Alan Jones polarises viewers on Q&A

2GB broadcaster Alan Jones was a guest on Q&A last night, but you’d think he was running the show. He took over and spoke his mind throughout the program, speaking passionately and at length about a range of topics. Did you watch?

One of the most talked about topics of late has been the Bali Nine duo Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran’s executions and Alan Jones dove straight into the debate, labelling the death penalty “barbaric”. Do you agree?

Jailed ringleader Myuran Sukumaran’s friend read out a statement from him which said,

“I acknowledge more than anyone that I’ve made mistakes and I am not a perfect person, but I’ve learned a lot in prison and am grateful to the Indonesian justice system and to the prison guards for allowing me to achieve all that I have for myself and for other prisoners. Andrew and I are not the same people we were 10 years ago. But who is, really? We did commit a serious crime and deserve punishment but we have also paid a great deal for our crimes, as have our families. Please allow us to stay in prison and live. Our families should not have to suffer more for our mistakes”.

This provoked an impassioned response from Alan Jones who started by saying, “Well, what can I say? It’s barbaric, absolutely barbaric”. He went on to say that Indonesian President Joko Widodo should be called and we tell him “we gave you a billion dollars when you were hit by the tsunami”. But is that bribing or blackmail? Or is it a fair call? Do we deserve our prisoners’ lives to be saved because we often help Indonesia?

“It is a shame on the Indonesian system, but a pronounced shame on the Federal Police system”, he said about the AFP’s involvement in the arrests and imprisonments of the Bali Nine.

Alan Jones also spoke about benefits for the rich, and said “I just think it’s ludicrous someone like me can go to a hospital for nothing”, as well as making several jabs at Liberal MP Jamie Briggs and Labor MP Chris Bowen.

Did you watch Q&A last night? What did you think of Alan Jones’ many different arguments? Tell us below.