“I have experienced Newstart for over three years. Jobactive left me to my own devices. I could not find a job, no matter how hard I tried. So my question to you, wonderful panellists, is this: what would you or how would you suggest people like me ‘have a go to get a go’?” One assumes the major party panellists - the Liberal MP Jason Falinski and Labor’s Katy Gallagher - were immediately feeling less than wonderful, given this was the opening question of the night. Heroically, they struggled on their heels with how to respond in the least dishonest way while still appearing empathetic. It’s a tough job. Falinski waffled that he was “sorry you’ve had to go through that”. He celebrated the government’s “high income mobility levels” ... and he offered to talk to Ms Bartels after the show.

Hurrah! Alas, host Tony Jones wasn’t having a bar of it. Let’s talk now. Jones: “We're going to talk a little bit on the show, that's one of the great things about having questioners here in front of you.” You really didn’t want to be Jason Falinski when Jones then invited the star questioner to rejoin. Jones: “Can you give us some idea of how you lived for three years on the sum that Newstart offered you to live on?”

Ms Bartels: “To put it in a nutshell, it's the worst time of my life. The loss of dignity, the loss of friends because you can't go out, you can't socialise, not eating proper food, even though I suffer various ailments. Looking for a job, applying for a job, not getting the job ... for me it was the worst time of my life. “Jason, with respect, you haven't answered my question. What do you suggest people like me, at my age or at a young age for that matter, how do they ‘have a go to get a go’? This is so important. Have a go, get a go. It is so divisive.” Loading Falinski: “If the system has failed you personally ... I can only apologise for that. I'd love to know more and we'd love to create a system that makes sure that what has happened to you doesn't happen to others.” But how? What? When?

Panellist Cassandra Goldie, head of the Australian Council of Social Service, recited the wide spectrum of voices supporting a Newstart increase. Tony Jones added another one: John Howard. Falinski, taking his political life in his hands: “I am allowed to disagree with John Howard ... I think on this he’s wrong.” Labor’s Katy Gallagher didn’t have much of an easier time of it. Jones noted: “The Labor Party didn't have the courage to say they'll raise Newstart before the last election. You said you'll have an inquiry which is, you could argue, the coward’s way out?”

Gallagher: “Well, I wouldn't characterise it that way.” Loading She offered the inspiring promise that if Labor had won the election, a Newstart review “would be well under way. And we didn't. So our position is ... this is firmly and squarely in the government’s court”. One wonders why voters like Ricci Bartels are cynical about politicians and slogans. She summed up the battle, when Cassandra Goldie asked her: “There’s a lot of shaming that goes on, isn’t there Ricci?”