It was the Latin poet Catullus who wrote so rawly of his conflicted emotions: "I hate and yet love. You may wonder how I manage it. I don't know, but feel it happen, and am in torment."

The same might be said of Australia's relationship with Q&A, oscillating as it does between love and hate, admiration and disgust, dependency and disregard. After seven years, it can still attract close to a million viewers to watch politicians avoid answering questions.

And over the past week, Q&A escaped the clutches of its timeslot to become without doubt the watercooler conversation du jour. So much so that by Monday, every minute of the program's production was a news story, with conservative guests dropping like flies.