Australia and the World Past and Present

‘Sky After Dark’ is a commonly used label for Sky News Australia’s night-time programs, which tend to be more opinion-driven than the daytime news coverage.

It includes shows hosted by Peta Credlin, Andrew Bolt, Paul Murray, Sharri Markson and Chris Kenny.

I used to watch more of the ABC than I do now.

I used to watch Q&A when Tony Jones was the host.

Q&A was introduced to the ABC in 2008. It premiered as a current affairs program and featured a live audience.

Tony Jones hosted the program until December 2019 – about 12 years.

Since Jones stepped down the program had several hosts including Hamish Macdonald, David Speers, Virginia Trioli, Stan Grant and Patricia Karvelas.

In 2025 the ABC announced that the show would be discontinued.

In the beginning the show was a good one. It covered the issues of the day and a wide variety of guests were invited to participate. At that stage there was a genuine diversity of viewpoints.

But the show morphed into a leftie talkfest.

It became a leftie echo chamber.

Panels became more dominated by people from the Left. Conservatives panellists often just served as whipping posts for the other guests.

Q&A became less of a forum for genuine discussion. It also became less and less popular. Many people were turned off.

When ”Sky After Dark’ came along, it was refreshing just to have an alternative view being presented.

The challenge will be for the Sky programs to resist doing what the ABC did, albeit from the other side of the political spectrum.

The Sky programs have so far resisted the temptation to lock out other viewpoints. They regularly invite Labor-aligned commentators on for discussion. These panellists are usually more articulate than rabid.

Former Labor senator and minister Stephen Conroy is a frequent guest.

Nick Reece is a former Labor adviser who is sometimes invited for a centre-left perspective.

These individuals hold different a perspective to the host. Hosts do not shy away from putting forward hard questions. As a rule, guests are treated with respect. They are not shouted down. They are given the opportunity to put their case.

There is a fundamental assumption on these programs that freedom of speech is a good thing.

The tendency (present on so many leftie programs) to deplatform people is not common on the Sky After Dark lineup.

If these programs continue to discuss issues in an open manner and allow different viewpoints, they will probably continue to be successful.