On Q&A, Minister for Urban Infrastructure and Cities Paul Fletcher said South Australia’s high electricity prices were “the consequence” of Jay Weatherill’s renewable energy policies. Is that right?
In a South Australian leaders’ debate, Jay Weatherill and Nick Xenophon disagreed over the extent to which young people are leaving the state in search of better opportunities. We asked the experts.
SA Liberal Party leader Steven Marshall said that state Labor policy had left South Australians with ‘the highest energy prices in Australia’ and ‘the least reliable grid’. Is that right?
The Australian Hotels Association of South Australia claims poker machine reforms proposed by Nick Xenophon’s SA Best party would wipe out ‘many of the 26,000’ jobs in the hotel industry. Is that right?
The Conversation’s FactCheck team will be in Adelaide for the next two weeks, working with academics to test politicians’ claims against the evidence as South Australians prepare to vote on March 17.
In Hobart supporting the Tasmanian Greens ahead of the state election, Greens leader Richard Di Natale said ‘in one of our states, women are not getting access to safe terminations’. Is that correct?
How many shark encounters have there been at your local beach? Explore our interactive map to see 20 years of incidents between humans and sharks in coastal waters around Australia.
The Tasmanian Liberal party is promoting gaming industry estimates that ‘around 5,000 jobs’ would be at risk if poker machines were removed from pubs and clubs in Tasmania. Are the estimates correct?
The Australian Banking Association says ‘nearly 80% of bank profits go straight back to shareholders’, the majority of whom are ‘everyday Australians’. Is that right?
On Q&A, Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive James Pearson said almost 60% of small business owners in Australia are paid $50,000 or less. Is that right?
In an article published in the lead up to Australia Day, WA Liberal Party policy committee chairman Sherry Sufi said “native title can only exist if Australia was settled, not invaded”. Is that right?
The organisation Sense about Science advocates for openness and honesty about research, and ensures the public interest in sound science and evidence is recognised in public debates and policymaking.
To all the Q&A viewers and Conversation readers who requested or shared a FactCheck Q&A in 2017: thank you. Here are a selection of your requests, and the responses from our expert FactCheck authors.
Tim Nicholls said the introduction of a youth curfew in the WA suburb of Northbridge ‘saw a dramatic drop in crime and a reduction in the anti-social behaviour of young people’. Is that right?
One Nation Queensland leader Steve Dickson said the Safe Schools program contained ‘highly explicit material’ that is being ‘directed at young children’. We asked the experts to look at the facts.
Queensland Labor claimed it has ‘created 122,500 jobs – more than four times the number of jobs created under the Newman-Nicholls government’. Is that right? We asked the experts.
Did the government-funded gun buybacks introduced after the Port Arthur massacre have “no effect” in reducing gun deaths in Australia, as an audience member claimed on Q&A? Let’s look at the evidence.