Q+A takes an Easter break before returning for the final fortnight of the election campaign.

Stay tuned for updates on the panel and register your details to join the next audience in Sydney.

We love hearing from you. Here's some thoughts. 

I vote Ken Henry for prime minister! His three points are exactly what I’m looking for from our political leaders.

- Amanda 

We need tax reforms on people who are sitting on multiple investment properties/ Air BNB. These are core issues in housing supply. Why don’t we talk about disincentivising this greed?

- Tracey A

Why not a 25% GST like many Scandinavian countries and provide free education, health care and child care.

- Ross

While watching TV this evening a clip of Jacinta Nampijinpa Price saying “…to ensure we can make Australia great again…”, my six year old granddaughter asked “ why did she say that nana, Australia is great!”. 

If a young child thinks this then do you think this message might be upsetting many adults who, despite our problems, think Australia is still a great country!

- Eve Adamson 

In a hopeful ending note, most of the panellists seem to agree that Australia is already great — it just needs some tweaks. 

Campbell says if we're looking to the US for direction we've "got bigger problems than a housing crisis or a cost-of-living crisis".

Denniss says he'd like to "make Australia even better" while criticising Price's Musk-esque title. 

Sukkar says Australia is, in fact, the best country. 

"I think we could be an even better country if we were governed better, but we'll always be, in my view, the best country in the world," he says. 

O'Neil, slightly disturbed to be agreeing with Sukkar, says it's clear "Australia is a better country than America." 

"We don't need to borrow phrases and concepts and ideas," she adds.

"We don't need Australia's Elon Musk. I think we've got what we need here."

Meanwhile, Steggall says Australia has "incredible potential" but is held back by ideologies from the past. 

"The idea of going back is only embracing the problems we've had for so long," she notes. 

Audience member Ashlea Vout has asked a question about Coalition Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price's recent MAGA misstep. 

ICYMI: Price vowed to "make Australia great again" during a speech over the weekend. 

"The media jumped on this as a correlation with Trump‘s MAGA policy. My question is what is actually wrong with making Australia great again?" Ms Vout asks the panel. 

Sukkar says he's depressed by the concept of the "working poor" that has arrived in Australia.

"Where I very much disagree with Richard, is we don't have an income problem. We've had in the last three years an extra $425 billion spent," he says.

"That suggests to me that there's not a shortage of revenue coming to government, but governments spending too much." 

Here, Denniss gets in an aside that leaves the room in applause. 

"I can save you a fortune," he says.

"$15 billion a year in fossil fuel subsidies, AUKUS $360 billion dollars.

 "We're so rich we can drop a lazy $360 bill on some nuclear subs we didn't know we need. 

"But 'sorry unemployed people money doesn't grow on trees'.

"We're rich."

Clare O’Neil acknowledges it’s been “really tough” for those on fixed incomes. But there’s no promise to lift JobSeeker tonight:

“Please understand, every budget we come to, we are absolutely trying to find every single way that we can help people relieve pressures.”

Michael Sukkar notes the Coalition backed the last lift to JobSeeker and "all people in government look at every opportunity to increase those payments". But: 

"We also have to think about ... the people that we would be asking to tax more in order to increase those payments."

Another economist with a challenge for all sides of politics: why not significantly hike JobSeeker payments for the unemployed?

Nicki Hutley was a partner at Deloitte Access Economics and more recently worked with the Climate Council. She says there's economic upside in increasing payments:

"New research just last month has shown us that if we invest $1 we will get $1.25 return back to us. Now that is a very solid return on investment in terms of healthier people, lower government payments, better productivity. It is a win-win outcome."

ICYMI: Steve Whittington offers his story from the audience, a single father who says he may need a third job to help pay the mortgage on his home of 24 years.

"Since the last federal election, my mortgage repayments have gone up by 16 per cent, my electricity bill by 12 per cent, my council rates 20 per cent, my grocery bill 17 per cent, my private health cover 32 per cent ... in the same period, my salary increased by only 7 per cent."

Richard Denniss says Australia needs to figure out its priorities. 

He says we're not "collecting nearly enough tax" — at least from the right people.

He says the big banks made an $18 billion profit on mortgages last year, while supermarkets made an extra billion dollars because their profit margins went up. 

"We can either collect more tax from the big businesses that can afford to pay it, or we can say, sorry, Marj, you've had it too good for too long," he says.

"But we can't pretend to have both." 

Audience member Marj Richmond  is asking a question as a retiree of 10 years. 

She says the latest pension increase for a couple equates to 25c a day, and asks the panel how they can justify telling the nation "everyone is doing it tough".