ABC move on Q&A puts ball in Tony Abbott’s court

The federal government has not indicated whether it will immediately lift ­its ban on ministers ­appearing on Q&A.

Tony Jones, host of the ABC’s Q&A program.

The federal government has not indicated whether it will immediately lift ­its ban on ministers ­appearing on Q&A after the ABC board flagged its intention to move the program to its news division.

The board yesterday acceded to its chairman James Spigelman’s suggestion the talkback program should be moved from the ABC’s television department to the news and current affairs division, ­although the ABC committed to doing so only “no later than the 2016 broadcast year”.

It gives both sides wriggle room. The ABC can say the change has been agreed, if not quite implemented, and the ban on appearances should be lifted; Tony Abbott can hold firm until the end of the year or relax the ban and ­Coalition MPs, who were told by the Prime Minister to boycott the program until changes were made, could appear as early as Monday.

Parliament resumes sittings on Monday, however, making it difficult for ministers to appear.

And the ABC news division may be wary of inviting government ministers back to the program. Since the PM-enforced boycott after the appearance on the program of convicted criminal Zaky Mallah, ratings for the Monday night show have thrived, recording its biggest audience for 2015 the week after Mr Mallah’s ­appearance.

This week’s episode starring astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson rated above this year’s average with 676,000 viewers. Politicians of all persuasions may have done themselves out of a regular forum, although government ministers have been sounded out by the show in recent weeks.

Mr Spigelman suggested to Mr Abbott last month that the controversial program could come under the auspices of the seemingly more rigorous news department. The decision, with which the Mr Abbott agreed, was ratified at the ABC board meeting in Melbourne.

The ABC said the “timing of the move will be determined by management in light of accommo­dation, scheduling, staffing and other factors’’.

The board also ­received an ­update on the independent review of the program being undertaken by former SBS chief Shaun Brown and presenter Ray Martin, expected to conclude in October.

The spotlight on the Monday night program followed intense scrutiny after the program allowed Mr Mallah to ask, as a member of the show’s studio audience, a ­question of a government frontbencher.

The ABC later admitted it was an “error of judgment” and the show’s executive producer, Peter McEvoy, was issued a formal warning.

McEvoy would not comment last night.