that it's women who seem to be more uncomfortable," he said.

The comments came after the panel discussed Niki Savva's book 'The Road To Ruin', detailing Tony Abbott and his former Chief of Staff Peta Credlin's relationship.

"Will we ever get to a place where a powerful woman will be judged solely on her performance and not subject to endless rumours and innuendo about sleeping with the boss?"

6.Josh Zepp summed up Australian politics in ten seconds

When asked to comment on the Credlin and Abbott controversy, Zepp said this: "I feel like we're having the same conversation that we have quite a lot.

"I come back to Australia fairly regularly and every time I come back there's a new prime minister, and there's a book about why the last prime minister was inevitably going to fail and I turn on Q&A and there's a government minister saying we're firmly behind our current prime minister."

Even Michaelia Cash was laughing. Do yourself a favour and fast forward to 3 minutes and 20 seconds.

7.Penny Wong insulted Michaelia Cash and vice versa

Penny Wong said it felt like Question Time because Minister Cash was talking a lot and "very slowly".

Michaelia Cash said Wong was gloating about the Labor government apologising to the Stolen Generation but an apology doesn't do much -- policy does. They did however manage to agree about child protection briefly.

8. Josh Zepp called Penny Wong an "injured gazelle" and Donald Trump a "lion", which proved politics is "fundamentally broken"

"Do you believe the claims that Donald Trump might be a secret Democrat working from the inside to destabilise the Republican party so they could win?"

It was a question that had the audience in stitches, but Zepp's response was even more hilariously brilliant. It needs to be seen to be believed.

9. Tony Jones said next week they won't be talking about politics

We're not pulling your leg. He really did say that. The ABC will broadcast a "special science edition of Q&A" with Australia's Chief Scientist Alan Finkel among those on the panel. We have a feeling there won't be quite as many laughs next Monday.

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