This week on Q+A – The rise of online crime and misinformation, and the shock departure of NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian.

The NSW Government is in turmoil after Gladys Berejiklian said she had no option but to resign due to an ICAC inquiry. The last NSW premier to serve a full term was Bob Carr. What will yet another changing of the guard mean as NSW navigates the roadmap out of lockdown?

Meanwhile, the threat of COVID-19 has driven millions of people into the safety of their own homes. Remote working and studying is now the norm, and we are spending more hours online than ever before. But in the race to protect ourselves from a deadly airborne disease, are we sleepwalking into a global cyber pandemic?

Phone-based scams are exploding in record numbers and new figures from the ACCC show Australians have lost more than $63 million through unsolicited texts or calls so far this year. Big businesses are also being warned they need to do more to protect themselves and their workers from cyber-attacks in the new era of working from home.

Against this backdrop there are growing concerns that extremist groups are exploiting the uncertainty created by COVID-19 and actively recruiting new members online. A Federal Parliamentary inquiry is underway into the rising threat of right-wing extremism in Australia.

So how can Governments and the private sector work together to tackle a criminal world that moves at lightning speed? And how can we prevent the information age from becoming the age of misinformation? Join us as we discuss the pros and cons of living in a digital world.

Joining Stan Grant on the panel:

Paul Fletcher, Minister for Communications and the Arts
Tanya Plibersek, Shadow Minister for Education
Marc Fennell, Journalist
Zara Seidler, Co-founder, The Daily Aus
Alastair MacGibbon, CyberCX chief strategy officer and former federal cybersecurity advisor
 
Please submit a question via our website by 9am Thursday for the chance to ask the panel.

Scroll down to watch Thursday's toughest question asked by Jlenia Dal Pio Luogo, who asked if opening up too quick would leave the most vulnerable members of our community exposed. 👇

Watch Q+A Thursday at 8.30pm on ABC TV, streamed live 8.30pm AEST on ABC iview or on our website.