Putin's War | Q+A Highlights

Stan Grant and the panel discuss the broader consequences of war in eastern Europe.

Dennis Richardson, Former Director-General of ASIO; Deborah Snow, Senior writer, Sydney Morning Herald and former Moscow correspondent; Jason Falinski, NSW Liberal MP; Brendan O'Connor, Shadow Minister for Defence; and Olga Boichak, Lecturer in Digital Cultures, University of Sydney.

This episode was broadcast on Thursday March 3, 2022.

The point of Q+A is to bring together people with a range of widely divergent views and create a forum where they can have a civil and productive discussion despite their differences. Controversial opinions are inevitable, but they are also challenged by the host, panellists and audience.

Sasha Gillies-Lekakis did not ask the question that he had agreed and what he said instead contained major inaccuracies. He was asked to finish his question and the issue was aired in the panel discussion.

As the program developed, Stan Grant, a highly experienced presenter of live TV, was aware that other audience members were distressed. After careful consideration he decided the best course of action was for Mr Gillies-Lekakis to leave the studio, which was live-to-air. The ABC fully supports his judgment and handling of this situation.

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[trevordean]

What a garbage debate when you kick someone out for having a different idea

[MRTY]

Wow, I've never seen such passion in previous invasions of Iraq Afghanistan and Libya.

Sasha enjoyed some freedom of speech there lol 😂

[kortaffel]

23:50 you see democracy dying with thunderous applause ....

[Tammywentwalkabout.]

Stan, Ukrainian and your Kiev government need to know what they have done in Donetsk and Luhansk, people there been living in their basement due to shelling from Ukraine army and Azov Battalion, it funny how Ukrainian is playing the victim now. Stan cant you feel the people in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria?, remember how Australian invaded Afghanistan, what did your special force did to those poor Afghan teenagers?

[psychedelicprawncrumpets]

I have to question everything if I'm only allowed to get 1 side of the story.. The man should not have been removed

[seminoleboy]

Lmao what a joke of a "debate". Even if you hate Putin it's worthwhile to understand the motivations of the enemy.

[alanfurlong]

In Ireland during the troubles we had a similar issue, not allowing Irish Catholic nationalists debate on TV as they were allegedly supporting violence. We had to learn that all sides need to be in the debate no mater how difficult it was to hear opposing sides. Ejecting Sasha from the debate was a waste of time as you need to keep people in the debate. It took many years in Ireland to get the two factions to talk, after 1000’s of unnecessary deaths. Ejecting one side out of the debate just delays and frustrates a process. Stan is a great interviewer but taking the moral high ground is useless as in the end we need to get people to talk together. Yes they will vent and then something happens, people learn to hear beyond the venting. May peace prevail!

[Mrshake_yes]

No such debates over Israel occupation and apartheid over Palestine!! Yet using same terminologies for Russia over Ukraine.. who is taking sides now? Why no debates and sanction to US bombing in middle east and no way it touches the mainstream media. Let alone your show. Iraq Afghanistan and other countries who are being Bombed by US deserve much more than your one sided debate. Also, If one has a different opinion to yours then chill, don’t make a scene. This shows your intolerance. Say No to any war, not just what appeals you.

[CherishedPeg]

How is it a debate when you are already one sided .. kicking that Russian guy out means this is biased

[lenniegodber]

The episode that proved that the ABC does not believe in the right to free speech or having an opinion contrary to the popular media narrative.

[felixnewman]

Stan Grant is a muppet. Learn to listen to the question that is being asked!

[stephenogier]

Sorry Stan, but I think you were wrong to send Sasha from the room. You say you want a discussion, but you don't allow anyone who thinks differently from you to speak. That makes you as bad as Putin. Sasha is entitled to his views and I'm sure he believes he has a right to believe them based on what he has seen, read or been told, but by throwing him out of the talk you lose an opportunity to perhaps persuade him to a different view and others to hear why he thinks the way he does. Personally I would have liked to hear what he had to say. Your Liberal politician stated that we live in a system of international law, but clearly that didn't apply when Bush invaded Iraq and also killed innumerable civilians with his 'shock and awe' tactics. You didn't silence or clarify the obviously false statements of the politician, so why Sasha? If you are willing to allow one wrong or misleading view, then you must allow others also. It is only with many voices and critical thinking that we can come to the real truth. The situation is not black and white whatever you may think and not all of Putin's grievances with the West lack merit. While that does not give him the right to dismiss the notion of sovereignty in Ukraine or invade it, it needs to be understood in order to understand the nuance in this. Perhaps if as a world we had tried people like George Bush and his cronies for war crimes as they should have been, then perhaps that might have deterred Putin from committing his many and varied war crimes. We are all complicit in what is happening in Ukraine no matter how we try to justify our objections now.

[lazybob]

I dont think it is helpful to remove Sasha. His key point of a UN report suggesting 13000 civilians were killed by the Ukrainian goverment in Donbas is in my view misleading. Stan is aware of this. He should have clarify and corrected this misinformation. The casualties are around 4500 Ukrainian armed forces, 5500 separatist forces, 500 Russian armed forces and 3000 civilians. There is no breakdown for the civilian casualties and have no information on which side is responsible. Over 13000 died including 3000 civilian casualties is already a horrifying number but it is simply not true to say that the Ukrainian government 'killed' 13000 civilians. It should also be noted that the armed conflicts started because the separatist seized the government buildings throughout the Donbas region by force.

[xtrain]

In my opinion what Stan did was wrong. No matter how wrong the gentleman was, and how much he has been manipulated by false information, free speech is a right in our country. We should feel disgusted about our own defence force committing war crimes in Afghanistan and being sent to Iraq in the first place which in some ways was violence that was 'advocated for' or perpetrated by Australians or Australia. While I'm proud to be Australian and think we have one of the best global reputations when it comes to these matters, I'd hate to see our country be full of hypocrites and shut down debate based on the argument "you like violence and I don't"

[justadam]

Very brave to leave the comment section open

[politicsvitalforliberty]

I do not agree with Sasha at all
The MEDIA host should NOT have expelled him at all
He may be merely misinformed or outright lying
Freedom of speech is still freedom of speech

[htvddhc]

The upper limit of abc thinking is like this, and it is impossible to understand something beyond party politics

[TheMahdi]

So we have a panel advocating for democracy then we become hypocritical by sending the opponents views out of the room. Lol the irony. Stan should we censor every American? They have done more then Russia? I would have loved to understand where the young man was coming from.

[FaradayBananacage]

LOL these comments. "Free speech!" "Censorship!" This is a game that they play. They make the most absurd claims, providing no evidence, and then it's all your fault for calling them out and booting them off the show.

[atb]

Is there zero analysis in what the lead up was to this moment?