Patricia Karvelas will return as permanent host of the ABC’s Q+A in 2024, having been filling in after the departure of Stan Grant earlier in the year.
She will also continue to present RN Breakfast three or five days a week, depending on the Q+A schedule.
Patricia Karvelas said “Q+A is the town hall. It’s the only program bringing together a range of guests to debate the big issues where ordinary people – not journalists or insiders – can come along and ask questions of powerful people.
“I thrive on big and difficult conversations and I’m excited and privileged to take on the role of host of this iconic ABC program in 2024.
“A show like Q+A should constantly be evolving to meet the needs of Australians and that’s what I’m committed to doing.
“RN Breakfast is the agenda-setting long-form audio interview program that brings me so much joy. I’m delighted to combine my love of radio and TV at the ABC.”
Justin Stevens, ABC Director, News said “Having a journalist of Patricia Karvelas’s calibre leading these two key programs is terrific for the ABC and for audiences.
“Patricia’s an exceptional communicator with a rare ability to cut through complex issues and make them clear.
“She’s an independent thinker who brings ethical and intellectual rigour to her journalism.”
In May, Grant left the show citing racial abuse that he had been on the receiving end of since the coronation of King Charles III. In a column posted on the ABC’s website, Grant wrote that the ABC’s reaction to the abuse helped him come to his decision.
“I am writing this because no one at the ABC — whose producers invited me onto their coronation coverage as a guest — has uttered one word of public support. Not one ABC executive has publicly refuted the lies written or spoken about me. I don’t hold any individual responsible; this is an institutional failure.
“I value the friendship of ABC director of news, Justin Stevens. He has been a support and a comfort. He is trying to change an organisation that has its own legacy of racism. But he knows I am disappointed. I am dispirited.”
See Also: Stan Grant to leave Q+A, citing racist abuse after ABC’s coronation coverage
Q+A returns on Monday 19 February 2024.