Flat White

In-depth analysis of the day’s news, plus stories and gossip from Australian politics.

China rising: do we need a Defence Levy?

18 July 2022 10:00 am

[ This is part 3 of a series. Read part 1 and part 2 ] The truth lurking under the political spin is that…

Gender quotas bite Labor hard

18 July 2022 9:00 am

It is going to be extremely difficult to write this while maintaining an air of sympathy – so bear with…

Climate Change, the art of sophistry

18 July 2022 7:00 am

Sophistry is the use of clever but false arguments, especially with the intention of deceiving. Climate alarmists who know the…

The Queen is Australia's Head of State - don't deny it

18 July 2022 4:00 am

History tells us that new wars are lost because generals re-fight the last one. The looming battle to keep Australia’s…

Labor to 'rescue' ISIS brides?

17 July 2022 6:45 pm

If it wasn’t bad enough watching Foreign Minister Penny Wong hand $1 million to the Taliban in aid, it now appears that…

Of age and stage: over 50s excluded from workforce

17 July 2022 7:00 am

I find it ironic that everyone wants to live a long life but nobody wants to get old. Even fewer…

Sydney: third-worst place for making friends

17 July 2022 6:00 am

There is an odd condition known as Prosopagnosia – a cognitive disorder where the ability to recognise familiar faces is…

Albo learns nothing from European crisis – doubles down on renewables

16 July 2022 4:11 pm

Europe (and parts of Asia) are in the middle of an energy, food, social, and economic crisis exacerbated by ‘green’…

Dutch tolerance vs. the Great Reset

16 July 2022 11:00 am

The Dutch are a tolerant people, and they have a long-standing reputation for that. I lived in the Netherlands for…

Why I adore Nick Kyrgios

16 July 2022 7:00 am

I’ve always had a thing for bad boys and if ever there was a bad boy of tennis, Nick Kyrgios…

Freedom: the peak of achievement

16 July 2022 4:00 am

As we watch with varying degrees of disgust, impotence, and annoyance at the events in Eastern Europe – where a…

Australian coal back in the Chinese market?

15 July 2022 2:00 pm

Coal is literally killing the planet. If we keep burning it, digging it up, and selling it, the sky is like totally going to…

Politicians ignore warnings from detransitioners

15 July 2022 12:00 pm

‘I do not have my breasts,’ said a former trans teenager, 17. They added the warning, ‘Do not transition.’ Anthony…

Freedom Flyers: the fight against vaccine mandates

15 July 2022 11:30 am

Qantas has announced it will be dropping vaccine requirements for international travel starting July 19, (finally) bringing it in line with many…

Incoherence is destroying the Liberals

15 July 2022 8:00 am

If you’re reading this, it’s highly likely you’re conservatively inclined. Indeed, skimming The Spectator Australia or spying the Sky After Dark set are…

No more mask mandates, please

15 July 2022 7:00 am

New Zealand epidemiologist Michael Baker has just called for the government to reintroduce widespread mask mandates as Covid cases rise in an…

UK: the tide turns in favour of women

15 July 2022 4:00 am

Things are looking up for women in the UK. In a landmark tribunal ruling last week, Maya Forstater won her…

Oxymoron of the day: the ‘Green’ defence

14 July 2022 3:39 pm

Every now and then I make a mistake and go and do something stupid, like read the policy detail of…

Europeans punished by expensive renewables backed by Russian gas

14 July 2022 1:03 pm

Europeans are now paying heavily for their shift in abandoning coal and nuclear and adopting renewable energy supported by Russian…

Climate Science for Dummies – the TV show

14 July 2022 12:00 pm

Given the ever-escalating hysteria about this catastrophic, urgent, the-end-is-nigh ‘climate emergency’ that has been turbo-charged by world leaders who have…

Republic referendum a reckless economic waste

14 July 2022 10:00 am

Since June 1, Matt Thistlethwaite has served as Assistant Minister for ‘the’ Republic. (What republic?) One month since his appointment,…

The Voice: a hollow gesture?

14 July 2022 6:00 am

Australia’s new Prime Minister is sending out what he believes is a clarion call to move on and support a…

WA playing politics at the border?

14 July 2022 4:00 am

In Western Australia, a state government minister has been accused of allegedly preferencing political donors for border entry during the…

Adding race to politics is not a good idea

13 July 2022 1:16 pm

It seems it is not only Indigenous Australians, but also some resident Kiwis, that may be given an extra voice…

Woke churches erased women

13 July 2022 12:00 pm

It was the African American social commentator Candace Owens who once quipped: ‘Telling children they can pick their gender is…