How Australians are living through the coronavirus crisis was the main topic of discussion on Monday night's Q+A.

Key points: Former deputy prime minister John Anderson sparked a debate over asylum seekers when he suggested we simply had to get through the coronavirus crisis first

Former deputy prime minister John Anderson sparked a debate over asylum seekers when he suggested we simply had to get through the coronavirus crisis first There were calls for more to be done when it comes to a potential upswing in domestic violence during the pandemic

There were calls for more to be done when it comes to a potential upswing in domestic violence during the pandemic Senator Jacqui Lambie raised concerns over whether regional Australia would be properly looked after when it comes to COVID-19 testing

And while most of the panel agreed there was more that could be done about domestic violence and social distancing, it was a question about asylum seekers and how to deal with them that caused the biggest divide.

Primarily, the contrasting viewpoints of former deputy prime minister John Anderson, comedian Julie McCrossin and former Socceroos skipper turned human rights activist Craig Foster took centre stage.

Western Sydney doctor Iyngaranathan Selvaratnam asked about releasing asylum seekers into community detention because of fears coronavirus could spread in detention centres.

Mr Anderson, who was deputy PM to John Howard, caused a stir among the panel by saying it might be practical to look after Australian citizens first and refugees second.

"We won't be able to afford to help anyone, needy or unneedy," he said.

"We are really talking about our economic future. And I'd be the first to say we ought to look after the marginalised and the disadvantaged, but we need to focus on the need to pull together and accept our responsibilities and to do what we can to rebuild, and to be good international citizens.

Former deputy prime minister John Anderson was involved in a spirited Q+A discussion. ( ABC )

"Refugees are always a problem, and I pay tribute, for example, to Craig [Foster] for some of the work that he's done there, but the way this may play out globally could result in vastly more dispossessed and troubled people looking for escape.

"We need to be active on the ground and to do that, we have to be a well enough resourced country.

"I'm sorry to have to say it, but I think we've spent a bit of time focusing on the concerns of various people in the community who we need to be cognisant of but, frankly, we're not going to be able to do anything for any of them if we don't find a way through this that ensures that we're able to recover our economic and social cohesion as a nation."

His comment drew the ire of Ms McCrossin, who recalled being a member of the gay community through the HIV/AIDS crisis.

She said an all-encompassing approach was needed to tackle the current issue, and excluding those on the outer of society was not the way to go.

"I was alive when HIV/AIDS began, and we grappled with this pandemic," she said.

"Certain wonderful things were done in Australia and I think our nation at the moment is doing many of these things.

"How we overcame HIV/AIDS and reduced it in our country was that it became a bipartisan issue — so the different parties came together.

"Political leaders came together with the medical and health sector, and they also came together with the most at-risk people.

"Our political leaders and our health leaders engaged intimately with those groups, they overcame the stigma, and why did they do it? Because they weren't going to defeat HIV/AIDS and stop it spreading into the broader community unless they engaged with those groups.

"And that's why I'd say to John Anderson — this isn't about a mob over there we don't have to worry about while we look after the bulk of Australia. If we don't look after the most vulnerable … then we will not lower the curve so low that we can eliminate this. "We have to care about these people."

Mr Anderson hit back, saying he was simply advocating a pragmatic response to the issue.

"I'm not advocating that we don't care about them," he said.

"If you doubt it, look at the struggles that are going on in poorer countries — countries that can't get their act together politically."

The issue was then turned over to human rights advocate Mr Foster, and the SBS presenter was emphatic in his response, calling on those in power to release asylum seekers and refugees "into the community immediately".

"The way that we've demonised and treated asylum seekers and refugees in the last decade is horrendous," he said.

"It's been deeply politicised and Australia has turned ourselves in contortions in order to not just, you know, provide these people — human beings — with their basic human rights.

"They have a right to seek asylum. Many of them have been medically evacuated to Australia.

"Underlying chronic health conditions and compromised immune systems are two of the main risk factors for COVID-19, that's exactly what these people have.

"So, in an alternate world where Australia hasn't been through the last decade where we've put these people in a horrible position — they would be out already. They would be out like that. Of course they would.

"And for the wellbeing and health of these human beings, as a country, surely it must be time to say, 'Come on, we're part of the international community here'."

Warning domestic violence could rise

The panel also reflected on the risk of increased domestic violence during the pandemic.

Christine Morgan, the chief executive of the National Mental Health Commission, revealed that there were not enough services available for those suffering abuse.

The concerns were initially raised by Ms McCrossin who, when answering a question from a viewer about abuse, lashed out about bottle shops being deemed an essential service given the role alcohol can play in abuse.

She also called for personal protective equipment to be made available for police so they can do checks, and she and Mr Foster suggested the issue was likely amplified in a pandemic when people also have to spend more time in the house.

Host Hamish Macdonald chimed in to ask Ms Morgan about domestic violence, asking whether simple access to hotlines for women and children was sufficient.

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Ms Morgan said it was "not enough in and of itself", before imploring people that if they suspected something, to check in as best they could, without risking potential exposure to COVID-19.

"The biggest thing we can do is be alert … and I call on all Australians to look out for each other and look at what is going on behind closed doors.

"I think what is happening with domestic violence is we have pressure-cooker situations in homes, people under more stress than normal and a sense of losing control of our lives, so that can be a trigger factor."

Lambie makes plea for testing honesty

The topic of how regional Australia was dealing with the pandemic was also raised.

Tasmanian senator Jacqui Lambie called in from her home in Burnie to discuss the closure of two local hospitals due to a coronavirus cluster.

Up to 5,000 people have been put into quarantine for 14 days.

Senator Lambie chastised her constituents for flouting social distancing regulations and suggested they had brought a full lockdown on themselves.

Jacqui Lambie joined Q+A from her home in Burnie, Tasmania. ( ABC )

"I think after the behaviour last week going on in Bunnings and Kmart and not self-isolating and things like that, it's now come to the crunch and the Premier has no other choice but to put us in full lockdown," Ms Lambie said.

"So, unless you're an essential service worker, then guess what — you're staying at home."

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While that comment was somewhat expected given Ms Lambie has been an advocate for stricter distancing measures, she also alleged there were not enough testing kits in Tasmania.

She said there was one testing area 30 minutes away from Burnie but another could not be set up in the town until the end of the week.

"That would tell me that there are not the testing kits down here that need to be down here, and nobody is being honest about that," she said.

"And they need to come out and be honest," she said before adding: "I doubt if there's any rural and regional area in Australia right now that are prepared for this."

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