Did Monday night's Q and A enlighten and educate southerners about life here in the Territory or did we just confirm their stereotypes?

It was fascinating being in the Darwin audience, feeling the mood of the crowd and then watching it at home. The studio mic's don't pick up all the emotion, on TV it feels much more controlled. Around me, the audience felt feral! Feral in a way which made me feel proud to live here.

Territorians are an educated and opinionated bunch, we hate it when southerners tell us how to deal with our own issues in our backyard. Last night was a top opportunity for us to tell the rest of the country what really goes on here. To express how the suspension of the live cattle export trade affected us, to talk about why so many people oppose a nuclear waste dump, why statehood should be debated and how on earth do we improve the lives of so many Territorians who live in abject poverty in remote Indigenous communities. As Territorians, we confront these difficult issues, we live with complicated scenarios and it's time they stopped stereotyping us as beer drinking lazy escapists and started to realise there is so much more to Australia than trying to find the place that serves the best latte and the most moist wagyu burger.

I've pulled out a selection of tweets after this week's Q and A. Some of them make me really mad, like this one from author and commentator Jane Caro:

"What would they call the NT as a state, bouganville's already taken."

I expect more from a copywriter who is allegedly clever with words. Or this one from writer and comedian Catherine Deveny:

"Darwin, where people own four eskies. The Good One, The Going Out One, The Motorised One and The One For In The Car."

It's not funny Catherine, it's an easy predictable target and I for one, am over the stereotypes. Besides, have you ever been to the Top End? We do appreciate good eskies, how else are we supposed to keep the goon bag of Riesling cold during the build-up as we look over the ocean that we can't swim in because the crocodiles might eat us for dinner.

I'm tired of justifying to snobby southerners why I choose to live here. In fact, I'm not going to explain it again. What I will do is extend the invitation to come here, stay for a while. Sit on the earth and talk to the people who live here, maybe after that we will allow you to have an opinion on whether or not we are thong-wearing bogans or maybe you will realise we are folk who choose to live in one of the most unique, extreme, challenging and beautiful places in the world. We live here because it is not stressed-out Sydney, overly fashionable Melbourne or boring Brisbane (and yes I have lived in all of those places, so I'm allowed to have that opinion).

I have two bits of advice for the Q and A producers, next time you come to Darwin please create a panel which properly represents the Territory. Thirty per cent of the NT population is Indigenous; the panel should have at least two Indigenous people. Our Territory is also incredibly multicultural we have a huge Greek, Indian and Chinese community, to name just a few. We have a growing Sudanese community as a result of the conflict in their own country. Please consider pulling together a panel which better represents who we are.

And please please please, next time, can Tony please say "I'll take that as a comment". He did not utter the catch phrase once on Monday night, very disappointing.

Vicki Kerrigan is the Drive presenter for ABC Local Radio Darwin.