Stan Grant has been named as the new permanent host of the ABC’s weekly panel discussion show Q+A.
Grant’s appointment follows a period during which he has variously shared hosting duties with political journalist David Speers and ABC Radio host Virginia Trioli after Hamish MacDonald left the show to return to the Ten Network last year.
Q+A has suffered a steady dip in ratings since it switched time slots from Monday to Thursday and long-time host Tony Jones departed the program in 2019.
Grant’s first show as permanent host will be an August 1, special edition of Q_A from the Garma Festival in north-east Arnhem Land.
“Garma is a talking place where the nation asks itself hard questions about who we are. It is an honour to take the helm of Q+A from there,” Grant, 58, said in a statement.
“Hosting Q+A is a huge responsibility. I feel the weight of the audience’s trust in me and the program. I will approach my role with integrity, decency and humility.”
Reaction to the announcement online was swift and largely negative, with many commenters taking issue with Grant’s perceived trait of talking over his guests and audience members.
ABC Director of News Justin Steven, however, said Grant was a natural fit to take over the reins of Q+A on a permanent basis.
“With Stan at the helm we’ll continue to explore ways to further develop Q+A, including how to get audiences even more involved,” he said in a statement.
Grant’s previous stints at the helm of Q+A not been without controversy, punctuated by an incident in March when he took the unprecedented step of ejecting an audience member who vocally aired discredited pro-Russian claims about the invasion of Ukraine.
The move divided viewers and started an online debate over whether Grant acted to rightly preserve the debate, or disrespected the audience member’s right to an opinion.
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