Kitchen Cabinet (TV program)

For the BBC radio show, see The Kitchen Cabinet (radio show).

Kitchen Cabinet is an Australian interview television program^[2] that is broadcast on ABC. It is hosted by Annabel Crabb. On the program, Crabb chats with the interview subjects while they prepare a meal together.

Kitchen Cabinet
Genre	Cooking show
Directed by	Stamatia Maroupas Trent O’Donnell
Presented by	Annabel Crabb
Country of origin	Australia
No. of seasons	7
No. of episodes	40
Production
Producer	Madeleine Hawcroft
Cinematography	Susan Lumsdon
Running time	30 minutes
Original release
Network	ABC
Release	22 February 2012 (2012-02-22) – 30 June 2016 (2016-06-30) 2023[1]

Format

The format is an informal interview program with Australian politicians over a meal prepared by both Crabb and her guest, normally in the guest's home. Crabb brings a dessert and the guest provides their choice of main meal. It is in the 30-minute format.

On several occasions, there have been two guests, typically with one being a self-confessed non-cook who brings in a helper. Crabb chats with the guest(s) during the preparation, and the meal while they eat.

Crabb being pescetarian has meant that on some occasions the protein for her has been fish-based. Her food preference has also been a factor in her preparation of the desserts.

The show has received mostly positive reviews.^[3][4]

Series overview

Series	Episodes		Originally released
			First released	Last released
1	6		22 February 2012 (2012-02-22)	28 March 2012 (2012-03-28)
2	6		10 October 2012 (2012-10-10)	14 November 2012 (2012-11-14)
3	8		2 July 2013 (2013-07-02)	5 September 2013 (2013-09-05)
4	7		21 October 2014 (2014-10-21)	2 December 2014 (2014-12-02)
5	6		28 October 2015 (2015-10-28)	2 December 2015 (2015-12-02)
6	6		26 May 2016 (2016-05-26)	30 June 2016 (2016-06-30)
7	8		15 August 2023 (2023-08-15)	3 October 2023 (2023-10-03)

Episodes

Season 1 (2012)

No. in series	No. in season	Guest	Original air date
1	1	"Christopher Pyne and Amanda Vanstone"	22 February 2012 (2012-02-22)
2	2	"Nigel Scullion"	29 February 2012 (2012-02-29)
3	3	"Penny Wong"	7 March 2012 (2012-03-07)
4	4	"Julie Bishop"	14 March 2012 (2012-03-14)
5	5	"Tanya Plibersek"	21 March 2012 (2012-03-21)
6	6	"Dick Adams"	28 March 2012 (2012-03-28)

Season 2 (2012)

No. in series	No. in season	Guest	Original air date
7	1	"Joe Hockey"	10 October 2012 (2012-10-10)
8	2	"Bronwyn Bishop"	17 October 2012 (2012-10-17)
9	3	"Peter Garrett"	24 October 2012 (2012-10-24)
10	4	"Barnaby Joyce"	31 October 2012 (2012-10-31)
11	5	"Louise Pratt"	7 November 2012 (2012-11-07)
12	6	"Christine Milne"	14 November 2012 (2012-11-14)

Season 3 (2013)

No. in series	No. in season	Guest	Original air date
13	1	"Malcolm Turnbull"	2 July 2013 (2013-07-02)
14	2	"Craig Emerson"	9 July 2013 (2013-07-09)
15	3	"Nick Xenophon"	16 July 2013 (2013-07-16)
16	4	"Jenny Macklin"	23 July 2013 (2013-07-23)
17	5	"Sussan Ley and Bill Heffernan"	30 July 2013 (2013-07-30)
18	6	"Doug Cameron"	6 August 2013 (2013-08-06)
19	7	"Tony Abbott"	4 September 2013 (2013-09-04)
20	8	"Kevin Rudd"	5 September 2013 (2013-09-05)

Season 4 (2014)

No. in series	No. in season	Guest	Original air date
21	1	"Bob Hawke"	21 October 2014 (2014-10-21)
22	2	"Andrew Robb and Mary Jo Fisher"	28 October 2014 (2014-10-28)
23	3	"Bill Shorten"	4 November 2014 (2014-11-04)
24	4	"Mathias Cormann"	11 November 2014 (2014-11-11)
25	5	"Anna Burke"	9 November 2014 (2014-11-09)
26	6	"Warren Entsch"	25 November 2014 (2014-11-25)
27	7	"Clive Palmer"	2 December 2014 (2014-12-02)

Season 5 (2015)

No. in series	No. in season	Guest	Original air date
28	1	"Scott Morrison"	28 October 2015 (2015-10-28)
29	2	"Anthony Albanese and Christopher Pyne"	4 November 2015 (2015-11-04)
30	3	"Ricky Muir"	11 November 2015 (2015-11-11)
31	4	"Nova Peris"	18 November 2015 (2015-11-18)
32	5	"Richard Di Natale"	25 November 2015 (2015-11-25)
33	6	"Cory Bernardi"	2 December 2015 (2015-12-02)

Season 6 (2016)

No. in series	No. in season	Guest	Original air date
34	1	"Jacqui Lambie"[5]	26 May 2016 (2016-05-26)
35	2	"Sam Dastyari"	2 June 2016 (2016-06-02)
36	3	"Scott Ludlam"	9 June 2016 (2016-06-09)
37	4	"Michaelia Cash"	16 June 2016 (2016-06-16)
38	5	"Malcolm Turnbull"	23 June 2016 (2016-06-23)
39	6	"Bill Shorten"	30 June 2016 (2016-06-30)

Season 7 (2023)

Former Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews, Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, newly-elected Independent MP for the seat of Fowler Dai Le, Nationals Senator Bridget McKenzie, Greens Senator Jordon Steele-John, Independent Senator Lidia Thorpe and Labor Sports Minister Anika Wells were all featured in season 7.^[6]

No. in series	No. in season	Guest	Original air date
40	1	"Dai Le"	15 August 2023 (2023-08-15)
41	2	"Peter Dutton"	22 August 2023 (2023-08-22)
42	3	"Linda Burney"	29 August 2023 (2023-08-29)
43	4	"Lidia Thorpe"	5 September 2023 (2023-09-05)
44	5	"Karen Andrews"	12 September 2023 (2023-09-12)
45	6	"Jordon Steele-John"	17 September 2023 (2023-09-17)
46	7	"Bridget McKenzie"	25 September 2023 (2023-09-25)
47	8	"Anika Wells"	2 October 2023 (2023-10-02)

Guests

Crabb has said that her most memorable show was with Senator Nigel Scullion, when he took her collecting crustaceans in the coastal mudflats of the Northern Territory.^[7]

2013 Federal Election Kitchen Cabinet shows

During the 2013 Australian federal election, Crabb taped two shows for Kitchen Cabinet,^[8] beyond the previously normal 6 episodes, with the leaders of the major opposing parties, Tony Abbott (Liberal Party of Australia) and Kevin Rudd (Australian Labor Party) with these shows being broadcast on successive nights in the last week of the political campaign, on Wednesday 4 September and Thursday 5 September respectively.

2016 Federal Election Kitchen Cabinet shows

During the 2016 Australian federal election, Crabb again taped two shows for Kitchen Cabinet with the leaders of the major opposing parties, Malcolm Turnbull (Liberal Party of Australia) and Bill Shorten (Australian Labor Party)