Tegan.

Feminism On Monday, Brooke Magnanti, Germaine Greer, Janet Albrechtsen, Mia Freedman and Deborah Cheetham appeared on what looks like Australia's ABC1 network's equivalent of Question Time or The Agenda (or Sunday Morning Live, I suppose) but with a few A-Levels and a Degree.

 Each episode is themed and the panelists were asked a series of questions about feminism. Early in the conversation, the topic of Margaret Thatcher had already been considered in relation to Australia's current head of state Julia Gillard, but then became the main focus when, proving that live television is always the best television, coincidentally it was up to the host to ... well here's the transcript:

"TONY JONES: Okay. I’m going to just break from the usual routine here of jumping from question to question and I would welcome - what I'm about to say, I would welcome questions from the audience so think about that as you hear this. News is just coming through that Britain's first Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher has died. There will be a full report on this on Lateline program after Q&A or on News Radio if you happen to be listening to News Radio but we have been talking about women leaders. We were talking, indeed, about Margaret Thatcher.

BROOKE MAGNANTI: And me with no champagne.

TONY JONES: Now, that's a tough one.

BROOKE MAGNANTI: Yeah.

TONY JONES: Now, Elvis Costello once wrote a song saying he would stamp the dirt down on her grave. But I think time has passed now and people have a slightly different view of Margaret Thatcher. Do you think that's true or not?

BROOKE MAGNANTI: I do think it's true. I mean we have to remember as well that when Richard Nixon died in the United States people had an enormously different view of him. He went away post-Watergate, came back tanned, rested and ready as an elder statesman and certainly Margaret Thatcher did that extremely effectively. But she has sort of transcended what the policies of her day were to become iconic, either as a figure of hate for the left or a figure of reference for the right. In a way both are really, really valuable because they light a fire under people's aspirations, whether you agree with her or disagree with her. Having that focus, it’s probably an incredibly stressful place to be as an individual thought ..."

It's a thrilling piece of television, far better than some recent editions of the British equivalents.  Watch out for the moment when Brooke and Germaine correct an audience member about Thatcher's background. "That's awkward..."

25/04/2013  Brooke's blogged about this appearance an Mia Freedman's attitude.