Talking of "qualia" I think feeling pain is a good example. We all feel pain from time to time. It is a very conscious experience. But surely animals feel pain as well, and it is that feeling that makes them avoid things that cause them pain.

Evolution just had to give us some way to "feel", to be conscious, about some things causing us pain while other things cause us pleasure. We are conscious of them, and I don't think there's any "hard question" about why we feel them :-)