Q+A: Season 2023, Episode 14

2023 - 14: Health, privilege and swearing allegiance

This week on Q+A… a health system at breaking point. Are we becoming a country of haves and have-nots, with top medical care only available to those who can afford it? Is seeing a GP becoming a luxury? And as Australia ages, can Medicare keep up?

Meanwhile… what does Scarlett O'Hara have to do with Donald Trump? And what's the link between Gone with the Wind and the rioters who stormed the US Capitol on January 6?

Literature and culture expert Sarah Churchwell joins the panel to explain her take on one of America's best-known novels – arguing that its denialism of the horrors of slavery and trumpeting of white nationalism are inextricably linked with Trumpism and the issues that continue to divide the US today.

Australia is also a nation becoming more polarised – along political, social and cultural lines. So what can we learn from the American experience?

And as the coronation of a new king approaches – what does the monarchy mean in modern Australia?

Joining guest host David Speers on the panel live from Melbourne:

Mark Butler, Minister for Health and Aged Care
Bridget Archer, Liberal member for Bass
Anthony Dillon, Researcher and Aboriginal affairs commentator
Sarah Churchwell, American literature and culture expert
Mukesh Haikerwal, GP, Deputy Chair Australian GP ALLIANCE and formerly President of the AMA & Chair of the AIHW and World Medical Association.